High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Diabetes mellitus strikes 1 in 400 cats, though recent veterinary studies note that it has become increasingly common. Symptoms in cats are similar to those in humans. Diabetes in cats occurs less frequently than in dogs. 80-95% 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 definitely treatable, and need not shorten the animal`s life span or life quality. In type-2 cats, prompt effective treatment can even 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 malnutrition, ketoacidosis and/or dehydration, and death.