title: Oral medications for treating diabetes mellitus in dogs and cats.
abstract: Five classes of oral hypoglycaemic drugs and two trace minerals used to treat diabetes mellitus in humans are reviewed and current knowledge on the use of these drugs in diabetic dogs and cats is presented. Oral sulphonylurea drugs stimulate insulin secretion and have been used successfully to treat diabetes in cats but not dogs. Preliminary studies evaluating the efficacy of the biguanide, metformin, in diabetic cats have not been promising. Pharmacokinetic studies have been performed in healthy cats, but clinical studies evaluating the efficacy of the insulin-sensitising drugs, thiazolidinediones, have not been reported. Treatment with the alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, acarbose, improved control of glycaemia in diabetic dogs; similar studies have not been reported in cats. Although chromium picolinate did not improve control of glycaemia in diabetic dogs, vanadium has improved control of the abnormality in diabetic cats.
authors: Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis 95616, USA.
authors: R W
authors: RW
authors: Nelson
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002415:Cats; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004285:Dogs; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D019155:Veterinary Drugs
chemical_list: D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D019155:Veterinary Drugs