Cat owners on quality of life before and after hypophysectomy

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hypophysectomy provides the most favorable long-term outcome for cats with hypersomatotropism (HST) and concurrent diabetes mellitus (DM). HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: Assess owner perceptions of quality of life (QoL) of their diabetic cats pre- and post-hypophysectomy for HST. ANIMALS: Client-owned cats (27 retrospectively, 13 prospectively). METHODS: Owners whose cats had undergone hypophysectomy between 2012 and 2022 for the management of HST with DM were identified. Owner telephone interviews were performed to formulate questions addressing points of view regarding HST and hypophysectomy. The DIAQoL-Pet questionnaire was adjusted to include newly formulated questions and distributed to owners. The questionnaire also was distributed to owners of cats with HST with DM pre-hypophysectomy (T0) and at least 3 months post-hypophysectomy (T1) between March 2023 and November 2024. Item-weighted impact score (IWIS) and an average-weighted impact score (AWIS) were calculated. The AWIS and IWIS at T0 and T1 for prospectively recruited cases were compared using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. RESULTS: Nearly 92% (22 out of 24) of retrospective group respondents and 100% (10 out of 10) of prospective group respondents would definitely request hypophysectomy again. For paired prospective group responses, IWIS were significantly less negative postoperatively for "worry" (P = .02), "pet unwell" (P = .03), "worry hypoglycemia" (P = .01), and "worry vision" (P = .04). The median AWIS before (2.16; IQR, -4.23 to -1.17) and after (-1.27; IQR, -2.06 to -0.39) hypophysectomy were significantly less negative (P = .02). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Most owners perceive hypophysectomy to be a beneficial intervention for their QoL and that of their cat.