Feline diabetes mellitus is increasingly treatable through dietary management, with remission achievable in a significant proportion of newly diagnosed cats with appropriate intervention.
Feline diabetes management is fundamentally a quality of life intervention. Poorly controlled diabetes causes chronic thirst, excessive urination, weight loss, weakness, and eventual diabetic ketoacidosis — a severely distressing condition. The welfare implications of achieving remission versus ongoing insulin management are significant: cats in remission avoid twice-daily injections and the stress of blood glucose monitoring, while their owners avoid the considerable burden of intensive management. Achieving remission requires early dietary intervention with genuinely low-carbohydrate food — the most important therapeutic decision is often which food to feed rather than which insulin to use.