Home › How diabetes is diagnosed
How diabetes is diagnosed
The tests, in plain terms
| Test | What it shows | What it can't tell alone |
|---|---|---|
| Blood glucose | Blood sugar at that moment | A single high value can be stress from the car ride and clinic ("stress hyperglycemia") |
| Fructosamine | Average blood sugar over roughly the previous two weeks - much harder for stress to fake | Still interpreted together with signs and other results |
| Urinalysis | Glucose in the urine (a strong diabetes signal), plus signs of urinary infection, which diabetics are prone to | Doesn't show how high the blood sugar runs day to day |
| General blood panel | Overall organ health and other conditions that can travel with or mimic diabetes | Not a diabetes test by itself |
Stress hyperglycemia is real
Cats can produce a genuinely high blood glucose reading from fear and stress alone - the vet visit itself does it. This is why a careful vet doesn't diagnose diabetes off one stressed reading, and why Cornell's diagnosis guidance leans on the fructosamine test and urine glucose for confirmation. If your cat seemed terrified at the appointment, say so; it matters for interpretation.
What happens right after diagnosis
Most newly diagnosed cats go home with a plan that has three parts: insulin injections (usually twice daily), a diet discussion, and a recheck schedule. The first weeks are a tuning phase - the vet adjusts the insulin dose against follow-up glucose measurements, sometimes as an in-clinic "glucose curve" day or with home monitoring. Nothing about the first prescription is final; expect adjustments. The day-to-day side of this is covered in life with insulin and monitoring at home.
Questions worth asking at that first appointment
- What insulin, what dose, and exactly when relative to meals?
- What diet do you recommend, and how do I switch without a food strike?
- What should I watch for that means the dose is wrong - especially signs of low blood sugar?
- When is the recheck, and will you want a glucose curve or home readings?
- Who do I call if something seems off between visits?
Write the answers down, or keep them in a note you'll actually find later. The glucose and dose log gives you a place to record readings and doses from day one.