Just like humans pets can suffer from diabetes mellitus too. By a simple blood test, called ... thay can be ... and then under the care of your ... surgeon, often treated succe
Just like humans pets can suffer from diabetes mellitus too. By a simple blood test, called fructosamine, thay can be diagnosed, and then under the care of your veterinary surgeon, often treated succesfully.
Fructosamines are stable complexes of carbohydrates and proteins that are produced by an irreversible, nonenzymatic glycosylation of serum proteins. Fructosamine (glycated serum protein) measurements are useful in diagnosing and monitoring diabetes mellitus in both cats and dogs. The test is highly sensitive and can be used to distinguish non-diabetic transiently hyperglycaemic cats from diabetics with chronic hyperglycaemia. A single measurement of fructosamine indicates the average glucose concentration over the previous 1-3 weeks and its assay can therefore be used to assist in the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus as well as monitoring the effectiveness of insulin therapy in diabetic patients. Fructosamine values are not influenced by acute fluctuations in blood glucose making them more useful than single glucose measurements taken from stressed or anorexic patients, or animals on glucose containing IV fluids. In some cases however they can be used in conjunction with serial glucose curves to assess the short and long term response to insulin administration.
Please contact your veterinary surgeon for further details or if you have any concerns about your pets.
Further information on fructosamine can be found at:
http://www.ctdslab.co.uk
Diagnosing pancreatic disease in Pets
The laboratory diagnosis of pancreatic disease in dogs and cats has taken has made some significant progress in the last few years. Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) is now recognised in both dogs and cats and while most affected animals are young there are a number of older animals that are affected. The canine Trypsin-Like Immunoreactivity (TLI) test is both sensitive and specific for EPI and is assayed as part of the canine intestinal profile together with folate and cobalamin. Feline TLI has been shown similarly to be an excellent assay for EPI in cats, however this test is currently available only in the USA. As a result, we do not routinely include this test in the feline intestinal profile but we would recommend adding it for all cats with steathorreic faeces and for cats that are thin despite eating well where other causes have been ruled out.Thyroid illness in cats and dogs
Common clinical signs of ... in dogs include weight gain, ... reduced exercise ... and poor coat quality. However, the disease affects almost all body systems and as a result aIron deficiency in dogs and cats
We have recently seen a number of cases of iron ... anaemia, both in cats and dogs.In iron ... red cells do not develop the normal ... of ... ... and the cell