Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease in cats whereby either insufficient insulin response or insulin resistance leads to persistently high blood glucose concentrations. Diabetes affects up to 1 in 230 cats, and may be becoming increasingly common. Diabetes mellitus is less common in cats than in dogs. Eighty to ninety-five percent of diabetic cats experience something similar to type 2 diabetes but are generally severely insulin dependent by the time symptoms are diagnosed. The condition is treatable, and if treated properly the cat can experience a normal life expectancy. In type 2 cats, prompt effective treatment may lead to diabetic remission, in which the cat no longer needs injected insulin. Untreated, the condition leads to increasingly weak legs in cats and eventually to malnutrition, ketoacidosis and/or dehydration, and death. Symptoms Cats will generally show a gradual onset of the disease over a few weeks or months, and it may escape notice for even longer. The first outward symptoms are a sudden weight loss (or occasionally gain) accompanied by excessive drinking and urination; for example, cats can appear to develop an obsession with water and lurk around faucets or water bowls. Appetite is suddenly either ravenous (up to three times normal) or absent. Neuropathy in the hind legs may cause the cat to develop a plantigrade stance, walking on its hocks rather than its toes. The front legs may develop a corresponding palmigrade stance, with the cat standing on its "palms" rather than its toes. These symptoms arise from the body's inability to use glucose as an energy source. A fasting glucose blood test will normally be suggestive of diabetes at this point. The same home blood test monitors used in humans are also used on cats, usually by obtaining blood from the ear edges or paw pads. As the disease progresses, ketone bodies will be present in the urine, which can be detected with the same urine strips as used for testing human urine. In the final stages, the cat starts wasting, with the body breaking down its own fat and muscle to survive. Lethargy/limpness and acetone-smelling breath are acute symptoms of ketoacidosis and/or dehydration and constitute a medical emergency. Untreated, diabetes leads to coma and then death. Diabetic emergencies Too little insulin over time can cause tissue starvation, as glucose cannot reach the brain or body. In combination with dehydration, fasting, infection, or other body stresses, the condition may