Priorities on treatment and monitoring of diabetic cats from the owners' points of view.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to evaluate: owners' perceptions and priorities on the treatment and monitoring of feline diabetes mellitus (DM); the perceived effectiveness of the communication between veterinarians and clients regarding disease management; and the impact DM has on the owners' everyday lives and human-pet bonds. METHODS: An initial questionnaire, then an adapted second questionnaire, were available to owners of cats with DM on vetprofessionals.com . RESULTS: A total of 748 questionnaires were completed. At diagnosis, fewer than half of veterinarians discussed how to recognise unstable diabetes (46%) or home blood glucose monitoring (HBGM) (40%). Owners were disappointed that the importance of diet on diabetic remission/stabilisation and HBGM were not discussed. Only 49% of respondents were supervised by a veterinarian/veterinary nurse while first drawing up insulin and injecting their cat. Websites/online forums that owners found themselves were most useful when learning about their cat's diabetes (76% agreed). Over a third of cats (39%) were not fed a 'diabetic' diet but, impressively, 71% of owners used HBGM. Initial concerns about costs, boarding, the effect on their daily life and potential negative impact on the human-pet bond reduced significantly after initiating treatment (P <0.0001). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Caring for a diabetic cat requires significant owner commitment, plus support by the veterinary team for the owner and their cat. It is difficult to discuss all aspects of this complex disease with the owner in a single consultation; hence, it is important to involve the entire veterinary team in owner education and provide owners with informative material (eg, useful websites, printouts). Understanding owners' priorities, fears, and which monitoring methods have helped others, is paramount to achieve owner compliance and satisfaction, and so improve the health and welfare of diabetic cats. This study provides useful information on the management of feline DM, which can be instrumental in educating future owners.

Silencing of GRA10 protein expression inhibits Toxoplasma gondii intracellular growth and development.

Toxoplasma gondii dense granule proteins (GRAs) are secreted abundantly in both the tachyzoite and bradyzoite stages of the parasite and are known to localize to various compartments of the parasitophorous vacuole (PV) that interfaces with the host cell milieu. Thus, GRAs may play significant roles in the biogenesis of the PV that is important for survival of intracellular T. gondii. GRA10 is a dense granule protein whose role in T. gondii has not yet been characterized. Therefore, in this study, we endeavored to determine the role of GRA10 in the growth and survival of intracellular T. gondii by using phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PPMOs) antisense knockdown approach to disrupt the translation of GRA10 mRNA in the parasites. We expressed and purified a truncated recombinant GRA10 protein to generate anti-GRA10 polyclonal antibodies that we used to characterize GRA10 in T. gondii. We found that GRA10 is a soluble, dense granule-associated protein that is secreted into the parasite cytosol and the parasitophorous vacuole milieu. Using in vitro cultures, we found that knockdown of GRA10 results in severe inhibition of T. gondii growth in human fibroblasts and in ovine monocytic cells. Together, our findings define GRA10 as a dense granule protein that plays a significant role in the growth and propagation of intracellular T. gondii in human fibroblasts and in ovine monocytic cells.