How can I tell if my cat (Pooka~licous) has diabetes?

The excessive thirst, obesity and sticky urine would be the prime indicators for feline diabetes. Also any unusual lethargy, (and these are serious, advanced signs) loss of rear leg motor function, seems to be walking on the backs of his feet (called hocking), fixed gaze like he's in a daze. When my cat was diagnosed as diabetic, I read that an acceptable way of glucose testing a cat is to have him urinate in clay litter, put some of the litter in water and use the stick in that. I never tried it. Unfortunately I can't find that link, but you may be able to call your veterinarian and maybe they can tell you the exact measurements. Yahoo groups has a couple of excellent feline diabetes groups. They will suggest appropriate foods to hopefully get your cat back on track. But it is important to get this checked out, the alternative (no treatment) is not humane. Good luck, thankfully after about 4 months, my cat got regulated and was able to go off the insulin.

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It could also be kidney disease...that was my cats first sign..i actually thought he was diabetic but it was his kidneys.

You need to take the cat to the vet..don't say you can't afford to take him because he's thirsty..you need to take him because thirsty is a major symptom to many TREATABLE issues if you catch them early enough.

Basic blood work will tell the vet everything. You can do it now while it's a fixable issue or you can wait till it gets worse..then you will either wind up at the vet with a major vet bill or you wont go and the cat will die.

We are talking probably no more than 100 dollars or so for the vet visit and basic blood work.

My 14-yr old had a tremendous thirst, too, but turned out NOT to be diabetes. He was anemic, and had a some other "chronic" problem. He also was losing his vision... turned out that was cataracts. But with ALL he had, he tested NEGATIVE for diabetes.

Diabetes can have SO many "vague" and various symptoms, it really can ONLY be diagnosed by the VET. Sad to say, you will HAVE to take him to the vet for testing.

Thirst can be an indicator of other problems besides diabetes... including kidney problems.

TALK to your VET to discuss payment plans, but he must go.

Me... kittyslave23... I know my place.

If he's "really thirsty" for longer than 3 days, you need to pony up and get him to a vet.

It could be something like a virus or a stomach bug, or maybe it's hot where you are and he's really is thirsty, in which case, it will pass. Chances are, he's got diabetes.

Good news:

Diabetes is cheap to treat.

EDIT TO ADD:

Urine test strips you get at the store ARE FOR HUMANS! and can't accurately test cat urine.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not rely on human test strips to make a diagnosis for your cat.

DO NOT trust any vet that only takes a urine sample. DO NOT trust any vet that uses human test strips.

This cat needs a full work up. Blood, urine, and a trained veterinarian looking him over.

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Your veterinarian is your only option. IF the cat has diabetes, your vet will need to work with you and your cat to get his glucose regulated.

Look in the medication isle at a drug store or walmart for glucose urine test strips. Buy a bag of aquarium gravel and completly rinse it until clear, use this as litter, completly clean and dry your litter box and lock him in a room with the box until he urinates and test it. They are simple, and you can have a cheap conformation if he is passing glucose through his urine, but a negative isn't 100%. If he has a regular vet, some vets will accept just a urine sample and not require to see the pet, if they see it regularly, and process it for a better diagnosis and also check for kidney function and infections.

If his pee clumps have gotten huge recently, then that's a pretty good indicator that he has diabetes.