Carbohydrates Impact in Type 2 Diabetes in Cats

Abstract

Diabetes is one of the most commonly diagnosed endocrine diseases in cats. Of all types of diabetes, type II is the most frequent one, 80% of the diabetic cats have type II diabetes. Even though it’s a multifactorial disease, obesity was found to be the most important risk factor in developing diabetes, obesity increases the chances of developing this disease to up to 4 times. The study was conducted on a number of 9 cats with uncomplicated diabetes with the purpose of monitoring the effects of the commercial dry food (with a high percentage of carbohydrates) and the commercial canned food (with a higher percentage of proteins and a lower percentage of carbohydrates) on the glycemic index. For this study, we considered the occasional administration of raw chicken and turkey meat because it wasn’t given for a long enough period of time. The diet is very important for diabetic cats because a lot of sick cats enter remission after a couple of months of being fed wet canned food and they no longer need the administration of insulin, but owners are instructed to carefully monitor glycaemia for the rest of the pet’s life.