Pöppl, A.G. et al.
2017
Research in Veterinary Science

The goal of this study was to evaluate the potential risk factors for canine diabetes mellitus (CDM). A total of 246 dogs were included in this study, of which, 110 had been diagnosed with CDM, and 136 were healthy dogs for the control group. All dogs were matched by different parameters such as breed, sex, and age, and their owners were interviewed regarding their diet, weight, physical activity, oral health, reproductive history, pancreatitis, and exposure to exogenous glucocorticoids.

Two multivariate statistical models were created: (1) ""Umod"", including males and females, without including variables related to the reproductive cycle, the cases of ""not exclusively fed a commercial diet"" (OR 4.86, CI 95% 2.2 –10.7, P < 0.001) and ""overweight"" (OR 3.51, 95% CI 1.6–7.5, P = 0.001) were statistically significant. On the other hand, in the (2) ""Fmod"", which only included females, they were “not exclusively fed a commercial diet” (OR 4.14, 95% CI 1.3–12.7, P = 0.01), “Abuse of remains of table” (OR 3.62, 95% CI 1.1–12.2, P = 0.03), “Overweight” (OR 3.91, 95% CI 1.2–12.6, P = 0, 02) and “Right-handed” (OR 5.53, 95% CI: 1.9–16.3, P = 0.002).

The results indicated that the dog's diet (if they were fed exclusively balances commercial dog food or not, if they were overweight or not, abused treats or not and diestrus/right-handedness) are all correlated as CDM risk factors, which could support the development of preventive care studies against CDM.