Signalment and laboratory findings in cats with diabetes mellitus in Germany: a retrospective review of laboratory submissions of 129,505 cats

ObjectivesThe aims of this study were to compare signalment and laboratory parameters between diabetic (D) and non-diabetic (ND) cats and poorly-controlled diabetic (PD) and well-controlled diabetic (WD) cats in Germany.MethodsLaboratory data from Antech Lab Germany between 2015 and 2018 were retrospectively analysed. Age, sex, red blood cell count (RBC), creatinine (CREA), alkaline phosphatase (AP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), bilirubin (BILI), cholesterol (CHOL), triglycerides (TRI), glucose (GLU) and total thyroxine (TT4) were compared between D (fructosamine ⩾340 µmol/l) and ND cats, and PD (fructosamine >500 µmol/l) and WD (fructosamine 340–500 µmol/l) cats. The proportion of cats with anaemia (RBC ⩽4.21 ×1012/l), CREA >250 µmol/l, ALT >455 U/l, AP >315 U/l, BILI ⩾35 µmol/l and TT4 > reference interval (RI) was compared between PD and WD cats. Data are presented as median and interquartile range (IQR) and analysed using non-parametric tests. Significance was P<0.05, and effect size was assessed by Cramér V or r.ResultsIn total, 129,505 cats were included (D: n = 9334 [prevalence 7.2%], WD: n = 5670/9334 [60.7%]). The median age of D and ND cats was 12 years (IQR D 9–14; ND 9–15); there was no difference in sex. A significant difference was found between groups (D vs ND; PD vs WD) for all parameters studied. Considering the effect sizes and medians outside the RI, the only relevant difference was higher CHOL, TRI, AP and GLU in PD compared with WD (CHOL: PD 7.46 [5.85–9.32] vs WD 5.44 [4.32–6.97] mmol/l, P<0.001, r = 0.39; TRI: PD 1.44 [0.84–3.66] vs WD 0.78 [0.5–1.35] mmol/l, P <0.001, r = 0.35; AP: PD 66 [47–92] vs WD 35 [23–59] U/l, P <0.001, r = 0.39; GLU: PD 23.7 [20.15–27.3] vs WD 6.89 [5–11.31] mmol/l, P <0.001, r = 0.69).Conclusions and relevanceLaboratory changes in diabetic cats were mild and mainly associated with lipid derangements.