Dietary management of diabetes mellitus

Dietary therapy should be designed to enhance insulin therapy and improve glycaemic regulation of the diabetic dog and cat. Dietary therapy will not alleviate the necessity for insulin therapy in dogs and cats with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Preliminary work suggests that dietary therapy may ultimately be the only therapy necessary to maintain glycaemic control in cats with suspected non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Currently, the feeding of a high fibre, high complex carbohydrate diet is recommended at a caloric intake designed to correct obesity and maintain ideal bodyweight. Several small meals should be fed during the period of insulin activity, to help minimise post prandial fluctuations in the blood glucose concentration.