Diabetes program offers free education aimed to improve early diagnoses

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For the eighth consecutive year, Merck Animal Health, Purina, and Zoetis partner to bring veterinarians the Diabetes Pet Care Alliance program. According to a company release,¹ this program offers veterinarians free diabetes education along with free starter diabetes management kits for owners of newly diagnosed diabetic pets.

With Pet Diabetes Month approaching in November, Merck, Purina, and Zoetis are encouraging clinics to enroll in the Diabetes Pet Care Alliance program now until October 31, 2022, at usa.petdiabetesmonth.com. Additionally, clients whose pets are diagnosed with diabetes between November 1 and December 31, 2022, are eligible to receive the free kits.¹

Program kits include¹:

• 1 AlphaTRAK 2 Blood Glucose Monitoring System from Zoetis
• 1 6-pound bag of Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets DM Dietetic Management Feline Formula for cats or Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets EN Gastroenteric Fiber Balance Dry Formula for dogs
• 1 10 mL vial of Vetsulin (porcine insulin zinc suspension) from Merck Animal Health

It is estimated that 1 in 300 adult dogs and 1 in 230 cats in the United States have diabetes.^2,3 And while diabetes diagnoses have been on the rise in recent years,⁴ only two-thirds of cat owners and half of dog owners say they are satisfied with diabetic control in their pets.⁵ Merck, Purina, and Zoetis hope that this ongoing diabetes education program will help bring more awareness to the chronic disease and allow clients to feel more at ease and prepared if their pet is diagnosed.

References

1. Diabetes Pet Care Alliance supports screening pets this November. News release. Merck Animal Health, Nestle Purina, Zoetis. Accessed September 28, 2022.
2. McCann TM, Simpson KE, Shaw DJ, Butt JA, Gunn-Moore DA. Feline diabetes mellitus in the UK: the prevalence within an insured cat population and a questionnaire-based putative risk factor analysis. J Feline Med Surg. 2007 Aug;9(4):289-99. doi: 10.1016/j.jfms.2007.02.001.
3. Catchpole B, Ristic JM, Fleeman LM, Davison LJ. Canine diabetes mellitus: can old dogs teach us new tricks? Diabetologia. 2005 Oct;48(10):1948-56. doi: 10.1007/s00125-005-1921-1.
4. Banfield Pet Hospital. State of Pet Health: 2016 Report. Accessed September 28, 2022. https://www.banfield.com/pet-health/State-of-pet-health
5. Aptekmann KP, Armstrong J, Coradini M, Rand J. Owner experiences in treating dogs and cats diagnosed with diabetes mellitus in the United States. J Am Anim Hosp Assoc. 2014 Jul-Aug;50(4):247-53. doi: 10.5326/JAAHA-MS-6101.