PRETREATMENT CLINICAL AND LABORATORY EVALUATION OF CATS WITH DIABETES-MELLITUS - 104 CASES (1992-1994)

Objective-To assess pretreatment clinical and laboratory findings in c ats with diabetes mellitus and to determine the influence of ketoacido sis on pretreatment findings. Design-Retrospective case series. Animal s-104 cats with diabetes mellitus, 38 of which had ketoacidosis. Proce dure-Medical records of cats with diabetes mellitus examined over a 20 -month period were reviewed. Cats that had received previous treatment for diabetes mellitus, or for which medical records were incomplete, were excluded from this study. Results-Cars ranged in age from 1 to 19 years (median, 11 years). Male cats were twice as likely to develop d iabetes as females. The most common historical signs were polyuria, po lydipsia, weight loss, and diminished activity. Anorexia or poor appet ite was reported more commonly than polyphagia, especially in cats wit h ketoacidosis, Diminished activity, anorexia, weakness, and vomiting were ail significantly more common in ketoacidotic cats than in nonket oacidotic cats. Forty-four cats were considered thin, and 34 were cons idered obese, All cats had hyperglycemia and most had hypercholesterol emia and high activities oi 1 or more hepatic enzymes. Compared with n onketoacidotic cats, ketoacidotic cats were more likely to have had lo w serum electrolyte values. Ail cats had glucosuria and 42 (40.4%) had ketonuria. Baseline serum insulin concentrations were measured in 18 cats and were low or at the low end of the reference range in 14 (77.8 %) cats. Serum fructosamine concentration, determined in 22 cats, was high in 20 (90.9%) cats, Twenty-three of the 104 (22.1%) cats had conc urrent disease, the most common of which were hyperthyroidism, inflamm atory bowel disease, and eosinophilic granuloma complex. Clinical Impl ications-In more than a third of cats, diabetes mellitus is complicate d by development of ketoacidosis, which increases the severity of clin ical and laboratory abnormalities. Diagnosis of diabetes mellitus is m ade on the basis of signalment (eg, middle-aged To old male cats), own er complaints (eg, polyuria, polydipsia, and weight loss), physical ex amination findings (eg, lethargy or muscle wasting), and laboratory fi ndings (eg, hyperglycemia and glucosuria).