Burmese cats are 5 times more likely to acquire Type II diabetes than other breeds

Burmese cat is five times more predisposed to feline diabetes mellitus compared to other purebred cats. Image: MikeB

The Burmese cat is particularly predisposed to Type II diabetes a.k.a. feline diabetes mellitus in cats. Why is this? A study tells us.

The Burmese breed at a fivefold increased risk of developing the condition compared to other purebred cats.

They concluded that "The pattern of metabolites in Burmese cats is similar to that in people with insulin resistance."

What are metabolites? They are an intermediate product produced during metabolism which are catalysed by enzymes occurring naturally within the cells of the animal. 

Insulin resistance

Insulin resistance means that the cells don't respond to insulin produced by the pancreas. The insulin modifies the amount of blood glucose. Insulin resistance means that the pancreas has to produce more insulin to overcome the cells' resistance. Eventually, the pancreas no longer produces enough insulin to overcome the cells' resistance. This results in higher blood glucose levels and ultimately leads to prediabetes or Type II diabetes.

For the scientifically-minded, the Burmese cat has "higher plasma levels of 2-hydroxybutyrate relative to MCO and Birman cats and increased concentrations of 2-oxoisocaproic acid, and tyrosine, and lower concentrations of dimethylglycine relative to MCO cats."

Birmans low-risk

The acronym MCO refers to the Maine Coon. The Birman cat is a breed that is of low risk to diabetes whereas the Maine Coon cat is of medium risk.

Preventing feline diabetes

Common sense tells me that a cat caregiver might consider doing the following to ensure that the Burmese cat does not develop type II diabetes:

1. Keep their cat at an ideal weight and particularly avoid obesity because obesity predisposes a cat to Type II diabetes as happens in humans.
2. Feeding a Burmese cat a low carbohydrate, high-protein, moderate fat diet can help to prevent insulin resistance and diabetes in at risk cats according to veterinarians. This equates to high quality WET cat food. Some vets believe the high carb content of dry foods can predispose overweight cats to diabetes. Dry cat food can be a little addictive because of the taste enhancers sprayed onto it.

RELATED: 3 diabetic cats cured with an exclusive wet cat food diet.

The study referred to is: Differences in metabolic profiles between the Burmese, the Maine coon and the Birman cat—Three breeds with varying risk for diabetes mellitus. The link to the study is: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249322

RELATED: Another article on the same topic.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Effect of sterilisation on body weight, metabolic rate and glucose tolerance of domestic cats

This short post is based upon a study published online in March 1997. The concern is quite a well discussed topic, that of domestic cats putting on weight after they've been neutered (males) or spayed (females). I am only able to see the study's summary.

Image: MikeB using Canva. Feel free to use it but please credit me and link back to this page.

This study found that "the castrated males gained more weight as fat than the sexually intact males". And "the neutered males gained significantly more weight than the entire males".

Further, "There was a significant increase in daily food intake after neutering.".

Neutered males gained weight faster than entire (unsterilised) females.

The scientists also said that "Spayed females underwent a significant decrease in fasting metabolic rate". I take this to mean that the spayed female cats had a slower metabolic rate when they were not eating i.e. fasting. It is not stated in the study but it would seem reasonable to conclude that with a lower metabolic rate there is a greater chance of fat being stored because less energy is being used and therefore the food is being burnt up at a slower rate.

They found that there was no or little effect from sterilisation on glucose tolerance. I take that to mean that there is no impact on domestic cats in terms of a predisposition towards Type II diabetes but that is my personal interpretation and it is not stated in the study.

The term 'gonadectomy' is often used by scientists to mean the removal of female testes and the female's ovaries. In other words, sterilisation of both sexes of cat.

Comment - my views

The advice given by veterinarians is to modify your male and female cats' diet after the neutering and spaying operations. I think the operation will affect different cats differently. My cat did not put on weight and was always relatively skinny and only now when he is in middle age is he putting on a little bit of weight. I delayed his neutering operation as long as possible but was pressured by the veterinarian to have it done as soon as possible. I resisted that pressure.

Extruding penis

There is another study online which says that neutering a pre-puberty male cat can leave the cat unable to extrude his penis which would be a scientific way of saying having an erection! I'm not sure this is true although the study was completed by a PhD student. She said that 100% of male cats neutered before puberty were unable to have an erection. I don't believe that at all. 

I have first-hand evidence because my cat gets boners all the time and he was neutered after puberty but there may be an issue here is to whether you neuter a male cat before or after puberty which is about seven months of age in order to allow the male cat to retain some normal malfunction and appearance. In this instance I'm talking about the facial appearance specifically the jowly, square, larger face of the intact male tomcat.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Study: Effects of neutering on bodyweight, metabolic rate and glucose tolerance of domestic cats. Link to the study: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0034-5288(97)90134-X.

Pill treats diabetic cats without daily insulin shots but is it a good idea?

This is a pill which apparently entirely substitutes giving a diabetic cat insulin jabs. It is therefore highly convenient. The drug is called Bexacat and it works by lowering blood sugar levels by causing it to be excreted in urine.

Made by Elanco Animal Health Inc., Bexacat was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December and is expected to be available in the U.S. in the next several weeks.

Pill treats diabetic cats without daily insulin shots but is it a good idea? Image: MikeB

RELATED ARTICLE: How common is diabetes in cats? It varies depending on where you are.

Often, domestic cats with diabetes in the USA have contracted the disease because of obesity. And as obesity rates are rising among the feline population so is diabetes. 

I'm told that between 1 in 100 and 1 in 500 cats in the US have been diagnosed with diabetes. Feline obesity apparently is approaching 50% of the domestic cat population in the USA.

This figure is constantly being forced down our throats! It is a dire statistic. But I have the distinct impression that if you make it more convenient to treat diabetes it's going to lead to more diabetes. This is because the cause of diabetes is carelessness in cat caregiving if that cause is obesity.

Convenience emboldens carelessness. The big pharma companies are really using human neglect to make some more money. The far better solution would be to try and find a way to ensure that people don't allow their cat companions to become obese. Perhaps that is impossible but it should not be.

Research, by the way indicates a clear reason why this bill has been manufactured. Owners of diabetic cats often have their cats euthanised. Statistics tell us that 10% of cats with a new diabetes diagnosis end up being euthanised. And within 12 months another 10% are euthanised because of the difficulties of giving them insulin jabs.

There are some downsides to this wonder pill, Bexacat. The first issue is that you can't go from giving your cat insulin jabs to then giving them Bexacat. That apparently is a no-no because this drug is dangerous and I think under those circumstances you could kill your cat due to a condition called diabetic ketoacidosis.

Also, before being prescribed this drug by your veterinarian, the cat has to be subjected to a health check for liver, kidney and pancreatic disease. The drug is not for every diabetic cat, they say.

And lastly, another barrier to its use, is the high cost. I'm told that most vets will double or triple the cost of the drug which is about $53 a month. That means they're going to be charging around $100 to $150 a month, which, it seems to me, is a substantial barrier to its use.

And on reading about the price, I suspect people who have been optimistic about using it will be brought down to earth rapidly and it may lead them to deciding to euthanise their cat.

Clearly, it's a good drug in many senses but I see a lot of downsides. Above all, it facilitates maintaining a diabetic cat.

It is harder to look after diabetic cat it may encourage cat owners to reduce their cat's weight which would in turn ease their burden in treatment. Perhaps I'm being too simplistic.

Almost half of the UK's domestic cats are obese and about 54,500 have diabetes as a consequence

NEWS AND COMMENT-UK: This is a story, currently in the news media, which essentially repeats what concerned cat owners already know, namely that there is an obesity epidemic among UK's domestic cats. The same, by the way, applies to America's cats. In fact, as I understand it, it is worse in America but there's not much difference.

2022 - the world's most obese domestic cat? Name: Liznya (Russia)

It's a known fact that obesity can lead to type II diabetes. This occurs in humans. The same thing is happening in our domestic cats. This is unsurprising because humans feed domestic cats. If they feed themselves too much, they feed their cats too much as well. It's a well proven formula 😒.

On my understanding of the process of obesity causing Type II diabetes, it is the fat which gathers around the organs which makes them malfunction. This applies to the pancreas which produces insulin. When the pancreas malfunctions there is less insulin in the bloodstream and blood sugar levels increase. This is the beginnings of Type II diabetes.

More than 3 million domestic cats in Britain are overweight. Sadly, it seems that Covid has increased the problem. A survey by Cats Protection indicated that more than 25% of the 2,000 cat owners polled admitted to overfeeding their cat during the Covid lockdown in March 2020.

In The Times newspaper today, January 28, 2022, they report on an interesting study carried out at the Medical University of Silesia, involving 750 Polish adults with an average age of 35. They found that most people are unable to correctly estimate their own body size, and that men are worse than women when it comes to judging whether they are a healthy weight. They think they are skinnier than they are. And people tend to normalise their weight to believe that they are a normal weight when they are overweight. Also, there's a stigma about being overweight which tends to make people underestimate.

Less than half were able to correctly estimate where they stood on a weight scale from underweight, normal weight to overweight or obese. They also frequently underestimated their body mass index, a measure of whether somebody is a healthy weight. The research is published in Scientific Reports. 

If a cat owner is unable to estimate whether they are obese or not they are highly unlikely to be able to do the same thing for their cat. I have said this before but obese people tend to normalise obesity and a lot of cat owners think that their cat is a normal weight when they are in fact obese.

RELATED: Average domestic cat weighing 13 pounds is at a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The Royal Veterinary College in the UK, is asking cat owners in Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and in London to enrol their diabetic cats in a new dietary trial. Is your cat eligible?

To take part in the trial your cat must have been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus for six months. This, in my book, is Type II diabetes. If your cat is enrolled, he or she will be placed on a test diet for 12 weeks. They will also assess the cat's long-term outcome. The diet is an ultra-low carbohydrate diet. It will be free to cat owners.

RELATED: Can cats be cured of diabetes?

It has been conclusively shown in humans that losing weight can have a dramatic improvement in health vis-à-vis diabetes. Diabetes can go into remission with even relatively modest amount of weight loss on my reading of the information in the news media.

You will have to bring your cat to 5-7 outpatient appointments at the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals near Potters Bar, in Hertfordshire.

RELATED: Cat diabetes – home treatment – first-hand experience.

The assessment will also look at whether the microbiome in your cat's gut changes as it changes with respect to humans when they reverse the diabetes.

One owner talks of the benefits of weight loss and eliminating diabetes. Her name is Rachel Fortescue. She lives in Fratton, Essex, UK. She put her diabetic Burmese cat, Lester, through the pilot scheme last year which reversed diabetes. 

She told The Telegraph newspaper: 

"I have watched Lester turn back into a happy, affectionate, playful cat again as the symptoms of his diabetes has disappeared and for that I am eternally grateful."

Most common domestic cat diseases treated under pet insurance policies in America

The most common domestic cat diseases treated under pet insurance policies in America in 2018 were reported as: undiagnosed diarrhoea and vomiting, urinary tract diseases, kidney diseases, gastrointestinal conditions, hyperthyroidism, diabetes, periodontitis and general oral health problems. This information comes from five different pet insurance companies: Trupanion, ASPCA, Pets Best, Nationwide and Embrace. 

You can see a trend there or at least I can. Urinary tract problems including kidney disease are a major issue in domestic cats and also it seems are diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. These would appear to be related to diet because what goes in has to be digested and waste is expelled. Both ends of the food processing channel are affected.

Photo: Pixabay.

I have this feeling that there is something hidden is going on in homes in the West which is affecting the health of domestic cats. The high incidents of kidney disease is unacceptable. And I don't think anything is being done about it. I'm referring to food and the chemicals in the home such as fire retardants and carpet chemicals. These are volatile chemicals which give off fumes and these fumes linger in the atmosphere inside the home. I wonder whether the air quality inside homes is sufficiently good for domestic gas. If it isn't it can't be good for people either but cats are nearer the surfaces.

Cats lie on sofas. If that sofa has a fire retardant inside it then the cat is more likely to absorb these chemicals. The same goes for carpet chemicals. These are examples. And as for cat food, I think we know now that the cheap dry cat food is simply not good enough. A lot of people rely on it because it is cheap and convenient. They allow their cat to graze at any time day or night. Arguably this is overly convenient.

You add to poor quality dry cat food the extended daytime absence of solme human caregivers and you create a slightly toxic world for the domestic cat which can result in urinary tract health problems such as cystitis, a bacterial infection of the bladder, exacerbated by stress.

If there is a high predominance of gastrointestinal diseases causing vomiting and diarrhoea then surely this points to food. Doesn't it? Shouldn't veterinarians be looking at the quality of food provided to domestic cats? Perhaps they don't want to look at it because they want a huge number of cats coming through their doors vomiting and shitting diarrhoea. I am too cynical. One pet insurance company said that they paid out US$9,650 to treat a cat with a gastrointestinal condition.

They also said that they paid out US$40,000 to treat a cat with kidney disease. Do the insurance companies investigate the cause of these diseases? Do they dig around and try and prevent the diseases happening? Do they have a vested interest in doing nothing about these diseases? Do they work together with veterinarians and pet food manufacturers to try and eliminate them? I know there are lots of questions but can you find the answers? I don't think you can. I know that the pet food manufacturers work with veterinarians and this to my mind creates a conflict of interest.

Two pet insurance companies rated diabetes as their third most common cat illness claim. Arguably, feline diabetes, which I presume refers to type II diabetes or sugar diabetes, might be caused by the high carbohydrate content in dry cat food. Dry cat food has to have a high carbohydrate content in order to make it. It is there simply as a manufacturing necessity. Domestic cats don't need this sort of carbohydrate level in their food. It is unnatural to them and it is causing, it is argued, hypoglycaemic cats and overburdening the pancreas which produces insulin. This upsets the insulin/sugar balance in domestic cats which can lead to type II diabetes. This is the argument of a well-known veterinarian in America called Elizabeth M Hodgkins DVM.

I am harping on about cat food. And I do give my cat dry cat food although it is the highest quality I can find. And I also feed him lots of high quality wet cat food. But I am dissatisfied in general with the quality of cat food. It does not reflect accurately enough the perfect domestic cat diet which is the mouse which is 40% protein, 50% fat and only 3% carbohydrates. The average dry cat food for cats contains 35-50% carbohydrate calories according to the catinfo.org website. Do you see the massive difference and how that could impact a cat's metabolism and ability to cope with it?

The Lack of a Sweet Tooth in Cats

Domestic cats are neither attracted to nor avoid the taste of sweet carbohydrates. In an extreme adaptation to a carnivorous diet, the domestic cat has taste buds which are very responsive to amino acids but unresponsive to many mono and disaccharides (carbohydrates).

By contrast, many dogs have a sweet tooth and prefer natural sugars, for example: sucrose, fructose, glucose and lactose but not maltose.

Cats and dogs respond very differently to stimuli which is sweet tasting although both as we know our carnivores.  The dog is, it seems, a borderline omnivore. Domestic cats find bitter tastes objectionable. Dogs should not eat cat food and vice versa.

The sweet receptor or taste buds that can taste sweetness are made up of two “coupled proteins" which are generated by two separate genes.

The domestic cat, and in fact all cats, lack the amino acid that make up the DNA of one of these genes.

Cats are the only mammals lacking what is called the “sweet gene".  Despite this well-known fact major pet food manufacturers use corn (24% carbohydrates) and other grains in their food. It has been postulated that this is a reason why an ever-increasing number of domestic cats are becoming diabetic.

Modern dry cat food today has around 30% carbohydrates and cats can't handle it which when we think about it is a bit shocking.  I wonder whether millions of cat owners realise that.

Cats cannot taste the sugars in dry cat food but they are doing the cat harm.

Feline Excess Urination

A person visiting a major website about the domestic cat said that he was on a fixed retirement income, had not taken his domestic cat to the veterinary surgeon and that his cat was urinating much more than normal and he wondered why. He said that he was going through about 90 lbs of cat litter every month compared to 35 pounds normally and he wanted some advice.

The obvious answer is to take the cat to the vet but it is amazing how often people don't want to do that and they ask questions on the Internet and hope to get a good answer and fix the problem which is highly unlikely, meanwhile his cat is suffering.

One of the feline diseases that causes this is diabetes. The cat does not produce enough insulin. This results in an elevated blood sugar level. In turn, excess glucose is eliminated by the kidneys resulting in frequent urination. As a result, the cat drink more water.

Another disease that causes a cat to drink more water and urinate more often is kidney disease. Both diabetes and kidney disease are fairly commonplace amongst the domestic cat population. And both of these diseases cannot be cured by a cat caretaker. They both require careful handling and a proper diagnosis.

Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease can result in frequent urination and passing blood. The cat may urinate outside of the litter box.

Increased drinking and urination with very dilute urine may indicate that a cat has Cushing's disease. About 75% of cats with Cushing's disease also have diabetes mellitus. This is not a complete list.

There's no doubt that when a cat is consistently peeing more than normal, as a matter of urgency, the cat's owner should take her/his cat to the vet.

Kibble Kats

There have been three recent cases of famously obese cats: Meow, SpongeBob and now Garfield. Meow was 39lbs. SpongeBob started off at 33lbs and Garfield is just 40lbs in weight. He's the latest in this line of large cats. He is a big boned cat anyway so that extra size puts him above the other two. Both Garfield and SpongeBob are New York state cats.

Garfield weighing in at 39.75 lbs.

The interesting bit for me is what the shelter people say. They believe that Garfield was fed a diet of kibble constantly. I suppose that means there was always a large bowl of dry cat food on the ground for him to graze from. It must have been very tasty kibble. As you know it is the high level of carbs in kibble that causes weight gain - and potentially other health problems such as urinary tract problems and diabetes. Garfield, though has been checked out and is in good health, except for his weight which could cause bad health.

Another interesting thing to come out of this is that some cats simply can't regulate their intake of food. They eat like humans, for pleasure. That is not a wild cat trait. It is a domestic cat development. And it does point to the fact that dry cat food is designed to be very tasty. Although cats can't taste sugar (sweetness) they perhaps can be addicted (is that too strong a word?) to a taste - the pleasure of eating. Boredom may also play a role in cats becoming obese. The experts say 30% (or is it a third - 33%?) of American domestic cats are obese.

The shelter people who cared for SpongeBob also mentioned the health risks of dry cat food. There seems to be a consensus. Are vets coming around to the idea that kibble does carry health risks if not managed properly? What are vets doing to manage this? They have a role to play too, I believe.

Garfield's caretaker sadly died. That is how he was discovered. Perhaps the elderly "owner" had difficulties engaging Garfield and exercising him etc. Dry cat food is incredibly convenient. That's what makes it so marketable. From the standpoint of profitability it is the perfect product. It stores for a long time without any particular requirements and stays edible in the bowl for a long time too. The ultimate convenience food: cat fast food.

Kibble Kats are modern cats. I don't want to over do this. But these famous Kibble Kats are a nice bit of promotion for wet food manufacturers and raw diet makers. Both products are better than dry cat food. Kibble has a place in cat's diet as part of an overall varied diet of mainly wet food that mimics a cat's prey better but let Garfield and the Kibble Kats be a warning. Full-time kibble is not suitable as a cat diet.

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.

Symptoms of Feline Diabetes

This short post is exclusively about Symptoms of Feline Diabetes. There are many sites where the disease is discussed in detail and I have a web page on the condition built around the proposition that a modern cat's diet in the form of dry cat food is at least partly responsible. Read my attempt here: Feline Diabetes.


The four classic and probably most noticeable Symptoms of Feline Diabetes to people who keep cats would be:

---substantially increased appetite accompanied by:-

---weight loss (this would be particularly noticeable in the light of an increased appetite)

---urinating a lot more. This would and should be noticeable to people keeping cats particularly if you are the one who changes the litter tray.

---drinking a lot more. Once again this should be very noticeable if you are the person who feeds your cat. Water bowls will go down much more rapidly.


In addition there may be these additional symptoms:

---vomiting. Although a cat vomiting can be something not to be concerned about. This is for a veterinarian to decide but if our cat is vomiting and the other 4 classic symptoms are present then this would on the face of it be one of the symptoms of Feline Diabetes. Also see below, advanced stage.

---poor coat condition. This cannot, on its own be a symptom of feline diabetes. It is simply another diagnostic factor. For example, old cats can have poor coat condition because of an inability to self groom in inaccessible places. Or a cat may be overweight making it difficult to reach certain areas of the body. Although a cat being overweight with an excessive thirst can be an indicator of diabetes.

---apparently some cats with feline diabetes walk with hocks touching the ground.

---weakness caused by low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) can be serious. A cat will be listless.

---dehydration. A symptom of dehydration is when the skin on the scruff of the neck when pulled fails to return to its original position in a normal time. Gums should be moist and tacky. This may indicate an advanced stage.

---muscle wasting (extreme weight loss).


Advanced Symptoms of Feline Diabetes (due to keto-acidosis) are:-

---marked dehydration

---vomiting

---listlessness

---loss of appetite

---coma


Symptoms of Feline Diabetes to a Cat Health Problems

Sources:

• Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine
  
• About
• Sniksnak.com
• Felinediabetes.com
• Veterinary Notes for Cat Owners by Trevor and Jean Turner.