The Royal Veterinary College has published new data from its VetCompass programme which shed new light on the epidemiology, risk factors and outcomes for cats diagnosed with diabetes mellitus in the UK, and which researchers say could help reduce the high early mortality rates associated with the disease.

The researchers say that previous research suggests that approximately 10% of diabetic cats are euthanised at the time of diagnosis, making it a significant cat welfare issue.

However, this figure was largely based on questionnaire-based research from several global locations.

This new study followed the survival of 1,053 cats with confirmed diabetes mellitus under UK primary-care practices in 2019, providing the most up-to-date baseline data on early death among diabetic cats in the UK, as well as examining risk factors for the development of diabetes among UK pet cats.

The study found:  

  • Approximately one in every 250 cats in the UK live with diabetes mellitus each year.
  • In agreement with previous estimates, 10% of cats diagnosed with diabetes mellitus were euthanased within just three days of diagnosis, usually without receiving treatment.
  • Burmese cats were confirmed to be at increased risk of diabetes mellitus development, as identified in previous studies.
  • For the first time, the Burmilla breed, which descends from the Burmese, was shown to be at increased risk of diabetes mellitus.
  • Bengal and Ragdoll breeds were found to be protected from diabetes mellitusdevelopment compared to crossbred cats.

Based on these findings, the researchers encourage veterinarians to more actively discuss diabetes mellitus risk with cat owners, particularly those with Burmilla and Burmese breeds, in the hope that raising awareness of the disease might improve outcomes through earlier diagnosis, and by taking actions that might prevent diabetes mellitus development in the first instance, such as preventing cats becoming obese.   

Dr Oliver Waite, Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Medicine at Murdoch University, and primary author of the paper, said: “We hope that this new, large scale epidemiological study, investigating the second most common endocrine disease in cats, will help to highlight current as well as future areas to improve cat welfare.

"This is an exciting time for the management of diabetic cats but more work is still needed!”

Dr Dan O’Neill, Associate Professor in Companion Animal Epidemiology at the RVC, and co-author of the paper, said: “This new VetCompass study shows the value of everyone working in primary care practice sharing their anonymised clinical data to get a better understanding of real-world animal health.

"Awareness of the scale of the diabetes mellitus issue revealed here can empower veterinary professionals to engage in more conversations with owners about diabetes mellitus prevention in predisposed cats.”

Reference

  1. Waite, R. Gostelow, E. Wright, R. E. Jepson, D. C. Brodbelt, and D. G. O'Neill, “ Frequency, Risk Factors, and Mortality for Diabetes Mellitus in 1 225 130 Cats Under Primary Veterinary Care in the United Kingdom in 2019,” Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 39, no. 4 (2025): e70161, https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.70161.

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