How common is feline diabetes?

In the USA feline diabetes is very common. It is ranked in the top five most common feline disorders probably. It mirrors the situation with humans, incidentally. Is there a connection?

Dr. John Heinerman in his book Low Cost Natural Cures for your Dog and Cat Your Vet Doesn't Want You to Know refers to a conversation he had with the owner of a veterinary hospital in Las Vegas (Animal Kingdom Veterinary Hospital), Dr. JoAnne Stephanos. She says that birds get diabetes too, to an increasing level. She puts it down to the food they eat. Commercial bird seed is sugary and contains preservatives.

Modern cat food is convenient for us and the manufacturers but inconvenient for the cat. I am talking about dry cat food, called "kibble" in the USA. It too has a high sugar content as the manufacturing process demands it. Cats can't taste sugar. Dr. JoAnne Stephanos says that the cat's body reacts against the unnaturally high sugar content setting up an autoimmune disorder that destroys pancreatic insulin producing cells. Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins (Your Cat), argues along the similar lines (feline diabetes). People also give cats sugary treats for reward. This is inadvisable as the cat becomes dependent on a sugar fix.

Cats that are predisposed to getting feline diabetes might suffer the condition if consistently fed sugary food. It is unnatural for a cat to eat sugar in these concentrations. The high level of preservatives are an unknown danger too. The answer is to feed wet cat food and or carefully prepared and stored raw cat food.

Feline IBD might also be linked to modern unsuitable cat food. Some dry cat food is regarded as better than others.