FELINE MEDICINE
Owner impression of control (PU/PD, appetite, weight
gain) is a very valuable monitoring tool. Serum fructosamine reflects glucose levels over the preceding
week. Using the change is fructosamine over time
in individual cats is probably more reliable than onceoff readings, as concentrations can vary considerably
between individual cats.
4. Dietary management - changing to high protein
diet for obligate carnivores.
The aim of dietary modification is to normalise the
cats’ body condition –be it obese or suffering from
muscle loss, decrease post-prandial hyperglycaemia
and minimise fluctuations in blood glucose.
Which diet? The ideal diet should have a high protein content > 40% of metabolisable energy (ME),
(>10g/100kCal) and low carbohydrates <15% ME
(<25% DM / < 3g/100kCal). Cats on a high protein
weight loss formulation will lose weight more rapidly,
maintain lean muscle mass and will remain weight
stable after weight loss.
The carbohydrate should be a complex carbohydrate
with a low glycaemic index (GI) for example barley.
The “carbohydrate load” takes into account both the
amount of carbohydrate as well as the GI factor. Carbohydrate restricted foods typically have a higher fat
content for calorie provision and vice versa. Carbohydrates exacerbate the post-prandial glucose response
- which can be attenuated by the addition of fibre more research is however needed in this area.
Control of energy intake is the next step. The average indoor cat needs 40kcal/kg/day. The optimal
feeding regimen for cats with diabetes has not been
researched. It does seem however, that when feeding a low carbohydrate (low GI) diet, the timing of the
meals does not need to be matched to the insulin
injections as clinically relevant, post-prandial blood
glucose increases are unlikely. Multiple small meals
as well as ad lib feeding routines can be followed, as
long as the amount is measured out in the case of
overweight cats and is at least the amount required
on a daily basis.3
Automatic feeders can be used in these situations.
Feeding multiple small meals in the day is also considered a better approach to manage a feline XX