Common Feline Health Problems and Their Ties to Diet - Pt 1

Diabetes: Diabetes is a very serious – and difficult to manage – disease that is not uncommon in cats. We do not know all of the causes of this complex disease but what we do know is that many diabetic cats cease needing insulin or have their insulin needs significantly decrease once their dietary carbohydrate level is decreased to a more species-appropriate level than that found in many commercial foods.

Given this fact, and given what we know about how the cat processes carbohydrates, it is not a stretch to say that high carbohydrate diets could very well be a significant factor in causing diabetes in some cats.

Please see this paper discussing the elevated blood glucose in cats after eating a high carbohydrate meal:

Postprandial glycemia

There are countless cases of successful diabetic remission when cat caregivers remove all dry food and all high carbohydrate canned food from their cat's diet.

In addition to the issue of carbohydrates and how they affect the blood sugar level of some cats, dry food is very calorie dense, is very palatable, and is usually free-fed. This often leads to obesity.

Fat cells produce a substance that makes the other cells in the body resistant to insulin. This promotes the diabetic state.

It is very important to understand the impact that a low carbohydrate diet has on the insulin needs of a diabetic cat.

If you have decided to start feeding your diabetic cat a low carbohydrate diet, please do not change the diet until you review my Feline Diabetes page - especially the STOP sign section - otherwise you will be putting your cat in danger.

Please also be aware that many veterinarians underestimate the favorable impact that a low carbohydrate diet has on the insulin needs of the patient and they do not lower the insulin dose enough. If the insulin is not lowered accordingly, an overdose of insulin will occur which can be life-threatening.

I strongly suggest that all caretakers of diabetic cats home-test to monitor blood glucose levels using a standard glucometer as a matter of routine. Careful monitoring is especially important when implementing a diet change.

Many veterinarians prescribe expensive diets such as Purina DM (Diabetes Management) and Hill's m/d but you can do much better for your cat (and your pocketbook) by feeding other more nutritious - and lower carbohydrate - canned foods. See the Cat Food Composition chart. You should aim for a diet that derives less than 10% of its calories from carbohydrates.

The less expensive foods like Friskies, 9-Lives, and Fancy Feast are also fine to feed.

Kidney Disease (CKD - formerly called "CRF"): Chronic kidney disease is probably the leading cause of mortality in the cat. It is troubling to think about the role that chronic dehydration may play in causing or exacerbating feline kidney disease.

And remember, cats have a less than optimal water balance - especially CKD cats that are losing a lot of water via their 'leaky' kidneys - when they are on a diet of predominantly dry food. The prescription dry 'renal diets' such as Hill's k/d - which are commonly prescribed by veterinarians - contain only a small amount of moisture (~10% versus 78% for canned food) leaving your cat in a less than optimal state of water balance.

I have no other word for dry 'renal' diets other than "atrocious" given their water-depletion, low protein amount, and the low biological value of the protein (plant vs animal-based) that they are comprised of. I would have to be stranded on a desert island with no other food source before I would ever consider feeding these diets to any cat in my care.

Regarding hydration, I must say that I find it amazing when I hear about the very large numbers of cats receiving subcutaneous fluids while being maintained on a diet of dry food. This is an extremely illogical and unhealthy practice and every attempt should be made to get these cats on a diet containing water