Feline diabetes mellitus: a retrospective mortality study of 55 cats (1982-1994).

Signalment, concomitant diseases, prognostic factors, and mortality were evaluated, retrospectively, in 55 diabetic cats (mean age, 11 years; range, five to 18 years). Sixty-seven percent of the cats were between 7.5 and 15 years of age. One-year mortality (n = 23) was high; most early deaths were due to comorbid disease, and the rate of death diminished in cats surviving beyond one year. The median survival time for all cats was 29 months; among cats that died, the median survival time was 11 months. Of the cats surviving more than one year, 16 were alive at a mean of 41 months. Only 13 of 37 cats died due to diabetes mellitus; the majority died due to concomitant diseases, with renal failure (n = 8) and hepatopathies (n = 6) being the most common causes. No clinical data was identified as being of prognostic significance.