A cat’s pancreas has two main jobs: 1) making and storing digestive enzymes and fluids; 2) producing and releasing hormones that regulate blood sugar.
The sugar released into the bloodstream from a a cat on a high-carbohydrate diet sends an alarm to the pancreas to produce insulin to lower the tide of sugar into a cat’s system. A continual high level of insulin pumped into the cat’s system causes an accumulation of fat in the cat’s body – it’s a natural response to an unnatural (for a carnivore) dietary situation.
So what? Diets high in carbohydrates – such as dry kibble – raise a cat’s risk for both obesity and feline type 2 diabetes.
