Feline Diabetes Glossary

Beta Cells:

Cells on the pancreas which are responsible for making insulin. These are the ones that have gone wrong!

Blood Glucose Profile or Blood Glucose Curve:

A graph of blood glucose levels over a period of time. At the time of insulin injection, and at regular intervals throughout the day, a blood glucose sample is taken. A sample is normally taken every two hours, over a 12 (or preferably)24 hour period, to determine how a specific type and amount of insulin is affecting blood glucose levels. See the Blood Glucose Curves page for a fuller explanation.

Bronzed Diabetes:

Its proper medical name is haemochromatosis. A hereditary disease in which there is an increased absorption of iron in the body tissues, leading to liver damage, diabetes mellitus, and bronze tinge to the skin colour.

Cushing’s Disease:

A disease caused by a tumour on the pituitary gland. This disease presents itself in numerous ways, including diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes Insipidus:

A much rarer disease than diabetes mellitus, characterised by the production of excessive quantities of dilute urine and consequent great thirst. Although it displays many of the same symptoms as diabetes mellitus (excessive drinking and excessive urination) it’s a completely separate illness caused by an anti-diuretic hormone imbalance. It’s a permanent but very treatable condition. If your cat has diabetes insipidus, this website may be useful.

Diabetic Ketoacidosis:

Build up of ketones in the blood, due to profound lack of insulin. A life-threatening condition that needs immediate veterinary attention. See ketoacidosis below

Fructosamine Test

Where a blood glucose test gives you the current blood glucose reading, a fructosamine test gives you the average glucose reading over the last two or three weeks. The higher the fructosamine concentration, the higher the average blood glucose levels over that period. In other words, blood testing gives a snapshot figure (where you are right now) whereas a fructosamine test gives a longer term view. If fructosamine results are on the high side, it would suggest that the current insulin/feeding regime isn’t adequate and that your cat is getting too much sugar or too little insulin. Hyperthyroidism can interfere with fructosamine test results.

Glipizide:

An tablet that can be used to control blood glucose levels in a few diabetic cats who still have some insulin production of their own. Gliclazide and Glipizide belong to a class of drugs known as sulphonylureas. These tablets work by stimulating the pancreas to produce more insulin. In reality I have yet to hear of a cat that is successfully regulated on oral medication for any length of time.

Glucagon:

Another hormone produced by the pancreas, which has the opposite effect to insulin. It raises the concentration of glucose in the blood by promoting the breakdown of glycogen.

Glycogen:

The form in which glucose is stored in the liver.

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Glycosuria:

Glucose in the urine. This means that the renal threshold has been exceeded and the kidneys can’t cope with the amount of glucose in the bloodstream. One of the classic signs of diabetes.

Honeymoon

Not the wedding type, but used to refer to periods when your cat spontaneously begins producing insulin again, either for a short time or for years. As far as I know, cats are the only animals that do this. Obviously, if your cat is producing its own insulin, it won’t need its injections.

Hyper-:

A prefix that you’ll come across a great deal in any medical terminology, which simply means "excessive" or " high".

Hyperglycaemia:

An excessively high level of glucose in the blood, a feature of untreated or inadequately treated diabetes mellitus. Over the long term, hyperglycaemia can lead to diabetic neuropathy, cystitis, kidney damage and possibly ketoacidosis.

Hypo-:

Another common medical prefix, it just means "below", "less than"’ and means a deficiency of something.

Hypoglycaemia or “Hypo Episode”:

Dangerously low blood glucose levels. This can be a serious life-threatening condition, which needs immediate treatment. Hypoglycaemia can damage the brain and lead to coma and death. The most common cause of "hypo" is a relative overdose of insulin. The dose may be the same as normal but food intake may have been lower than normal, or exercise has been excessive so that fuel is used up faster than normal. See the Associated Conditions page for what to do in an emergency.

Insulin:

A hormone produced by the pancreas which enables glucose to enter the cells of the body, where it is used for energy.

Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM):

A form of diabetes in which so little (or no) insulin is produced by the body that insulin must be given by injection. Click on the What is Diabetes? page for a more complete explanation.

Ketoacidosis:

Ketoacidosis is the presence of abnormally high levels of ketones in the blood. Ketones are acidic and make the blood highly acidic too. This blood acidity is called "acidosis" and it causes major biochemical upsets in the body, and can to nausea, vomiting, pain, confusion, coma and death.

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Ketones:

Ketones are a by-product of fat metabolism. Without insulin, the body burns muscle and tissue in an effort to feed itself. A by-product of burning fat and muscle are ketones (or ketone bodies). The body can cope with a certain amount of ketones, which are flushed out of the body by the kidneys. But left unchecked, ketones build up over time, overwhelming the kidney’s ability to get rid of them. Ketones that build up in the body for a long time lead to serious illness and coma. Large amounts are toxic to brain function

Ketonuria:

The presence of ketones in the urine. This can lead to Diabetic Ketoacidosis which is extremely dangerous as it can lead to coma and ultimately death. It’s a situation that requires immediate veterinary attention. You can check for ketones in the urine at home, by using Keto-Diastix. See Urine Testing page for further details.

Methylcobalamin:

An activated form of Vitamin B12 which is more readily useable by the body. Medical studies seem to suggest that it can reverse nerve damage caused by diabetic neuropathy. See the Associated Conditions page for further information. If purchasing methylcobalamin for your cat, ensure that it doesn't contain xylitol.

Millimole - mmol/l:

There are two main methods of describing concentrations: by weight, and by molecular count. Weights are in grams, molecular counts in moles. In both cases, the unit is usually modified by milli- or micro- or other prefix, and is always "per" some volume, often a litre.

mmol/l is millimoles per litre, and is the world standard unit for measuring glucose in blood. It is the designated SI (Systeme International) unit, which means it is the World Standard that is used everywhere in the world except in America!

The Americans use mg/dl or milligrams per decilitre as the measuring unit for blood glucose, hence the need to divide American figures by 18 to arrive at the UK equivalent.(Do note that as you’re converting the molecular count of something into a weight, this "divide by 18" rubric only works for glucose.)

Neuropathy:

Damage to nerves. Diabetic neuropathy is a family of nerve disorders caused by diabetes. The type seen most often in cats is peripheral neuropathy, which effects the small nerves in the feet and legs, leading to your cat walking strangely, in a "plantigrade" manner. Once the blood glucose levels are brought under control, a number of owners of diabetic cats have noticed great improvements in their cats legs when methylcobalamin is given to their pets. See the Associated Conditions page for further information.

Non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM):

A type of diabetes mellitus in which although the blood glucose levels are higher than normal, they are not immediately life threatening, and your cat can survive without insulin injections. This form of diabetes can often be controlled with changes to diet and/or weight loss . Also called Type II diabetes.

Oral hypoglycaemic agent:

A pill to be swallowed, which sometimes helps lower blood glucose levels, for example, Glipizide. Not found to be terribly effective in cats, but often tried if the cat appears to be non-insulin dependent.

Pancreatitis:

Inflammation of the pancreas, associated with a trauma or blockage of the pancreatic ducts. (Alcohol abuse can cause pancreatitis in humans, but that’s not likely to be a problem for your average cat!) Repeated attacks of chronic, long term pancreatitis can lead to destruction of the pancreas. Islet cells of the pancreas may also be destroyed, which leads to diabetes.

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Plantigrade stance:

Standing and walking with the hocks on or almost touching the floor. Caused by long term excess sugar in the blood, ie hyperglycaemia. Plantigrade means to walk with both heals and toes on the ground, cats normally walk on just their toes. In other words your cat will walk with more of the leg on the ground than normal, almost as if they were crawling and walking at the same time. Associated with neuropathy, see the Associated Conditions page for further information.

Polydipsia:

Excessive thirst resulting in excessive drinking. As a result of the excess sugar in the blood stream which the body needs to pee out in dilution as urine, diabetics are very very thirsty. Your cat will be at its water bowl all the time, and returning to it constantly throughout the day. (As a very rough guide, I read somewhere that the average non-diabetic cats weighing four kilograms drinks about 200ml of water per day.)

Polyphagia:

Excessive eating. As glucose isn’t getting in to the cells of the body, the body thinks that it is starving, and screams out for more food, hence the outward sign of a ravenous cat.

Polyuria:

Excessive urination. All that excess glucose in the blood stream is washed into the kidneys with all that excess water that your cat is drinking – it’s gotta come out somewhere!

Regulation:

Using insulin to maintain the blood glucose level within an acceptable range. The point at which your cat’s intake of food is balanced by the amount of insulin you’re injecting. This is Nirvana!

Renal Failure:

Also called kidney failure, chronic renal failure, or CRF for short. Sometimes referred to as chronic renal insufficiency, or CRI. The kidneys are the body’s filter, taking waste products from the blood and adjusting levels of various essential chemical substances to as to keep them within normal limits. Kidneys are also largely responsible for ensuring that the body contains the right amount of water and that the blood is the correct acidity. Kidneys also produce a substance (erythropoietin) which stimulates the rate of blood cell formation in the bone marrow. Kidney failure can be caused by a number of things, including steroids and just plain old age. Kidney failure leads to an accumulation of toxic waste products in the blood, and eventually coma and death. See the Associated Conditions page for more information.

Renal Threshold:

Normally, glucose is a precious commodity and the body goes to great lengths to keep it. The kidneys possess a natural barrier to prevent the loss of glucose. In diabetes, because of the excessive sugar in the bloodstream, this barrier is overwhelmed and sugar spills into the urine. The level at which this spilling over occurs differs from cat to cat (surprise surprise!) but it’s when the blood sugar level reaches about 12 to 15. This spilling over is known as exceeding the renal threshold

Somogyi effect:

It sounds completely illogical, but this is a condition in which the blood glucose level increases if too much insulin is given. It is also called rebounding, rebound hyperglycaemia or insulin-induced hyperglycaemia. If blood glucose levels drop too low or too suddenly, the body panics, thinking it’s being starved. Stored glucose is released to end this “starvation” and the body is flooded with glucose. This causes the blood glucose levels to bounce rapidly from next to zero to really high. This can happen when too much insulin is being injected. Common when first beginning to treat your diabetic cat, the solution is to give less insulin. (Or perhaps try a different sort of insulin)

Stress-induced Hyperglycaemia:

A condition in cats in which the blood glucose level becomes abnormally high when the animal is stressed. Unfortunately this is incredibly common when your cat goes to the vet’s office! I believe it’s because of this that any blood glucose readings taken at your vets will be higher than any reading you would get at home. Stress-induced Hyperglycaemia is sometimes referred to as "White Coat Syndrome".

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