Cats and diabetes

I had an interesting conversation with a doctor today, actually a veterinarian. I had brought my cat in for a full health checkup - she is 11 years old. After doing all the blood tests and whatever he said that she was healthy but overweight. He told me that he was seeing many cases of cats coming in and being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and that they were ALL overweight or obese. Ouch I guess.
So my Pumpkin cat is being put on a strict weight loss diet that should yield good results within three months, according to the doctor, and should prevent her from developing type 2 diabetes.
She might not be too happy about her diet program but I would like to have my Pumpkin around for many more years.
Funny how this coincides with the human development of type 2, typically tied to excess weight, a connection that so many are anxious and desperate to deny,
Face it until we come to terms with the real cause of the diabetes outbreaks in the US or China, it will continue to get worse. At some point in time people need to start taking responsibility for their own health, forget the doctor give me a pill thing for start walking, eating healthy. Until then type 2 will continue to reign.
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Yes,cats get diabetes. Not everyone who is overweight,obese,gets diabetes. Some people are thin. You saying people need to take responsibility is a very complex issue. Some people never will and I nor you are responsible with what they do but try and educate them when we have the opportunity. That is why we are here SUPPORT. Nancy

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It is easy to jump to conclusions but there is at least one other way to consider it. Perhaps insulin resistance leads to weight gain in some people? We simply do not know. But regardless I would never suggest that we understand the process.

I am type 1, but I will say that if your post is designed to suggest that my type 2 friends are responsible for their diabetes, I simply cannot let that pass without comment. For me, diabetes is not something that should be used to blame people with. I hope that was not the intent of the post.

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Thanks—saved me having to chime in.

We have had two diabetic cats that were insulin dependent. The interesting thing about cats, though, is that, unlike humans, their insulin dependence can simply stop. We found that out in one the hard way when she got all woozy after I gave her a shot that she no longer needed…Cause and effect are not clear issues in humans or in cats…

The original post with regard to people is not appropriate for our discussions. The commentator must not have grasped that we support poeple on this website, we do not put them down. Perhaps he will grasp the meaning of community and withdraw this item. There is no room for such a discussion in this community. We supoort people here we do not build barriers between us. I hope they reconsider the post and either revise it to discuss only the cat, or withdraw it completely. In this case judgement demonstrates wisdom.

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It is an unkind post,@Rphil.2. I have recently read some research from London that suggests T2 is genetic, nothing to do with eating and not exercising.

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Cats are what is called “Obligate Carnivores.” They have to eat meat, that is their natural diet. Despite that, vast numbers of pet owners feed their cats (and dogs) poor diets with way too much carbohydrate and plant matter. I guess because it is cheaper. So, not surprisingly this diet causes cats (and dogs) to then have a severe metabolic and hormonal dysfunction and they get diabetes, they get overweight and all the bad things we know about happen.

If you really want your cat to be healthy, feed the cat a natural diet consisting primarily of meat and seafood. Here is a summary of the nutrition content in many over the counter cat foods. As you can see most dry cat foods, while cheap are a not natural diet for a cat. So @Vancouversailor, if you really want to help your cat, stop feeding it excessive carbohydrate and plant products. Choose a good (probably) wet cat food consisting primarily of meat and seafood. And don’t worry about weight, weight is a “symptom.” And I would urge you to remember that symptoms are not causes. Cats could get hurt here, it is important.

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I found catinfo.org to be invaluable for finding better information on what’s in my cat food, troubleshooting litter box issues and keep my cats healthy.

Commercial Cat Foods is a page that walks through how to figure out the composition of commercial cat food and also has the results(PDF) for many brands.

I’ve used that list both to find super low-carb canned food that doesn’t contain the ingredients that one of my cats is allergic to (chicken is in everything), and to find urinary friendly brands for another cat prone to urinary crystals.

Each of my cats is quite different in their food needs. For example, one is a runt and never thrived until I gave her more carbs. At 5 years old she was still only 4 lbs and skeletal. Now she’s 10 years old, happy, healthy at 7lbs. Even cats need specialized diets, there’s no one size fits all.

I do feel bad that some of my cats get to sleep all day, eat their weight in food and remain underweight, while others are starving all day, quite active and are still overweight. Poor little guys, I can sympathize! :smiley:

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It can be very easy and convenient to blame someone for the state of their weight, especially if you are lean yourself. However, I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone I’ve been close to, if overweight, who hasn’t confided their frustrations in trying to lose it. Usually the problem stems from so much misinformation as to what is “healthy eating,” along with exercise regimens that do little to help in that regard. A low-fat-whole-grain diet with loads of cardio won’t get you very far, and a calorie restricted diet will only last so long before willpower fails and the weight comes back. It’s no wonder people get frustrated and resign themselves to their fate. And when it comes to T2, the research suggests its the T2 that drives the weight gain, not the other way around.

The T2 epidemic is not because of a mass abdication of personal responsibility, but rather because of the explosion of a high-glycemic, processed food centric diet in the last 50 years exacerbated by a sedentary lifestyle in societies as they grow more prosperous, thus increasing the insulin resistance and pancreatic load in those who are already genetically predisposed to T2. The solution is not blame, but rather education.

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My cat Cleo was overweight for many years and never developed diabetes. She ended up getting hyperthyroid disease and going from 20 pounds down to 6 pounds when she finally had to be put down at the ripe old age of 19 and a half years. Not all obese cats/people develop diabetes unless they have a genetic predisposition to the disease. Being overweight is merely a risk factor for developing the disease if you are prone to it.

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Judith, I was on mealtime insulin for over 6 months and about three weeks ago, after a low, I no longer need it. Even in humans there is no rhyme or reason to this. I wolfed down a entire large pizza hut pizza last night and my BG never went above 120 for six hours. I kept on checking every hour. In weeks past, I would have never even been able to do this without insulin. I only did this as a test to make sure I no longer need insulin as I will stop filling my script for insulin this month. I can’t explain this, but it is nice not to have to live my life on a timer anymore and fear the Hypos.

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We had one with irritable bowel and he could only eat ground venison which was very odd. But it made a big difference. So I totally get what you are saying, Daytona. We’ve also found that as they approach the end of their lives, with a selection of geriatric problems, they often fixate on one kind of food and it becomes the only thing they will eat…

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My cat loved food. She even ate Doritos. But she had to go on a special science diet for kidney disease and it was hard to get her to eat the food. I also had to give her thyroid meds twice a day on her ears and one Depo Medrol shot every 6 weeks for severe asthma/coughing. It was all worth it to keep her around for an extra three years until she stopped eating for three days. She would cry for food and refuse to eat it. That was when we decided to put her to sleep. My new rescue cat is really over weight, but she seems to be happy and she does not appear to have diabetes. She is almost 16 years old. I feed her 1 can of Friskies Salmon per day and she munches on Beyond chicken dry food in between the wet food. The vet had her on a special weight control diet for 4 years when she was in the cage, but it did not help her weight. I just let her enjoy herself as she spent almost five years in a cage at a noisy vet’s office because the vet refused to put her down. Her owner became terminally ill and had to move into hospice and wanted her put down, but the vet did not do it. They tried to adopt her out, but no one wanted a 10 year old cat. I prefer older cats because I can’t keep up with younger ones. I have too many medical issues. Cleo is the skinney gray cat, and Augustine the rescue cat is the gray and white one!

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I am having this problem right now. My cat is allergic to chicken and we switched her to turkey years ago, not knowing that it’s cross-reactive. Now she still gets flare-ups and the vet wants her on something totally different but she will refuse to eat anything but her favorite food.

So we do our best with what she’s willing to eat.

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My cat Mocha is 19,20 or 21 (I adopted him from the SPCA 14 years ago when he was 5,6 or7). When he gets stubborn about eating (kidney disease) I take him for a 15 minute car ride, I noticed several years ago that when I brought him home from a vet visit he would run to his dish and eat whatever food I put down for him. It works every time

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I have had, and have many cats. Many years ago I had two cats, one became diabetic. When the vet let me know, he immediately asked me if the other cat was a litter mate or related to the diabetic kitty. He said : “if one cat in the litter has diabetes, they all will, because it is genetically transmitted”. I asked him if weight could be a problem in terms of diabetes in cats, and he said “No”. Luckily, the other cat was not related. The one that wasn’t, was overweight for most of his life. He was a huge Maine Coon that weighted 25 pounds. He lost much of the weight when he attained the age of 17. He lived to be 21 years old. I am glad he was a “big” kitty, had he not been, I suspect he would not have lived to age 21. He remained very active until shortly before he died. Right now I have a cat that is 17, he was a large cat, but over the past 2 years he has lost weight, as all elderly cats seem to do. He does not have diabetes. The other 6 cats are 15 years old. The diet food that vets seem to like (Hill’s Science Diet, as an example) for cats is loaded with corn, and for the life of me, I cannot figure out how corn could possibly be considered a good grain for cats or dogs.

In any case, I do not think it is beneficial to indicate that people cause their problems by their lifestyle or weight.

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I must reply to the original poster, as many of you have, that it is dangerous to make assumptions about why so many people get T2. First of all, for some people who are overweight, it is as much due to an addiction (and yes, a real ADDICITION) to eating as it is for a drug user or alcoholic. For others, being on certain medications can cause weight gain. And yet for others, they may be diagnosed with T2 despite being thin. I, myself, am one example. I was quite thin when initially diagnosed and while I might not have been tested then for antibodies, I was tested at a later date and showed no antibodies. But T2 runs in my family on my mother’s side, so there’s definitely a genetic component.

Same holds true for my best friend, who is not only thin, but actually underweight, and who is a fitness nut. She works out four days a week at the gym, one day with a personal trainer, and goes for a walk on the days she doesn’t go to the gym. She also has a family history of T2, and is currently pre-diabetic.

Also…what about all the overweight people (and cats) who are NOT diabetic? How does anyone explain why some people and animals who are moderately overweight develop T2, yet many people who are moderately overweight and even some who are morbidly obese, do not develop it? No one really knows for sure. All we do know is that for some people who develop T2 and who are overweight, losing weight will help them stay off medications, yet for others in the same condition, they end up needing insulin.

As others have said…a very complex problem.

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I am T2, genetically pre-disposed, through my beloved Dad—but I was a professional dancer for 40 years. One of my best friends has always been roughly as tall as she is wide–no diabetes, but her brother, of average weight, was diabetic and died of complications because he was dx late. My husband is tall and lean and very much Not diabetic but has terrible neuropathy in one foot…I call it Diabolic Whimsy…That is what it is. Neither my brother nor my sister have had to deal with this scourge. Generalizations are another kind of scourge because they create wrong-headed stereotypes…Onward…

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phooey again