Feeding The Diabetic Cat

Feeding the Diabetic Cat

Diet plays a critical role in the management of feline diabetes. In fact, with the right diet and medication, it is highly likely that cats newly diagnosed with diabetes will achieve diabetic remission — meaning they will become non-diabetic and no longer require insulin therapy. This is most common within the first four to six months after diagnosis and institution of appropriate diet and insulin therapy.
What Is the Best Food for a Diabetic Cat?
Cats are true obligate carnivores and as such have a very high protein requirement and an almost nonexistent carbohydrate requirement.
Cats are designed to consume foods that are high in protein, moderate in fat and very low in carbohydrates. The following composition is ideal:
50 percent (or greater) of calories from animal-based protein
20-45 percent of calories from fat
1-2 percent of calories from carbohydrates
Rich in water (approximately 70 percent by weight)
When referring to commercial cat food, this ideal composition will only be found in canned cat food formulas. Most dry foods are not low enough in carbohydrates. Additionally, dry foods usually contain plant-based protein and are too low in overall protein to satisfy a cat’s high protein requirement. Therefore, dry foods are not generally recommended for diabetic cats.
It is well established that the ideal feline diet — especially to achieve diabetic remission — is a canned high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet.
What Is a Low-Carb Diet?
A low-carbohydrate diet is one that provides less than 10 percent of the total calories as carbohydrates.
Some cats will have ade Continue reading

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Signs and Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes

While 21 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes, there are about 8.1 million people who are walking around with the disease and don't know it (27.8 percent of people with diabetes are undiagnosed). Symptoms of diabetes vary from person to person. But, the earlier you catch them, the better it is for your overall health and diabetes care.
It is worth getting to know, and keeping a lookout for, the symptoms of diabetes—especially if any of the below already apply to you.
You are above age of 45
You have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes
You are overweight and/or inactive
You are African American, an Alaska native, American Indian, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, or Pacific Islander American and are experiencing atypical symptoms
Common Symptoms of Diabetes
If you are experiencing any of the following, you should be seen by your primary care doctor as soon as possible.
Polyuria (Excessive Urination)
Polyuria is defined as an increase in the frequency of urination. When you have abnormally high levels of sugar in your blood, your kidneys draw in water from your tissues to dilute that sugar, so that your body can get rid of it through the urine. The cells are also pumping water into the bloodstream to help flush out sugar, and the kidneys are unable to reabsorb this fluid during filtering, which results in excess urination.
To meet the clinical definition of polyuria, urine output for an adult must exceed 2.5 liters per day (normal urine output is 1.5 liters per day).
As it's pretty hard for you to measure this yourself, simply note if you're visiting the restroom Continue reading

Helping Hurricane Harvey Victims With Diabetes

We are all watching in horror as the flood levels rise in the Houston area following Hurricane Harvey, which has affected both Texas and Louisiana. Many of us are wondering what we can do to help those who are affected, especially for those living with diabetes who may have a finite supply of or limited access to diabetes supplies including insulin, syringes, test strips, etc.
During and after natural disasters such as this one, often giving money to reputable organizations is the best practice because these organizations have a system in place and know what they need to do and what to provide to the people affected.
As always, research any organization you give to to ensure that they are registered as a 501(c)(3) public charity and have a good history.
Diabetes Organizations
Insulin For Life USA
Diabetes Daily reached out to Carol Atkinson, the director of Insulin For Life (IFL USA) to see how concerned people can help those with diabetes affected by Hurricane Harvey.
Ms. Atkinson states, “IFL USA is undertaking the task of providing diabetes supplies to aid those in need. We have information on our website (ifl–usa.org), and social medial accounts (Facebook and Twitter). We are encouraging support both in the forms of in-kind supplies and financial gifts to support these relief efforts.”
“In-kind supplies” include the donation of diabetes supplies such as insulin vials and pens, syringes, test strips, etc. The list of supplies that Insulin For Life accepts is available on their website.
Insulin For Life USA is still searching for a Texas-based partner to distrib Continue reading

Should You Go to a Diabetes Psychologist?

3 questions to ask yourself to see if therapy would benefit you.
When I tell people I am a psychologist who specializes in diabetes (and who also happens to have Type 1 diabetes), they often are startled that there is such a specialty. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked “Is there really a need for that?” or “How hard can having diabetes really be?”
It’s no secret to anyone who has diabetes that living with the condition can be really tough – and that the biggest challenges are often mental. Think about it for a minute. There are 8,760 hours in a year, and if you see your doctor every 3 months for a 15-minute appointment, that means that there are about 8,759 hours a year that you are on your own to manage your diabetes. You have to make important (sometimes life-or-death) decisions about your health multiple times a day, every day.
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For some people that responsibility can get so overwhelming, frustrating, and embarrassing that some people stop checking their blood sugar and taking insulin. Also, people with diabetes must deal with things like the fear of low blood sugar, how to handle complications, and combating a diabetes-related eating disorder – the list just goes on. When I tell mental health professionals about all this, they often tell me they had no idea how hard living with diabetes can be.
If you have diabetes and you’re struggling, how do you know if you should get help? When someone asks me this, there a couple of things I encourage them to ask themselves:
1) Are your struggles affecting your ability to manage your diabete Continue reading

Sugary drinks kill 184,000 a year through diabetes, heart disease and cancer

Sugary soft drinks kill 184,000 adults every year, scientists claim.
And there could be a ticking time bomb because those under 45 consume more artificially sweetened drinks and are more at risk of diabetes and obesity.
The worldwide study is the first to estimate deaths and disability from diabetes, heart disease, and cancers caused by the drinks.
It said 133,000 deaths from diabetes, 45,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease and 6,450 deaths from cancer were caused by fizzy drinks, fruit drinks, energy drinks and sweetened ice teas in 2010.
• How much sugar is in your soft drinks?
• Sweet poison: why sugar is ruining our health
The study did not include pure fruit juices and all drinks had at least 50 kcal per eight US ounces serving or just over two thirds of a standard pop can.
Dr Dariush Mozaffarian, Dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston said: "Many countries in the world have a significant number of deaths occurring from a single dietary factor, sugar-sweetened beverages.
"It should be a global priority to substantially reduce or eliminate sugar-sweetened beverages from the diet.
"There are no health benefits from sugar-sweetened beverages, and the potential impact of reducing consumption is saving tens of thousands of deaths each year."
The study based its estimates of consumption from 62 dietary surveys including 611,971 individuals conducted between 1980 and 2010 across 51 countries, along with data on national availability of sugar in 187 countries and other information.
Based on meta-analyses of other publis Continue reading