Does your pet have diabetes?

November is Diabetes Awareness Month.  Diabetes in cats is a fairly common condition.  Diabetes is a disease in which the body is not making insulin like it should.  Insulin is made by the pancreas, and "pushes" blood sugar into cells.  Without insulin, the sugar cannot get into the body's cells.  The consequence of this is that the cells start to starve, and the blood sugar gets very high.  Symptoms include drinking and urinating excessively, being "hungry all of the time", and losing weight.  In cats, they will often get Type II diabetes, which means that sometimes their blood sugar can be regulated with food alone.  Cats are strict carnivores and don't need any carbohydrates in their diets.  That is why dry food is not ideal for cats.  All dry foods require carbohydrates to make the kibble.  In the cat food production process, it is possible to make a canned food that is low in carbohydrates and high in protein, but this is very difficult with dry foods.  Sometimes switching to a high protein, low carbohydrate canned food alone can help cats with early diabetes.  Other times, cats will need insulin, at least for a period, to get their blood sugar under control.  It is not uncommon for cats to have diabetes that goes into remission, so it is important to work with your veterinarian to have your diabetic cat's blood sugar checked regularly as their insulin needs can change over time.