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If you notice your cat is acting a bit out of the ordinary, write down their symptoms and call your local vet to make an appointment to see if your beloved cat has what's called "Feline Diabetes Mellitus".

The symptoms you should be looking out for are as follows:

1. Increased appetite.

2. Weight loss.

3. Cats acting lethargic.

4. Weakness in the rear legs.

5. Excessive excretion of urine.

6. Excessive or abnormal thirst, which is a leading sign of diabetes in cats, dogs and humans.

7. Fur looks thin and patchy.

8. Depression

9. Sometimes a cat will even eat less.

10. Vomiting.

11. Rapid breathing in cats with an untreated case of diabetes.

12. Seizures.

If untreated, a serious condition called, ketoacidosis, which is high blood glucose; often caused by illness or taking too little insulin, can occur. This can lead to diabetic coma, and even death.

Diabetes most often happens in older, obese cats, but these are not the only sufferers. Any cat can develop feline diabetes. Regular check- ups with the vet should help prevent your cat from developing a serious case of feline diabetes. There is no way to prevent this disease, but there are ways of helping keep the symptoms from worsening. Insulin injections, if needed, are possible, if your vet suggests them. No cat will object too much about the injections, which are typically given twice a day. The insulin is relatively inexpensive, as are the monitoring of insulin levels at home, instead of high prices at the vets to daily monitor your cat's insulin levels.

Feeding your cat with high fiber foods can also help the condition.

Diabetes is not necessarily going to be a death sentence for your cat. If you love them, you'll be able to help them have a long, happy life by simply keeping track of their levels and feeding them the right foods your vet suggests.

To detect if there is glucose in your cat's urine, you can try this;

1. Put clay- type litter in your cat's litter box, as clumping litter will not work for this test.

2. After your cat has urinated in the clay, place one tablespoon of wet litter into a small paper cup.

3. Add 1 tabl;espoon of tap water and stir.

4. Use a urine dip stick, available at any pharmacy, and read the color change according to the box the stick came in.

5. Color reading is usually half of the glucose level, so double the result.

If, in a 3+ day period, you have readings of 3+ on the urine stick, you should call your vet for an appointment to get your cat's blood glucose levels checked.

Information from:

Cat Diabetes For Beginners
http://www.felinediab etes.com/diabetes-info.htm

Feli ne Diabetes From Pawprints and Purrs, Inc.
http://www.sniksnak.com/ca thealth/diabetes.html
http://ww w.sniksnak.com/cathealth/diabe tes2.html

Learn more about this author, Emmy Cormier.
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