The prevalence of underlying causes for type III diabetes mellitus in cats; Prevalence, risk factors and survival.

Abstract

This research is a substudy of 136 cats with diabetes from Dutch first line veterinary clinics with different glycaemic control, patients were selected for this research to determine the prevalence of underlying diseases that cause diabetes mellitus. Underlying causes for diabetes were found to be 31.1% for acromegaly, 15.7% for hyperadrenocortisism, 8.2% for hypothyroidism/SES and 5.7% for hyperthyroidism. Hypoglycaemia indicating Somogyi effect was found in 17.2% of the cases and pancreatitis was found to be present in 60.3% of our patients. Breed and gender predisposition was found in mixed breed and domestic short haired male cats which had a higher prevalence for acromegaly. The average life span of a cat after diagnosis is estimated to be about 5 years, hyperthyroidism increases life span and hypothyroidism decreases life span. Pancreatitis was significantly more present in patients with Acromegaly and pancreatitis decreases life span of the patients. Female cats were diagnosed at a later age and lived longer, domestic short haired cats also lived longer than breed cats with diabetes. The leading cause of death was found to be hypoglycaemia.