Research overview: islet amyloid in feline diabetes

Deposition of islet amyloid polypeptide (amylin) within pancreatic islets is a characteristic pathologic feature of feline diabetes, paralleling human type 2 diabetes and contributing to progressive beta-cell loss. The misfolded amyloid is toxic to insulin-producing cells, and its accumulation may help explain why diabetes can become irreversible if beta-cell destruction is advanced. This overview compiles the pathology literature rather than one source, describing how amyloid forms and damages islets, why its presence links feline disease mechanistically to human type 2 diabetes, and how it bears on the window for achieving remission before beta-cell reserves are exhausted. It matters because islet amyloid underscores both the comparative value of the cat as a natural model of type 2 diabetes and the clinical urgency of early intervention.