By Wendy C. Brooks, DVM, DipABVP
Educational Director, VeterinaryPartner.com

In people, diabetes is readily classified into Type I and Type II forms. The Type I human diabetic has no capacity for insulin secretion at all and is totally insulin dependent. The Type II diabetic develops diabetes later in life and simply has an inadequate (ie only partial) capacity for insulin secretion. Since insulin injections are unpopular among people, there is a demand for oral products to control blood sugar. Unfortunately, there is just no substitute for insulin but when there is simply not enough insulin, oral products have a place, making what insulin there is work better.

Insulin injections are similarly unpopular among the owners of diabetic pets and there is demand for an oral solution in the veterinary market. Unfortunately, non-human diabetes is not so readily classified as Type I and Type II nor have the human oral products been widely used/tested in pets. Still, there is some information available and we hope to summarize it.

ORAL AGENTS IN THE CAT

It seems that many cats experience a diabetes that is analogous to human Type II diabetes; that is, these cats are still able to produce at least some insulin. These patients, though there is no way to identify them except by medication trial, may respond to medications given orally. In many cases, the benefit of an oral treatment is to improve the effectiveness of the insulin treatment.

GLIPIZIDE (GLUCOTROL