Fielding D. O’Niell, DVM, MS
Diabetes Mellitus is a pancreatic disorder resulting in decreased insulin production. In cats, as in humans, diabetes is strongly related to obesity. Until recently,almost all diabetic cats required insulin injections twice a day. Ground-breaking research done by a former LSU colleague of mine has changed the whole paradigm of feline diabetes.
Dr. Deb Greco, a veterinary endocrinologist, was studying feline diabetes when her M.D. research counterparts noticed an interesting trend among human diabetics. Pacific Islanders and Inuit Eskimos were becoming diabetics at an alarming rate which seemed to correlate with the arrival of "fast food" restaurants. For thousands of years, these people had survived on a diet high in protein and fat (fish) but almost devoid of carbohydrates. They had not adapted to metabolize the high levels of carbs in "fast foods" and became diabetics.
Dr. Greco drew a parallel to cats who also have survived for thousands of years on this "Atkins diet" high in protein and fat (rodents) but low in carbs. In our infinite wisdom, we humans concocted commercial cat foods with carbohydrate levels much higher than cats were adapted to - possibly leading to diabetes. Dr. Greco took her research a step further by placing her insulin-dependent diabetic cats on their primordial "Atkins diet". Lo and behold, the vast majority no longer required insulin injections. Unfortunately, this strategy doesn't work in dogs or humans because of a subtle difference in carbohydrate metabolism unique to cats.
Purina consulted with Dr. Greco to develop a feline diabetes diet called D/M. Unpublished studies (personal communication) indicate that the canned version of D/M may have a much higher success rate than the dry. Since the development of D/M we have gotten many of our diabetic patients off insulin, including our house cat, OJ.