Glycaemic parameters, such as fructosamine, glycosylated haemoglobin and serial glucose measurements (SGMs), are always to be interpreted in light of the clinical signs being exhibited by diabetic pets. Sample artefacts, assay-issues, inter-day variation and stress can yield deceiving laboratory results. Likewise, the clinical history suffers from inter-person variation, due to varying ways of asking or answering questions, interpreting non-standardised language, forgetting questions and lack of quantification. The aim of this study was to evaluate the newly designed simple Diabetic Clinical Score (DCS) in diabetic dogs. The DCS was previously validated for use in diabetic cats.

Diabetic dog owners were asked to choose the specific severity (ranging from none/normal, mild, moderate to severe) of specific diabetic clinical signs (polyuria and polydipsia, polyphagia, attitude/activity). The extent of possible weight loss was established by weighing (none; mild: <5%; moderate: 5–10%; severe: >10%). The severity was subsequently converted into a score ranging from 0 (none/normal) to 3 (severe), yielding a summarised total score (DCS) for all signs combined ranging from 0 (no clinical signs) to 12 (maximum clinical signs). The DCS was correlated with one or more of following objective parameters obtained at the same visit: fructosamine, average blood glucose during SGMs (AvBG) or water intake diary. Appropriate descriptive and correlation statistics used.

Sixty-seven diabetic dogs were assigned a DCS (median 4; range 0–10). A significant correlation was present between the AvBG (n=16, Spearman's rho: 0.656, p<0.001), daily water intake (n=32, Spearman's rho: 0.605, p<0.0003) and the DCS. A significant correlation between the DCS and fructosamine (n=38, Spearman's rho: 0.340, p<0.04) was also present though only when dogs with concurrent hyperadrenocorticism, hyperlipidemia, hypothyroidism and diabetic ketoacidosis were removed from the analysis. Seventy-nine percent of owners reported the questions to be clear/completely clear.

The DCS proved easy to comprehend by dog owners. The significant correlation between DCS and objective clinical parameters suggests it could represent a simple objective tool to describe, communicate and quantify the clinical signs encountered in diabetic dogs in clinical practice and research settings. Differences between the DCS and objective parameters should be further investigated.

Disclosures

No disclosures to report.