Please help, diabetes suspected but I don't know which cat

[Macysilva]

Please help.. I have two kittens about five months old and one of them is having frequent accidents in my bed and on my laundry, and I've noticed the pee smells very
sweet. I suspect it's due to diabetes but the issue is, which cat is it? I cannot afford the vet bills for this and I am prepared to surrender the cat that needs medical attention for this but I can't figure out which cat. Can you guys help me?
The female, she is thinner, very energetic, and from what I can recall I believe I've caught her having the most accidents over the last few months which is why I suspect it's her. The male, he is a chunky boy, a little more chill but he seemingly does a very good job of going to the litter box.. at least I think? I have a bad memory, and I assume the girl is having the accident s because I hardly see her stopping play time to go use the litter box where as the boy has no issue with that. So it makes me think she's sneaky and pees wherever she is when she's there and has to go. But I've read that feline diabetes usually will make your cat lethargic, and she's quite energetic. Please help? I am already so sad to have to surrender whichever one it is that needs the special care but I would hate to surrender one, and then find out it was the other and wind up surrendering both of them..

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

If you can go to a Walmart and get a Relion Premier blood glucose meter ($9) and a box of 50 strips ($9) and a box of 25 "THIN" gauge lancets (less than $2), you can learn to take your cats blood glucose and find out if it's diabetes or not. There are lots of other reasons that cats pee in inappropriate places other than diabetes. Having a UTI is one. Sometimes the only way a cat can get our attention to tell us there's something wrong is to pee in places other than their litterbox.

If it is diabetes, there's help available for treatment through Diabetic Cats In Need.

If it's a UTI, a round of antibiotics may be the only thing they need.

Surrendering a cat due to inappropriate urination is pretty much signing its death sentence. If you, who adopted them I assume because you loved them can't deal with it, nobody else is going to walk in and say "I'll adopt the one who pees all over the house". If they're lucky, they'll have 3 days to be adopted. In most shelters, as soon as you sign them over, they go straight to the euthanasia list.

There is help available. Call around to shelters and rescues and see if you can get some help.

 

[.:. in.active .:.]

Have both of them used the litter tray before, consistently, without accidents - as in being 100% litter trained?
Is there anything that changed, that could have caused behavioural problems in either of them? A new flatmate, moving to a new location, you being busier with work/social life, therefore paying less attention to either or both of them?
Are they neutered?
I wouldn't jump into conclusions with the diabetes, if I'm honest. They're still little, and there are many many factors that could cause urinating to inappropriate places.

The cheapest way to go about it, is to buy a box of Keto-Diastix. They're urinalysis sticks, and you can purchase them at your local pharmacy, or online. You dip it in the pee, and if the blue square changes colour, it signifies that there is indeed glucose in the urine, and you're indeed dealing with a diabetic cat. You could then try and catch either one of them peeing and test that one's with the Diastix, to determine whether it's that cat, or the other one.
Alternatively, you could purchase a blood glucose monitor (a human one is fine) and test both of them. But I would definitely give the sticks a try first, especially if you're pressed for money.

 

[KarenRamboConan]

I agree with the other two posters. Your best bet is to either check the blood sugar, or check for sugar in the urine. It's fast, it's easy, and it'll give you the answer you need. Also, I would suggest buying just the Diastix versus the KetoDiastix at this point. The only reason being that you're not checking for ketones at this time, you're just checking for sugar. It'll save you more money if you just buy the Diastix.
To be honest, it is unlikely to be diabetes in a kitten this age, so you are probably looking at a UTI or other urinary tract problem, and a vet visit is in order.

 

[.:. in.active .:.]

Was going to edit my original post, once I realised Diastix are sold separately too, but you got there before me

 

[Macysilva]

I will buy those and check them. My concern wasn't brought on by urinating in inappropriate places rather that the urine smells extremely sweet like I stated before. Like incredibly sweet. That's why I was thinking it's diabetes potentially

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

5 months is very young to be diabetic. It’s possible but I think it’s very uncommon.

 

[Hendrick Cuddleclaw]

5 months is very young to be diabetic. It’s possible but I think it’s very uncommon.

I'm not sure that it is possible tbh. @Elizabeth and Bertie ?


I guess technically you're right Ale, I found this statement

"Diabetes occurs in a wide age range of cats, but most cats are over 6 years of age when diagnosed. The average age at diagnosis is 10 years and the peak incidence is between 9 and 13 years. Diabetes in young cats is extremely rare."

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

I’m thinking it’s more of a behavioral issue than diabetes. How many litter boxes do you have? Minnie had pee accidents all the time as a kitten until I got them each their own litter box. She would pee inside my carry on so often, I finally placed the litter box inside my carry on. She eventually grew out of it but always remained an elevator kitty. Where are you finding the pee? I think you’ll find neither one is diabetic once you test them. 5 months is so young, it’s like she’d have to have been born diabetic and I don’t know if that’s possible.