My cat's blood sugar is high. Could it be diabetes or stress?

Unlike dogs it is very common for cats to have a mildly elevated blood sugar on screening lab work due to stress, called stress hyperglycemia. In some cats this can become higher then your kitties making it hard to differentiate from diabetes. But, cats with diabetes usually have other symptoms that normal cats do not have like increased thirst and urination, and their blood sugar is typically >250 or higher. Some pre diabetic cats will start out with a lower value so monitoring the blood sugar over time or additional testing can be used to differentiate stress from real high blood sugar if needed. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Glucose levels in cats should not change based on size. However, levels can increase with stress but anything over 300 is very concerning for diabetes. Several tests can be done to diagnose diabetes. A fasting blood glucose level in addition to a urinanalysis will diagnose most cats, but occasionally a test called fructosamine may be needed. Overweight mid aged male cats are more predisposed to diabetes than others. It sounds like you may need to visit with your veterinarian to make a plan for BB.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would check the blood sugar again. Stress can make the blood sugar go up. Can you post the blood work as your values are not the same as the US? I would confirm it again. I haven't in 13 years seen a diabetic cat present with out weight loss. Unless you caught him very early.

Chronic steroid usage can predispose cats to developing diabetes. If your cat’s asthma is currently stable then I think it is reasonable to stop medication and see how the blood glucose responds. If you aren’t comfortable with this, or you are concerned she won’t do well if you stop the medications, then I would recommend talking to your vet about having a fructosamine level performed. This will give you an idea of how high her glucose has been over the previous 2 weeks. If it is high as well then you will most likely need to initiate insulin therapy. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

Hi there. Pets who are on an insulin dose that is too high can have something happen called the Somoygi effect, which basically means that their glucose levels can drop suddenly and then get really high afterwards as the body "overshoots" as it tries to compensate for the sudden drop. So yes, it's possible for an animal on a too-high insulin dose to have high glucose readings in some cases. This is why blood glucose curves are generally needed to assess the pet's response to insulin. This means checking the glucose level every 2 hours for an 8-12 hour period, to give a clearer picture of exactly how the levels are changing throughout the day. I would recommend talking to the veterinarian who is managing Cupcake's diabetes about how best to monitor her glucose levels and determine if any insulin dosage changes are needed.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is concerning as it may be an indication that his diabetes is not well-controlled at the moment. I would highly recommend that you check in with a veterinarian as soon as possible to check for this possibility. If this is the case, they can work in getting him to feel better and then possibly focusing in controlling his diabetes better. Best of luck!

I'm sorry that Pepper isn't doing well! Yes, I do recommend having the fructosemine test done. Cats can have glucose in their urine due to stress, and this test will tell the vet if the glucose in her urine is due to stress or if she truly has diabetes. I hope this helps!