Goals

Diabetes can be managed successfully with a daily routine of insulin treatment, diet and exercise

The goal of managing diabetes is to get your diabetic cat back to being as healthy and happy as possible. You will work with guidance from your veterinarian to give insulin every day to improve or eliminate your cat’s signs. The insulin dose needs to be managed carefully to avoid lower than normal blood glucose (hypoglycemia) and any associated signs, which occur when the dose is too high for your cat’s needs.

Management of feline diabetes can be considered successful when the clinical signs of diabetes mellitus improve without inducing hypoglycemia (low blood glucose concentrations) or if remission has been reached.  

Some diabetic cats go into remission and no longer need insulin after a variable period of treatment. This appears to be related to previous treatment (corticosteroids), loss of weight loss in the 1-2 months following diagnosis and duration of diabetes. Remission (resolution of signs of diabetes continues for at least 4 weeks after insulin treatment has been stopped) is possible in cats where the pancreas has not fully lost the ability to produce insulin and recovers with insulin treatment and may be helped if a low carbohydrate diabetic diet is fed. If your cat goes into remission you will still need to take special care of your cat’s diet and lifestyle. Ask your veterinarian whether remission may be a treatment goal for your cat.