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- Aug 17, 2012
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We have to cats at work who are now getting on in years. At the end of last summer I noticed Stinky (born Nov 1998) was drinking & urinating more often. I have Type 1 diabetes myself so that's what I immediately thought of. I tested her blood sugar using my meter and it was in the mid-70 range. I tested her a few more times after that and it was always in the mid to low 70s. I took her to the vet and he ran a bunch of blood tests. Her blood sugar was normal and she had no glucose in her urine. He said one of the kidney tests was a little out of range. He decided the drinking & urination was due to her kidneys.
A couple of years ago I notices a small lump on Stinky's back and several more developed over time. Her previous vet didn't think much of it. When my office (and the cats) moved last year and she went to the new vet (the one mentioned in the first paragraph) he also didn't seem concerned by them but said to keep an eye on them and let him know if they change size or anything else. Two weeks ago, when I was away, a co-worker called and said that it looked like one of her lumps was scratched off and there was just a little drop of blood. I mis-heard him and thought he said she had a scratch. When I got back to work a couple of days later I realized he said she had a bald patch, not scratch. Her skin was deep red so she went to the vet. He removed the base of that bump plus two others to send for a biopsy along with a blood draw for tests. He said the bumps are not cancerous and to just continue to watch them.
On Monday I brought her back in to have her stitches removed and I asked about the blood tests. He said everything looked good except her glucose was high, but he said that it could be due to stress. I told him I could check her blood sugar myself to see what's going on and he said that would be great, let him know what readings I got. Yesterday morning before I gave the cats breakfast I tested Stinky's blood sugar and it was 397. I tested again using a different meter and got 404, so back to the vet. He drew blood to do a fructosamine test and gave me some crystals that get mixed into the litter to test for glucose in her urine. She urinated before I left work last night but managed to not hit any of the little test pieces. I even squished the clump apart looking for them. I am not working today and my co-worker said he didn't see any of the test crystals in her pee clump this morning but said he would be more thorough in checking for them later on. I called the vet and he said the fructosamine test result is NOT consistent with diabetes, so her blood sugar has not been running high recently.
Are there any other reasons why her BG might be so high suddenly? I know that when I developed diabetes I started out feeling run down and the symptoms gradually got worse, over the course of 6 weeks or so before I wound up in the hospital. But Stinky's test don't show signs of extended high blood sugar.
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Liz
A couple of years ago I notices a small lump on Stinky's back and several more developed over time. Her previous vet didn't think much of it. When my office (and the cats) moved last year and she went to the new vet (the one mentioned in the first paragraph) he also didn't seem concerned by them but said to keep an eye on them and let him know if they change size or anything else. Two weeks ago, when I was away, a co-worker called and said that it looked like one of her lumps was scratched off and there was just a little drop of blood. I mis-heard him and thought he said she had a scratch. When I got back to work a couple of days later I realized he said she had a bald patch, not scratch. Her skin was deep red so she went to the vet. He removed the base of that bump plus two others to send for a biopsy along with a blood draw for tests. He said the bumps are not cancerous and to just continue to watch them.
On Monday I brought her back in to have her stitches removed and I asked about the blood tests. He said everything looked good except her glucose was high, but he said that it could be due to stress. I told him I could check her blood sugar myself to see what's going on and he said that would be great, let him know what readings I got. Yesterday morning before I gave the cats breakfast I tested Stinky's blood sugar and it was 397. I tested again using a different meter and got 404, so back to the vet. He drew blood to do a fructosamine test and gave me some crystals that get mixed into the litter to test for glucose in her urine. She urinated before I left work last night but managed to not hit any of the little test pieces. I even squished the clump apart looking for them. I am not working today and my co-worker said he didn't see any of the test crystals in her pee clump this morning but said he would be more thorough in checking for them later on. I called the vet and he said the fructosamine test result is NOT consistent with diabetes, so her blood sugar has not been running high recently.
Are there any other reasons why her BG might be so high suddenly? I know that when I developed diabetes I started out feeling run down and the symptoms gradually got worse, over the course of 6 weeks or so before I wound up in the hospital. But Stinky's test don't show signs of extended high blood sugar.
--
Liz
