Clinical usefulness of fructosamine measurements in diagnosing and monitoring feline diabetes mellitus.

Fructosamines are glycated serum proteins that reflect long-term serum glucose concentrations in humans and several animal species. In the present study, blood samples were drawn from three populations of diabetic cats: untreated diabetic cats with clinical symptoms prevailing only a few days (n = 1), untreated diabetic cats with symptoms lasting more than two weeks (n = 6) and clinically well stabilised diabetic cats receiving insulin twice daily which showed no signs of disease (n = 4). All untreated diabetic cats showed elevated fructosamine measurements. Based on fructosamine measurements, clinically well stabilised diabetic cats could be subdivided further according to the degree of glycaemic control. Diabetic cats with satisfactory glycaemic control revealed fructosamine concentrations within or close to the reference range (146 to 271 mumol/liter), whereas fructosamine concentrations above 400 mumol/liter indicated insufficient glycaemic control. This study suggests that the fructosamine assay reflects persistently elevated serum glucose concentrations in cats and is a useful parameter for diagnosing and monitoring diabetes mellitus in cats.