Therapeutic goals for otherwise healthy diabetic cats

The principle goals of treating diabetes in cats are to correct the major clinical signs of diabetes (weight loss, polydipsia / polyuria, and polyphagia or inappetence), and to prevent diabetic ketoacidosis. Additional goals are to minimize the risk of hypoglycaemia by appropriate dose adjustment of insulin or oral hypoglycaemic agents. Appropriate therapy of cats may also lead to diabetic remission, although currently it is not possible at diagnosis to predict which cats are more likely to go into remission. Treatment that is most effective in correcting hyperglycaemia is more likely to lead to remission by facilitating the recovery of the pancreatic cells from glucose toxicity.