A change from dry food to canned can help some cats that are insulin-dependent. Here’s what you need to know.

By Karen Commings

For cats diagnosed with diabetes, simple changes in the kind of food they eat may end insulin-dependence. Diabetes mellitus, often referred to as sugar diabetes, is a disease of the endocrine (glandular) system affecting people, dogs and cats. “About one in 200 cats develops diabetes,” says Deborah S. Greco, DVM, PhD, staff endocrinologist at the Animal Medical Center in New York and board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

Type I diabetes is caused by the inability of the pancreas to produce adequate amounts of the hormone insulin. Type II diabetes is more common and is characterized by the body’s inability to use insulin at the cellular level. Diabetic…

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