Civie cat health question

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Chuck and Susan

Chuck and Susan

Member Since 2010
Chuck is my 18 year old diabetic cat. He has 3 civie "siblings." All three civies were in for annual bloodwork and shots. I don't have the exact number, but Dallas (age 4) came back with higher than normal glucose (lower than the last bloodwork). He eats the same food as Chuck, low carb, just like all of them. He weighs 13-14 pounds. I tried an ear stick tonight without success, but that's not a surprise. I didn't think young cats developed diabetes as frequently as older cats -- is there something we should be looking at/for with Dallas?

He was a shelter cat -- make the long story short -- in 2008 Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where we lived and worked, suffered a catastrophic flood in June. Dallas was born in November 2008 -- We adopted him when he was about 3 months old. His mother was a "flood cat," living in flooded-out houses and buildings in a virtually deserted area (it had anywhere from 10-15 feet of water in the buildings at peak flood). Would this be anything that could influence his BG 4 years later?

Thanks for any advice or suggestions!! The vet just wants to watch for now...
 
It is possible for a younger cat to develop diabetes. When I adopted Ricky (GA), I knew he was diabetic and had been on insulin for at least a year. He was 5 when I adopted him.

It may be possible there are other causes for the higher number. Vet stress can cause higher readings and so can an infection. Did they do a fructosomine test or just a single glucose reading?
 
My Tiggy was 7 when he developed it but you should look for any signs of infection - UTI, ear or teeth.

Did you test him at home?

Wendy
 
Some cats can get stressed induced hyperglycemia. My Boo's sugar would go into the 200's. Diabetes could happen in a young kitty. What was Dallas's sugar?
 
Lisa, just a regular blood draw, no fructosomine.

Wendy, tried testing him at home tonight, didn't work. He's a STRONG cat! I didn't expect to succeed the first time -- I didn't with Chuck. I'll have hubby help hold him maybe tomorrow.

Sandy, the vet tech didn't give me a number, just that it was "a little high, but lower than the last test." I think the last one was around 500 a few months back -- he was pretty stressed and not feeling good (the reason for the vet visit) so we weren't too concerned about the number. I've asked for the results from both draws...

He HATES riding in the car and in his carrier. It's about 15 minutes one way to the vet and he complains all the way. I've tried everything to calm him -- the radio on, the radio off, the CD on, the CD off (I have the Music My Pet CD -- doesn't help at all), I sing to him, I talk to him, I use FeliWay in the carrier and the car (before I put him in the carrier, of course), I tried a thundershirt (he howls even louder) -- I think that stresses him quite a bit in addition to being at the vet. He can get so stressed that he throws up. I've also tried taking him on short rides to get him used to being in the car, and that hasn't seemed to help either.

He's a very affectionate cat -- the techs usually complain that it's hard to trim his nails because he just wants to snuggle with them. I understand that completely -- if I go out to my sewing studio for 10 or 15 minutes, and then come back into the house, he acts like I've been gone for years...
 
Don't restrain him.. Wait till he is all half asleep and go up and rub his ears (or feet whichever he is happier with) then poke poke before he knows what's going on.
 
500 is high. If that is what it was. Let is know the last 2 draws when u find out. Good luck getting the BG. Paws crossed. My would pee, poop, throw up and drool in a 10 minute ride.
 
Sounds like 'car ride stress' kicks in long before you even get him to the vet. Stress induced hyperglycemia can set in within 5 minutes and last 90 minutes or longer.

Keep trying for a test at home to see how your civie youngun' Dallas does in a less stress free setting.
 
Mikey was diagnosed just shy of 6 months old, so it is possible but fairly rare and usually there's an underlying cause (steroids, dental infection, other types of infection). As to his origins, I wouldn't think it'd have anything to do with his diabetes as that's something you'd probably see fairly immediately and not 5 years later... then again, it could have done some sort of damage somewhere that is only presenting itself as he ages. I still don't know the cause of Michelangelo's diabetes (most likely he'd be the equivalent of a human Type 1), so try not to lose sleep over trying to figure it out. ;-)

Hopefully, it's just stress-induced hyperglycemia. Let us know how the testing goes!

ETA: cross-post with Deb. :lol:
 
I had to go to the vet to pick up syringes for Chuck and got the test results. On 8/1/12, Dallas' BG tested at 288. On 7/24/13, his BG was 208.

I'm not looking at these as a cause for alarm, based on vet stress (adds at least 50 to the reading)... That would make his current BG around 150, which falls in the normal range. Don't know where I got the 500 from!

His other results were normal, except for HGB, MCH, ABS EOS, and Lymphocyte (all high) and MCHC which was low. The results had a comment that the Lipemia present in the sample invalidates the HGB, assay, MCH and MCHC calculations. Since the vet didn't mention these test results, only the glucose, I'm assuming it's nothing to worry about right now.

Bouncer (the baby at 2 years) had a high ALB and a glucose of 104. His HGB and MCH were also high; his Platelet C was low, but his Lymphocyte was in the normal range.
 
Still would be good to get a test at home. But you could also pick up some keto-diastix and test his urine for sugar .. see if he is over the renal threshold?
 
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