2015 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program

Only two cats experienced clinical signs that required decreasing the Exenatide dose during Protocol A and neither owners thought signs were severe enough to remove their cat from the study. While 87.5% (n = 8) of cats experienced weight loss during treatment Protocol A, this finding was not significant. Treatment with Protocol A did not change the concentration of hormones involved in glycemic regulation or insulin sensitivity. This study revealed that a treatment protocol including glargine insulin and a fixed dose of GLP-1 mimetic is considered safe for diabetic cats. Since weight gain is a common problem of overweight diabetic cats treated with insulin, the weight loss experienced with Protocol A could be a significant benefit and warrants further evaluation of this treatment protocol. This report describes a large canine patient population with a diagnosis of hyperadrenocorticism (HAC) at the time of death, and concurrent diagnoses and mortality associated with HAC in veterinary teaching hospitals.