Acta Vet. Brno 2012, 81: 421-425
Factors associated with clinical remission in cats with diabetes mellitus
Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a common endocrine disease in cats. The aim of this study was to investigate factors that are associated with clinical remission in diabetic cats, and those that might influence survival time. Medical records of 29 cats with diabetes mellitus were evaluated retrospectively. Data collected from each record included breed, age, and sex, types of diet before and after admission, degree of weight loss, duration of clinical signs before admission, elevation of alanine aminotransferase activity and ketonuria at the time of admission, concurrent pancreatitis or renal failure, glipizide administration, insulin supplement, and survival time. The diet after establishing diagnosis (restriction to non-carbohydrate canned food) was the only factor that was significantly associated with achieving clinical remission (P < 0.001). Survival time of cats was positively associated (P = 0.004) with clinical remission status and the type of diet after admission (P = 0.04) and negatively associated with the presence of chronic renal failure (P = 0.04). This was the first report of feline diabetes mellitus from Taiwan.
Keywords
carbohydrate, dietary management, renal failure, diabetic cats, survival.
