# Do cats recover from diabetes?



## Dusty&Lou (Jun 16, 2004)

My mom's cat was diagnosed with diabetes a couple of years ago. She started off giving her 2 units of insulin twice a day. Over the course of the last few years, they have been checking her blood sugar and adjusting the dose. (She also had a couple of insulin-overdose type of reactions, that caused them to monitor her so closely.) For a while, it was 1 unit twice a day, then 1 unit once a day, now to none. 

And the cat seems just fine! No weight loss, no excessive thirst or peeing. What gives? Could she have recovered from this condition? I never heard of a person doing that! I always think of diabetes as being a life-long illness.

She is perfectly healthy in every other way. She is 16 years old, so she has slowed down slightly the last few years. (We think she may have a touch of arthritis.) But if you saw this cat, you would never guess she was 16! (I'll have to get some pics to post.) She still jumps fences, chases -and catches- mice, and terrorizes the next door neighbors' dog and kids! 8O


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## moggiegirl (May 15, 2005)

They can recover but not to the point of no return. As long as you keep the cat on an appropriate diet and take preventative measures you can keep the cat healthy and recovered. For diabetic cats, it's important that they eat a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. Is the cat on a special prescription diet such as Hill's m/d or Purina DM? Canned food is better for the diabetic cat. I think you can even give canned Wellness to a diabetic cat because it's low in carbohydrates. But I'm not sure, because it contains sweet potato which is a source of sugar.


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## Dusty&Lou (Jun 16, 2004)

The topic of this cat's diet is a sore subject between me and my mom... I feed my kitties only the best - mostly Wellness canned. My mom feeds mostly grocery store brands dry, with some canned - usually something like Fancy Feast. For a while, I was providing my mom with Wellness when I would make an order online, but then Topaz started rejecting, so she went back to grocery store crap. (BTW, Topaz is the monster's name.)

She is not on any presciption diet. Although, she gets plenty of mice, moles, grasshoppers.... and fish-flavored water in her diet! (The neighbors have a fish pond in their yard! :lol: )


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## jennifer2 (Mar 5, 2005)

Yes they can.
It depends on the diabetes. 
There is also something called transient diabetes which is generally brought on by steroids. This is temporary. Once the body regains control the diabetes will go away.
Type 2 diabetes is most common in cats. 
Some cats (certainly not all or even most) can be diet controlled. Often that requires a low carb diet.
Other cats can go on what is referred to as a honeymoon period, in which they can go a period of time without needing insulin. This can last from days to years or even forever. 
My own cat is diabetic, has been for almost 6 years. She did have a period of about 3yrs of not needing insulin. For her, it seemed like her pancreas could produce enough insulin on its own to deal with certain amounts of sugar, but if she were to eat forbidden food it would take about 3 days of very small doses (0.5unit) for her to get control again. She had sort of a "sputtering" pancreas I guess you can say. 
She has needed insulin consistantly for about the last year and a half. Diabetics are very susceptible to infection and infection can reak havoc on bg numbers. In her case, she had a really bad dental infection that just sent her numbers skyrocketing to the point of no return.


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## jennifer2 (Mar 5, 2005)

moggiegirl said:


> I think you can even give canned Wellness to a diabetic cat because it's low in carbohydrates. But I'm not sure, because it contains sweet potato which is a source of sugar.


Yes you can. Sweet potato has a pretty low glycemic index, that's what's important, how the food will effect the blood sugar. Foods that will cause a spike are bad, foods that will keep it steady are okay.


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## Dusty&Lou (Jun 16, 2004)

Thanks Jennifer, for all the information. This has been quite an education for me.


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