Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How long high blood sugar lasts after a meal in female cats
By Farrow, Heidi et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2012·School of Veterinary Science, Australia·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Postprandial glycaemia in cats fed a moderate carbohydrate meal persists for a median of 12 hours--female cats have higher peak glucose concentrations.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 24 healthy adult cats were studied after eating a meal with moderate carbohydrates to see how long their blood sugar levels stayed elevated. The results showed that it took an average of about 12 hours for their glucose levels to return to normal after eating. Interestingly, female cats had higher peak blood sugar levels and took longer to return to baseline compared to males. This information is important for pet owners managing diabetic or pre-diabetic cats, as it highlights the need to consider how long their cat's blood sugar may remain high after meals.
People also search for: cat diabetes management · how long does cat blood sugar stay high · female cat blood sugar levels · post-meal glucose in cats
Abstract
The postprandial increase in glucose concentration is typically not considered in selecting diets to manage diabetic and pre-diabetic cats. This study describes increases in glucose and insulin concentrations in 24 clinically healthy, neutered adult cats following one meal (59 kcal/kg) of a moderate carbohydrate diet (25% of energy). Median time to return to baseline after feeding for glucose was 12.2 h (1.8-≥24 h) and for insulin was 12.3 h (1.5-≥24 h). Time to return to baseline for glucose was not different between male (10.2 h) and female (17.2 h) cats. There was evidence female cats had a longer return to baseline for insulin (18.9 h versus 9.8 h) and females had higher (0.9 mmol/l difference) peak glucose than males. This demonstrates that the duration of postprandial glycaemia in cats is markedly longer than in dogs and humans, and should be considered when managing diabetic and pre-diabetic cats.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22653915/