Feline Diabetes: Weight Gain Not Type of Diet Matters

Filed in archive Diet , Lifestyle , Research on December 5, 2007

It seems that more and more cats are becoming diabetic. Remember that diabetes mellitus in middle-aged cats can be fatal!




What causes diabetes in cats? The owner's lifestyle? The foods feed to cat? Scientifically, the cause is still unknown -but there has been a debate whether a dry food diet puts cats at greater risk for diabetes.

Now, according to a new study from a University of Missouri-Columbia veterinarian suggests that weight gain - not the type of diet - is more important when trying to prevent diabetes in cats.

Thereby making the choice of dry or wet cat food makes little difference. I guess it is how much you feed your cat so it gains more weight, increasing the cat's ris of developing diabetes.

According to Robert Backus, assistant professor and director of the Nestle Purina Endowed Small animal nutrition Program at MU:

"The most effective thing you can do is be the one who determines how much your cat eats. We have been conditioned to fat cats, but cats should have only between 18 percent to 20 percent body fat."

How much your cat eats! Or maybe it follows that if eat too much your cat eat to much as well?

Find more details from the University of Missouri-Columbia.