Why Are Dry-Food-Fed Diabetics So Prone to Hypoglycemia?
Many diabetic cats on insulin experience periodic episodes of “hypoglycemia” when their blood sugar plummets. These cats, like Punkin, become weak or even comatose, and may even have a seizure. These signs all result when the cat’s brain isn’t getting enough sugar (glucose). This serious complication is all too common in dry food fed diabetics. However, we do not see clinical hypoglycemia in diabetic cats that are eating low carbohydrate wet foods. Why? To answer this question, we have to understand how the pancreas and liver in the cat work together. As we have discussed, one of the pancreas’s most important jobs is to make sure that the cat’s blood sugar level does not go too high. On the other hand, one of the liver’s most important jobs is too make sure that the blood sugar level does not go too low. The pancreas and liver work together as a team to keep the blood sugar level steady in the normal range for health. The pancreas produces constant small bursts of insulin over the cour
