Recognizing and Managing Feline Acromegaly as a cause of Insulin Resistant Feline Diabetes

Course overview

Feline diabetes mellitus (DM) is estimated to impact approximately 1 in 4 diabetic cats in North America. However, achieving treatment success appears challenging in a number of diabetic cats. Managing diabetic cats is not always straightforward. For many of these more difficult cases, what has been found is that the diabetes etipathogenesis is not necessrily type 2,, but a classificationof an underlying disease process referred to as "other specific types of diabetes." One such type of "other" is hypersomatotropism, which results in acromegaly. Feline acromegaly is characterized by excessive growth hormone secretionleading to a wide array of clinical signs caused by the hormone's effects on multiple organ systems. Utilizing a case based approach, this presentation will review the etiology and pathophysiology, history and clinical signs, diagnosis, and medical and nutritional management of insulin resistant diabetes resulting from feline acromegaly.