Despite being affectionate, outgoing members of our families, cats are by nature secretive animals. It is a legacy of their wild ancestral roots to hide any weakness, including diabetes, to prevent being preyed upon by larger predators. Although your cat does not think you will eat it, it hides these symptoms just the same, making your ability to recognize the signs and symptoms of feline diabetes important in maintaining your cat's health and well-being.
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Diabetes
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The most common diabetes in cats is Diabetes Mellitus, sometimes called "adult onset" or "non-Insulin dependent" diabetes, and occurs when the production of insulin is impaired. Unfortunately, the "non-insulin dependent" moniker is a misnomer since diabetic cats rarely benefit from food-only changes. Insulin is the body's way of breaking down and dealing with sugars; an inability of the body to deal with sugar leads to organ and tissue dysfunction, infection and death. Because your cat cannot talk, it is important to recognize the signs of diabetes in its behavior.
Fluids
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Your cat may suddenly hover over the water bowl, drinking more than it normally does (sometimes completely draining a bowl in the course of a day). Also, your cat will begin to urinate a lot more than usual, a side effect of increased water intake and a symptom of possible diabetes. Your cat needs so much water, and urinates so much, because the body is attempting to get rid of the excess glucose in the bloodstream.
Food
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Your cat may become disinterested or become obsessed with food. These are signs that the cat's body is trying to deal with an imbalance but is receiving mixed signals. A cat will not eat a lot if it is feeling unwell due to the increased glucose but the increased glucose may trigger the hypothalamus to tell the cat that it is still hungry despite constantly eating.
Weight
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A cat's weight may suddenly drop if it is diabetic simply because the cat is not getting the energy it needs from the intake of food. The result is the cat's body using the stored fat reserves to make up the difference, resulting in sudden weight loss. Because diabetic cats are often overweight, many owners may take this as a sign that a change in diet or feeding habits is having miraculous results. While weight loss in a cat is good, rapid weight loss is not.
Behavioral Changes
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Your cat walks on its toes naturally. This provides a lot of cushioning and allows for silent movement and is the result of very sophisticated nervous coordination. If the cat begins walking on the flats of its back legs (called the "hocks"), then it may be experiencing a breakdown in the neural pathways, resulting in a loss of coordination due to the diabetes.
Treatment
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All diabetic cats need to regulate their glucose; sometimes through injection, other times through oral medication, and always accompanying a change in diet. Some cats, luckily, can regain some insulin production but should still remain on a glucose-regulating diet and be monitored closely.
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