How Soon Would Diabetes Symptoms Appear After Normal Test Results?

Hi!

Enzo had full labs (urine/blood) in mid-July. The past few days I started noticing him drinking more, and he’s not peeing frequently but he is peeing in larger amounts. He has been getting freeze dried treats recently, so I’m wondering if that is playing a part in the increased thirst. Also, about a month ago he pooped outside the litter box. It may be unrelated as it only happened once and he has IBD, but he had never done it before.

All of his labs in July were “beautiful” according to my vet and I called today to double check the glucose levels and tests showed it was negative and his numbers were right in the middle of the high/low parameters.

Is it even possible that he’d be showing signs if he had diabetes since his labs were fine such a short amount of time ago? The vet tech I spoke to said no, but the vet wasn’t available so I couldn’t verify for sure. It does seem like it would have to be rapidly onset but I’m hoping to get some feedback about the timing.

Thank you!

Is he on a steroid for the IBD?

denice said:

Is he on a steroid for the IBD?

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Nope, no steroids. It’s a fairly mild case, he only vomits every few months and I had a biopsy done to ensure it wasn’t lymphoma. I manage it with diet, pre/probiotics and daily miralax for his constipation. Luckily so far it’s been enough.

Which freeze dried treats are you feeding him? And how often? Some of them can be a bit dehydrating, leading to thirst. Dehydration can lead to constipation too -- hence, possible reason why he poo'd outside the box.

I believe diabetes is asymptomatic, other than with blood tests. Until the kidneys begin to fail.

That’s an excellent point. I’m feeding him Pure Bites freeze dried shrimp and just looking at how dry it is makes me thirsty! So his uptick in drinking could definitely be responsible, I’m giving him probably too many, admittedly. The poop happened before I started giving him the shrimp. I was weird because it happened twice, a few weeks apart, and he had pooped in the litter box along with pooping on the floor, and it wasn’t diarrhea, it was formed and totally normal. And nothing has changed as far as his box or litter. Maybe it’s completely unrelated to the water consumption but I read that diabetic cats can have trouble making it to the litter box when it comes to peeing and pooping.

Some cats like large litter boxes... do you have a large one? Maybe it's a space issue when he's inside the box (he feels crowded?).

Also, I've only had one cat at a time and have always used only one litter box with no issues for each cat over the years. But a lot of people recommend having 2 litter boxes per cat

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edit: I believe that miralax can be dehydrating, too. Someone else can chip in on that idea? It's been a long time since I used it on a kitty. Maybe you could check with your vet about giving it every other day, instead of every day? I'm not sure.

ArchyCat said:

I believe diabetes is asymptomatic, other than with blood tests. Until the kidneys begin to fail.

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Oh geez no it’s definitely not asymptotic. I mean maybe there are a small number of cases but a quick google search or any vet will have a laundry list of symptoms both in the early stages and as it moves farther along if untreated.

PushPurrCatPaws said:

Some cats like large litter boxes... do you have a large one? Maybe it's a space issue when he's inside the box (he feels crowded?).

Also, I've only had one cat at a time and have always used only one litter box with no issues for each cat over the years. But a lot of people recommend having 2 litter boxes per cat

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edit: I believe that miralax can be dehydrating, too. Someone else can chip in on that idea? It's been a long time since I used it on a kitty. Maybe you could check with your vet about giving it every other day, instead of every day? I'm not sure.

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He’s an only cat, 2 litter boxes and I actually use the big plastic storage bins as boxes. I cut the front down fairly low and my husband made a wooden “perch” to stand on. I’ll check about the Miralax, I usually adjust it according if he has a few good days of poop, from 1/2 tsp per day to either 1/4 tsp a day or 1/2tsp every other. It’s definitely worth checking into though, thank you! It makes sense that it might be dehydrating. He’s been on it for a long time though, and the increased thirst only started recently so I’m not sure if that’s the culprit. Definitely going to ask though!

Yeah, diabetes is not asymptomatic -- and I'm not sure how old your kitty is, what his regular diet is (dry food? wet food?), if he has any other health issues, if he's at risk for diabetes -- but it sounds like you and your vet work pretty well together. Maybe you could see how his drinking/peeing/pooping improves if you ease up on the freeze-dried treats, and/or talk to your vet about if miralax might be contributing. If you are really worried, you can get a fructosamine test at the vet and even leave him there for a day to get a blood glucose curve done, but remember a lot of things can make a cat feel thirsty or pee more (like foods, treats, etc.) so just keep watching him and being in touch with the vet.

(I think we keep drafting replies and posting them close-in-time! I hope my replies make sense, e.g. they probably are replies to the most previous postings...)

PushPurrCatPaws said:

Yeah, diabetes is not asymptomatic -- and I'm not sure how old your kitty is, what his regular diet is (dry food? wet food?), if he has any other health issues, if he's at risk for diabetes -- but it sounds like you and your vet work pretty well together. Maybe you could see how his drinking/peeing/pooping improves if you ease up on the freeze-dried treats, and/or talk to your vet about if miralax might be contributing. If you are really worried, you can get a fructosamine test at the vet and even leave him there for a day to get a blood glucose curve done, but remember a lot of things can make a cat feel thirsty or pee more (like foods, treats, etc.) so just keep watching him and being in touch with the vet.

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Thanks so much! He’s not overweight, he’s is older (13) but in pretty impeccable health thankfully. Hopefully it’s just the treats and I’m overthinking it. I am going to keep a running tab of how many times he pees, how much he pees and how much he drinks for the next few weeks to keep on top of it. Fingers crossed it’s just the treats. Thank you so much again!

My last kitty had diabetes the last four years of her life. I kept a diary with her, and that habit remained... I still keep a diary with my current kitty!


Notes and observations are really helpful things, though!


If it's okay, I might give a shout-out to member @LTS3, who always has great info regarding feline diabetes. -EDIT-- another thing you can do is Search here at TheCatSite for "diabetes" and with username "LTS3", and you will get very helpful posts come up.

PushPurrCatPaws said:

My last kitty had diabetes the last four years of her life. I kept a diary with her, and that habit remained... I still keep a diary with my current kitty!


Notes and observations are really helpful things, though!


If it's okay, I might give a shout-out to member @LTS3, who always has great info regarding feline diabetes.

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I’m usually good with diaries because of his IBD, trying to figure out what he can and can’t eat, so I’m definitely going to do the same with the drinking/peeing. Thank you so much!!

One thing I definitely learned was that my last cat was so stressed out at the vet's that her blood glucose shot up when she was there. Stress-induced hyperglycemia, which can mess up the accuracy of things like blood glucose curves done at the vet's. So, for her, testing her blood sugar was best done at home. Her blood sugar was always lower at home.

Is Enzo’s urine sticky? Max had diabetes the last three years or so of his life, and what clued me in was not only was he peeing huge amounts of urine, but also bits of the clumps stuck to the scoop and it was very hard to clean off the mess. I think it’s possible that Enzo could have had good glucose levels in July and higher two months later.

PushPurrCatPaws said:

One thing I definitely learned was that my last cat was so stressed out at the vet's that her blood glucose shot up when she was there. Stress-induced hyperglycemia, which can mess up the accuracy of things like blood glucose curves done at the vet's. So, for her, testing her blood sugar was best done at home. Her blood sugar was always lower at home.

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I actually read that about the readings at the vet, it makes sense. Some articles I read say the injections get easier as it goes on but I’d be really nervous about testing. Is it true that you have to get it from their ear?

Tobermory said:

Is Enzo’s urine sticky? Max had diabetes the last three years or so of his life, and what clued me in was not only was he peeing huge amounts of urine, but also bits of the clumps stuck to the scoop and it was very hard to clean off the mess. I think it’s possible that Enzo could have had good glucose levels in July and higher two months later.

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Nope, the urine scoops cleanly out of the box, it’s just that lately they’ve been bigger than normal. He’s not going more frequently though. I’ll keep an eye out for the sticky pee! Thank you!!

ty3535 said:

I actually read that about the readings at the vet, it makes sense. Some articles I read say the injections get easier as it goes on but I’d be really nervous about testing. Is it true that you have to get it from their ear?

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Yes, I tested her BG via ear pricks.

The shots can get easier; some of the ease of it depends on where, how, and length of needle. I remember being a nervous, scared wreck when I found out my last kitty had diabetes! I lost her five years ago now, so many of my memories over it have faded some. But I remember giving her her Lantus shots in her lateral abdomen (that's what worked best for us-- I don't think it's normally where most pet owners give the shots).
Advice Of Insulin Injections Needed

PushPurrCatPaws said:

Yes, I tested her BG via ear pricks.

The shots can get easier; some of the ease of it depends on where, how, and length of needle. I remember being a nervous, scared wreck when I found out my last kitty had diabetes! I lost her five years ago now, so many of my memories over it have faded some. But I remember giving her her Lantus shots in her lateral abdomen (that's what worked best for us-- I don't think it's normally where most pet owners give the shots).
Advice Of Insulin Injections Needed

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I’m so sorry you lost her. I’m sure it wasn’t easy but she was lucky to have someone patient enough to care for her for all those years.