how is diabetes diagnosed definitively?

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Myrnafaye

Member Since 2018
The reason I am asking is that my cat's blood sugars spike when his pancreatitis flares. So I dont know, is he diabetic, or is his pancreatitis causing a spike in blood sugars? He is not ravenous; but he does eat and then retreat under the bed. He drinks a fair amount but he is also on 2/5 mg pred and he will increase his drinking when his pancreas flares. I am trying to get this question answered. I think - comments, please - that in any case, if he is borderline diabetic, a low carb diet may help....?
 
Yes, that has been done three times. Each time it was high; and each time it came down back to normal. So it is not apparently the final word...?
 
A low carb diet is best for ALL cats, not just diabetic ones. Cat's don't eat carbs in their natural diet and they shouldn't be eating them in our homes.

Pain, infection and inflammation can all increase the blood glucose. If it returns to normal when the flare is over, he may not be diabetic. Prednisolone will also raise the BG

Easy way for you to know for sure what's going on would be to start home testing him. If his numbers at home are normal (and he's feeling good), it's something you should probably keep on your radar, but not worry a lot about.
 
Myrnafaye said:
Yes, that has been done three times. Each time it was high; and each time it came down back to normal. So it is not apparently the final word...?
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sounds like he's boarderline. Get off of all dry, feed a low carb wet like fancy feast classic or Friskies pate, and get a monitor from home. Record all the results before food (no food for 2 hours prior) for a couple of weeks and see what you get.
 
YES. Janet, thank you. That was my plan. I think though I will feed Hound and Gatos because they offer a selection of novel protein foods - which I think he may need because of his IBD.

How often do folks here monitor?
 
Myrnafaye said:
YES. Janet, thank you. That was my plan. I think though I will feed Hound and Gatos because they offer a selection of novel protein foods - which I think he may need because of his IBD.

How often do folks here monitor?
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I test three times a day during the week and usually 4-5 times a day on the weekend. In your case id probably test once or twice a day, with at least no food for two hours to make sure the number is not food influenced.

H and G looks like a good choice with the exception of the Red Meat and the Beef selections which are a bit higher in carb.

https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf
 
Yes I am looking at the rabbit, gamebird and lamb formulas. Novel protein. I dont feed my cats beef, I feel it is foreign to their diets...lamb may be as well, I dont know.
 
Myrnafaye said:
How often do folks here monitor?
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We test at list twice a day and a lot of times 3 or 4 but since you are not giving insulin, maybe once a day making sure he hasn't eaten 2 hours prior to your test for a few days (one or two weeks ), and if he comes out normal maybe once a week after that
 
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