Abstract Background Obesity is associated with insulin resistance and affects glycemic control in diabetic patients. Hypothesis/Objectives Assess the impact of 12-week caloric restriction on remission and glycemic control in overweight diabetic cats using a prospective, randomized controlled trial. Animals Seventy-two overweight (body condition score ≥ 6/9) client-owned insulin-treated diabetic cats, randomized either to caloric restriction (intervention, 32; target approximately 2% weekly weight loss) or body weight maintenance (control, 40). Methods All cats received a novel therapeutic diabetic diet, suitable for weight reduction, for 12 weeks (%metabolizable energy protein/fat/nitrogen-free extract: dry 49.4/24/26.6; wet 63.2/25.3/11.5). Physical examination, serum biochemistry, home blood glucose curves (BGC), diabetic clinical score, and quality of life questionnaires were performed on weeks: −1, 4, 8, and 12. Insulin dose was recorded and glycemic variability (SD of BGC) was calculated. Induction of diabetic remission was the primary outcome measure. Data were analyzed using regression and linear mixed models. Results By week 12, intervention had 2.1 times higher probability of remission (16/32) compared with controls (12/40, P = .04). Weight loss was 7.2% (95% confidence interval CI, 5.7-8.7) for the intervention versus 2.7% (95% CI, 1.3-4.1, P .001) for controls. For cats not achieving remission, glycemic variability decreased 45% (95% CI, 26-65) and 7% (95% CI, 16-21) for intervention and control cats, respectively (P = .01), insulin-dose decreased by 36% (95% CI, 2-70) for intervention and increased 28% (95% CI, 3-53, P = .004) for controls. Conclusions and clinical importance Caloric restriction, using a therapeutic diabetic diet suitable for weight reduction increased the probability of remission and improved glycemic control in overweight diabetic cats.
Jørgensen et al. (Sun,) studied this question.