There are various signs of diabetes mellitus to look out for in a cat. Diabetes mellitus, or feline diabetes as referred to in cats, is a form of diabetes which is very detrimental to cats’ health. Diabetes mellitus is a condition whereby a cat’s pancreas is unable to produce enough insulin or the cat’s pancreatic islet cells are unable to use up the insulin to process glucose into a form which is necessary for the growth and well-being of the animal. There are three main types of diabetes mellitus: Type 1 and type 2, each of which is very harmful.
Some signs of diabetes mellitus can easily be noticed while others are difficult to detect by just observing the cat from afar. Most signs of diabetes mellitus present as excesses of the cat’s normal livelihood.
These may be in the form of:
• increased or reduced consumption of food which could easily lead to anorexia or fattening of the cat. An increase in the consumption of food could also lead to a lot of vomiting which is one of the signs of diabetes mellitus to look out for.
• increased or reduced consumption of fluids which could lead to increased urination or urgent urination. The difference between increased urination and urgent urination is that the former entails a lot of excretion of urine while the latter means that the cat tries to urinate very many times but only removes a little urine each time
Signs to look out for in the different types of diabetes mellitus
Type 1 Diabetes
Most cats will tend to have type 2 diabetes. Type one diabetes is however worse. In type 1 diabetes, signs of diabetes mellitus will present more severely than in type 2. In this type of diabetes, the cat’s immune system tends to attack the pancreatic islet cells which produce insulin necessary in the processing of glucose. This leads to a lack of enough insulin which is required to facilitate the glucose breakdown process and subsequently to an increase in glucose in the body. Most cats with type 1 diabetes do not survive unless special attention from a veterinary is sought for them because this essentially means that they need to have insulin physically introduced in their body systems. The signs of diabetes mellitus such as vomiting, fluctuations in eating appetite, frequency in urination and bad breath tend to affect the cat much more severely and can easily be noted.
Type 2 Diabetes
This type of diabetes will be found in most cats and tends to be a bit more controllable. In this type of diabetes, the cat’s body does produce insulin well but with time, the cat’s pancreatic islet cells do not respond to the insulin as intended. After some period, even the insulin levels being produced by the cat stop dropping and start affecting it adversely. A condition referred to as insulin resistance develops in cats with type 2 diabetes over time and this must be attended to early enough in order to avoid dire consequences later on. Signs of diabetes mellitus do not present in type 2 diabetes as strongly as they do in type 1 diabetes. Nevertheless, it is good to try and be vigilant on the smaller changes that a cat starts reacting to in order to discover if the cat has diabetes early enough.