Although society is accustomed to seeing Garfield-sized cats, obese, middle-aged cats that can have a variety of problems
including diabetes mellitus. The causes of the disease in cats remain unknown although there has been a strong debate about whether a dry food
diet puts cats at greater risk for diabetes. A new study from a University of Missouri-Columbia veterinarian suggests that weight gain, not the type of diet, is more important when trying to prevent diabetes in cats. Because dry
cat food contains more starch and more carbohydrates than canned cat food, some have argued that a diet containing large amounts of carbohydrates is unnatural for a cat that is anatomically and physiologically designed to be a carnivore. "The most effective thing you can do is be the one who determines how much your cat eats," said one of the researchers. "We have been conditioned to fat cats, but cats should have only between 18 percent to 20 percent body fat," he added.