Browsing by Subject "obesity"

This licentiate thesis consists of a literature review and a retrospective study. Diabetes mellitus is a common endocrinopathy in cats. It mainly resembles type II diabetes mellitus of humans, where the dysfunction of pancreatic beta cells together with peripheral insulin resistance causes increased blood glucose concentrations. Along with other risk factors such as breed and neuter status, obesity is closely related to the development of feline diabetes mellitus. The aim of the retrospective study was to assess risk factors and treatment protocols of diabetes mellitus. Factors influencing treatment outcome were also investigated. The results were compared with current scientific evidence. The hypotheses were that diabetic cats with an optimal body condition score (BCS) are more likely to achieve stable disease requiring administration of exogenous insulin and are more likely to achieve remission, where administration of exogenous insulin is no longer needed. The veterinary patient database ProvetNet was used to search for cats with diabetes mellitus presented to the University of Helsinki, Small Animal Teaching Hospital and the Saari Small Animal Clinic between March 2006 and March 2016. Data such as breed, gender, BCS and concurrent diseases were recorded for 123 cats. Statistical analyses were performed using GraphPad Prism. Neutered male cats had 2.8 times the risk of developing diabetes mellitus when compared to intact cats and neutered females. Domestic shorthair cats had 1.7 times the risk of developing diabetes mellitus when compared to other breeds. Remission rates were substantially lower than what has been reported in literature. The results did not support the hypotheses. Cats with an optimal BCS were not more likely to achieve stable disease or remission. However, the small sample size should be taken into consideration when interpreting the results. Investigating the relationship between BCS and diabetes mellitus was difficult due to incomplete documentation of BCS values and limitations of the veterinary patient database. Measures should be taken to develop the database so the evaluation and recording of BCS is a convenient routine. Further research into risk factors for both diabetes mellitus and obesity as well as treatment protocols resulting in remission is needed, so evidence-based data can be used for prevention and remission of the disease.