Diabetes and the Kidney in Human and Veterinary Medicine

Diabetic nephropathy is a well-recognized clinical consequence of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus in humans. Major risk factors include poor glycemic control, hypertension, and microalbuminuria, as well as genetic factors. In both type 1 and 2 diabetics with nephropathy, structural changes occur in the kidneys before overt clinical disease. Studies suggest that some of the risk factors and structural renal changes of human diabetes also exist in diabetic dogs and cats. This article assembles existing information on the presence of risk factors, laboratory and histologic findings, and consequences of human diabetic nephropathy as applied to cats.