title: Indoor confinement and physical inactivity rather than the proportion of dry food are risk factors in the development of feline type 2 diabetes mellitus.
abstract: With domestication and urbanisation, cats have transformed from being hunting animals that eat protein-rich prey into more sedentary animals that eat a carbohydrate-rich diet. It was hypothesised that a high intake of dry cat food and a lack of physical activity may play a role in the development of feline type 2 diabetes mellitus. Information on dietary history and physical activity of 96 cats with diabetes mellitus and 192 matched controls was collected retrospectively, using a telephone questionnaire. Conditional logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the association between questionnaire-derived variables and the development of diabetes mellitus. The energy percentage of dry food in the diet was not significantly correlated with the development of diabetes mellitus (P=0.29), whereas both indoor confinement (P=0.002) and low physical activity (P=0.004) were. The results indicated that the proportion of dry food in a cat's diet may not be an independent risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus, whereas physical inactivity and indoor confinement are.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals, Utrecht University, NL-3508 TD, Utrecht, The Netherlands. L.I.Slingerland@vet.uu.nl
authors.forename: L I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Slingerland
authors.forename: V V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Fazilova
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Plantinga
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kooistra
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Beynen
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D002415:Cats; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors