Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Diabetes and cataracts in a young kitten
By Thoresen, S I et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2002·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Diabetes mellitus and bilateral cataracts in a kitten.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
An 18-week-old male domestic long-hair kitten was brought to the vet because he was drinking and urinating a lot, and he had cataracts in both eyes. Despite being treated with insulin for diabetes, the kitten's condition did not improve, and he was smaller than expected for his age. Unfortunately, the cataracts worsened, and after 10 weeks of treatment, the decision was made to euthanize him. A closer look at his pancreas showed it had fewer insulin-producing cells than a healthy kitten, which likely contributed to his diabetes and cataracts.
People also search for: kitten diabetes symptoms · why does my kitten have cataracts · insulin treatment for cats · kitten drinking a lot of water · cat eye problems
Abstract
An 18-week-old male domestic long-hair kitten was presented with a history of polyuria and polydipsia for several weeks. The general condition was unremarkable, but the kitten was considerably smaller than expected for the age and showed cataracts in both eyes. Serum glucose concentrations were persistently elevated and based on clinical findings and an elevated serum fructosamine concentration, a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus was established. Diabetes mellitus is not commonly diagnosed in young kittens, nor are cataracts recognised as a frequent feature of this disease in cats. The cataracts progressed in spite of the insulin therapy and the kitten was euthanised 10 weeks after referral. Histopathological examination of the pancreas revealed few and small islets of Langerhans compared to the examination of pancreas from a healthy kitten of the same age. Histopathological changes in the eyes included cataracts affecting both cortex and nucleus.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12027511/