Abstract
Current pet diabetes mellitus (DM) treatment necessitates the active daily involvement of owners and can be costly. The current study aimed to investigate the owner population which opts for euthanasia instead of DM treatment. A survey was designed using multiple feedback steps and made available online to veterinarians world-wide. A total of 1192 veterinarians completed the survey and suggested a median one in 10 diabetic pets are euthanased at diagnosis; a further median one in 10 within one year because of lack of success or compliance. Perceived most important motivating factors included “presence concurrent disease” (45% respondents); “costs” (44%); “animal age” (37%); “problems obtaining adequate control” (35%); “pet welfare” (35%); and “impact owner’s lifestyle” (32%). Cats in Canadian (odds ratio (OR) 2.7), Australian (OR 2.3), rural (OR 1.6) and mixed (OR 1.7) practices were more likely to be euthanased because of DM diagnosis, while cats presented to referral/university were less likely to be euthanased (OR 0.6). Dogs were more likely to be euthanased because of DM in Canadian (OR 1.8), rural (OR 1.8) and mixed (OR 1.6) practices. The survey results suggest that benefit exists in improved DM education with emphasis on offering a choice of treatment styles ranging from intense and expensive to hands-off and cheap.
Highlights
Owners’ active participation in the treatment is essential for successful management of diabetes mellitus (DM) in companion animals
Qualitative research was conducted as part of the design phase of the Big Pet Diabetes Survey
The variables “country”, “location of the practice” and “practice type I” were found to be significantly associated with the answers to questions D/C 1 (“frequency of euthanasia of newly diagnosed diabetic dogs/cats at time of diagnosis”) and D/C 2 (“frequency of euthanasia of newly diagnosed diabetic dogs/cats at time of diagnosis because of not wanting to inject”), and “practice type
Summary
Owners’ active participation in the treatment is essential for successful management of diabetes mellitus (DM) in companion animals. The disease and the treatment commitments are likely to have considerable impact on owners’ daily routines and quality of life (QoL) and might represent a significant temporal, financial and emotional burden. Several areas of everyday life that are negatively influenced by DM and its treatment have been identified in a recent survey concerning the QoL of diabetic cats and dogs and their owners [1,2]. Owners’ perception of substantial impairment in one or more of these areas could potentially lead to treatment cessation and similar concerns could even prompt the decision to decline treatment at the time of diagnosis.
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