Refused Testing By Vet !!

Hi,
My name is Misty and I have a 3 year old Norwegian Forest cat we are both new to this forum.
My baby boy has been showing signs and symptoms of diabetes for over 2 months , Increased thirst and Urination and appetite even though he eats so much he is not gaining any weight. He has probably been showing these signs longer but I work weird shifts and I just noticed these symptoms and brought them up to my vet as him having possible diabetes. His exact words were "Its impossible for a cat his age to have Diabetes" and he refused to test him. My question is did anyone else's cats show these same symptoms before they were diagnosed. I am taking him to a different Vet who specializes in cats Next Friday so hopefully something can get done.

Thank You,
Misty

 

Hello, Yes these symptoms are that of a diabetic cat. I’ve never heard of a cat being too old for this?!? I’m so glad to hear you are going to another vet! They might want to check for thyroid too. I’ve had one kitty that had similar symptoms & was losing quite a bit of weight on her diagnosis. She was hyperthyroid & took medication for it. Good luck to you!
Becky!
Come back for more info if this is diabetes, there’s quite a bit of great information here!

 

I'm so glad you are going to a cat-specific vet to get this figured out! It sure does sound like diabetes (and it is possible for such a young cat to get it-- rare, but possible), but there are other health conditions (thyroid, etc.) that should also be checked out, and it doesn't sound like Vet #1 is necessarily familiar enough with these issues for you. I'm a big believer in seeing cat-specializing vets-- being a vet is so hard, having to understand and treat a multitude of conditions across several different species as they do.

While you are waiting for the appointment, one thing you could do for your own information is to learn to test your kitty's (name?) blood glucose at home. Most of us do that regularly as part of managing diabetes (just like a human diabetic would do), so if the issue does turn out to be FD, you would have a head start.

 

So glad you are getting another opinion. I will leave it at that as I would not be nice in my response.

You can also change diet now as it can make a major impact. Wet food, pate or classic style. No gravy or sauce should be on the label. Most people use Fancy Feast or friskies . No dry food, none. As others have stated having thyroid checked as well as kidneys as those symptoms could also indicate kidney disease. Have teeth checked and urinalysis done. Any infection could raise glucose as well as stress.

You could start home testing now (just a few spot checks) as results usually done at home do not have the stress factor. And will give you an idea if that's what is going on.

 

Your first vet needs an attitude adjustment, that's as nice as my reply can be. Diabetes is almost always totally controllable and can be managed from home with the help you'll get here. Noah is our second diabetic cat.

 

That is a first...a vet that doesn't want to test the crap out of something and take all your money!

Glad you are going to a different vet. A full blood work panel would be a good start with the thyroid testing.

 

When I first started noticing the symptoms of diabetes in my cat his vet at the time told me it wasn't diabetes, when I asked about it, specifically. So began almost three months of back-and-forth trips to the vet because he was not improving. Finally, she decides to take him into the back to "check something". A few minutes later she comes out and announces brightly, like the idea was a new one, that "it looks like we have a diabetic kitty here!" She is no longer my vet, for this and a variety of other factors, but mostly over his diagnosis. We would have been three months ahead of the game if she had listened to me.

 

Test his urine for glucose with dipstick. Easy and diagnostic.