The free Little Big Cat newsletter is published every month on Substack. (Subscribe here!) The first week of every month, as a perk for paid subscribers, I answer your burning question about nutrition, supplements, holistic therapies, behavior, or anything related to feline health. The Basic Framework I can’t diagnose, prescribe, or give individualized medical advice for specific cats. My role here is to share my knowledge and experience as general educational information—principles, ideas, and research about feline health, nutrition, and behavior. Anything we discuss here should be considered educational, not a ...

For years, conversations about weight issues and feline diabetes have centered on carbohydrates. This is not wrong; cats are obligate carnivores that are poorly equipped to manage large glucose loads. High‑starch diets (kibble, some canned diets, and even many raw diets that are too high in carbs) absolutely stress the pancreas and disrupt insulin metabolism. This alone can cause weight gain, insulin resistance, and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. But it turns out that carbs are not the whole story. There is another factor that receives far less ...