Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2015
Incidence of Diabetes Mellitus in Insured Swedish Cats in Relation to Age, Breed and Sex
Öhlund, Malin; Fall, Tove; Ström Holst, Bodil; Hansson-Hamlin, Helene; Bonnett, Brenda; Egenvall, AgnetaAbstract
Background: Diabetes mellitus ( DM) is a common endocrinopathy in cats. Most affected cats suffer from a type of diabetes similar to type 2 diabetes in humans. An increasing prevalence has been described in cats, as in humans, related to obesity and other lifestyle factors. Objectives: To describe the incidence of DM in insured Swedish cats and the association of DM with demographic risk factors, such as age, breed and sex. Animals: A cohort of 504,688 individual cats accounting for 1,229,699 cat- years at risk ( CYAR) insured by a Swedish insurance company from 2009 to 2013. Methods: We used reimbursed insurance claims for the diagnosis of DM. Overall incidence rates and incidence rates stratified on year, age, breed, and sex were estimated. Results: The overall incidence rate of DM in the cohort was 11.6 cases ( 95% confidence interval [ CI], 11.0- 12.2) per 10,000 CYAR. Male cats had twice as high incidence rate ( 15.4; 95% CI, 14.4- 16.4) as females ( 7.6; 95% CI, 6.9- 8.3). Domestic cats were at higher risk compared to purebred cats. A significant association with breed was seen, with the Burmese, Russian Blue, Norwegian Forest cat, and Abyssinian breeds at a higher risk compared to other cats. No sex predisposition was found among Burmese cats. Several breeds with a lower risk of DM were identified. Conclusions and clinical importance: Our results verify that the Burmese breed is at increased risk of developing DM. We also identified several previously unreported breeds with increased or decreased risk of DM.Keywords
Burmese; Epidemiology; Feline; Type 2 diabetesPublished in
Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine2015, volume: 29, number: 5, pages: 1342-1347
Publisher: WILEY-BLACKWELL
Authors' information
Öhlund, Malin
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Clinical Sciences
Fall, Tove
Uppsala University
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Clinical Sciences
Hansson-Hamlin, Helene (Hamlin, Helene)
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Clinical Sciences
Bonnett, Brenda
International Partnership for Dogs
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Clinical Sciences
UKÄ Subject classification
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Clinical Science
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.13584
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/68455