Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Spontaneous diabetic remission after acute pancreatitis in a dog.
- Journal:
- Journal of veterinary internal medicine
- Year:
- 2026
- Authors:
- Claude, Riley et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences · United States
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 7-year-old spayed female mixed-breed dog was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis, a condition where the pancreas becomes inflamed, and received supportive care for two weeks. After this treatment, she developed diabetes, which is a condition where the body can't properly manage blood sugar levels. She started insulin therapy, which is a common treatment for diabetes, and after two months, her insulin was stopped because her blood sugar levels were normal without it. Remarkably, 19 months later, she continued to have normal blood sugar levels, indicating that she had gone into diabetic remission, which is quite rare in dogs. This case shows that even dogs with diabetes related to pancreatitis can sometimes recover fully.
Abstract
A 7-year-old spayed female mixed-breed dog was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and received supportive care for 2 weeks, after which the dog developed diabetes mellitus (DM). Insulin therapy was initiated (insulin glargine 300 U/ml) at 0.2 U/kg subcutaneously (SQ) every 12 hours with no dose adjustments required. After 2 months, insulin therapy was discontinued because of a suspected hypoglycemic episode and persistently normal interstitial glucose concentrations. Nineteen months after diagnosis, the dog remained euglycemic with normal hemoglobin A1c, consistent with diabetic remission. Diabetic remission is rare in dogs and is reported only in the context of insulin-resistance caused by excess progesterone or glucocorticoids and in a single case report with no obvious cause of insulin-resistance. The case reported here demonstrates that even in pancreatitis-related DM, remission is possible in a dog.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41742530/