PERCEPTION OF PET OWNERS ABOUT DIABETES MELLITUS IN DOGS AND CATS

Purpose: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common endocrine disease that affects humans, dogs and cats. Although many authors have already described the importance of guidance and assessment of the technical ability of pets owners to properly conduce insulin therapy, many owners have never heard about occurrence of DM in pets. Thus, this project aimed to assess the perception of pet owners about DM in dogs and cats. Methods: 160 pet owners of dogs and cats goers of the public event " Viva o Parque " voluntarily have agreed to participate of this survey research. Results: Most participants could not explain what "hormonal diseases" means (53.75%), and also did not know that hormonal diseases can affect dogs and cats (58.39%). When the researcher started to talk about "diabetes", 62.50% of the participants announce to understand the disease and also that diabetes also occurs in small animals. Most participants affirm to have already met a person who has diabetes (88.75%), but few declare to have met any diabetic animal (38.75%). Obesity was considered a risk factor for the development of diabetes mellitus (93.12%). The majority of participants reported to have some experience with syringes handling (61.25%), and that they had already administered injectable medications (68.75%) – especially in animals (78.25%) and others humans (28%), but they do not consider themselves able to distinguish/identify insulin syringes, specifically (71.25%). Conclusion: Although the small animal owners have some degree of knowledge about diabetes mellitus , some important points related to the disease need to be clarified through educational campaigns.