Hi,

I just wanted some advice really, or to hear any of your stories please.

We noticed a few weeks ago that Bod, our 21 month old Siamese had started to drink rather alot. As he was still eating and behaving normally, we decided to just keep an eye on him before panicking and taking him to the vets un-necessarily.

Well, my husband and I went away for a long weekend, just got back yesterday, and the lady at the cattery said we should take him to the vets, as he was now drinking 3 big bowls of water a day. So we took him straight away, as it suddenly seemed to have got much worse.

The vet weighed him, listened to his heart / chest - all the usual stuff and said he seemed in perfect health. She explained all the possible problems that it could be - kidney failure, thyroid, or psychological.

So now we have to try and collect a wee sample, which should be fun! I was just wondering if anyone else had seen anything like this? Like I said, he's in perfect health, not even 2 years old, but is just drinking all the time!

Any comments would be most gratefully appreciated. I'm very worried about my special boy

Thanks,

Jeanette.

Sorry I haven't any experience of this in cats but in humans this would point to diabetes.

Really all you can do is get the wee sample & hope you can resolve this issue when you get the results.

I Hope all goes well for you both!

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Christina

http://www.sungold-bengals.co.uk

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent - Eleanor Roosevelt 1937

I have not experienced it with cats. But had 2 dogs that have done this and it turned out they were diabetic.They needed insulin injections every day

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RIP Patsy ( the black cat )
http://lynsragdolls.messageforums.net/index.php

Hi Christina,

That's a very good point actually and now I think about it, the vet did mention that as a possibility.

I'm assuming diabetes can be controlled with medication in cats??

Thanks,

Jeanette.

Thanks Kat28 - seems like our posts were being written at the same time!

yes you're correct. it would be treated with diet and with medication, insulin therapy, attention to diet and activity levels is usually the route you would take. we have many clients at the vets that i'm a student nurse at. Loads of them turn round and live a much better quality of life than they would with out the treatment. good luck at the vets and let us know how you get on!

I was going to say that diabetes would certainly be a possibility - strange in such a young cat though

hyperthyroid and kidney failure would also be very unusual in a young cat unless there is a genetic issue.

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Vervain Cats

Yes, insulin might be required initially but many cats can be cured completely of diabetes simply by a change of diet - removing all dried food and only feeding good quality wet foods and/or raw / cooked meats.
Hopefully the vet will find out exactly what the problem is and suggest some treatment.

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Vervain Cats

Thanks so much for all the replies to date.

I'm hoping that diet won't be an issue if he is diagnosed with diabetes. We also have a Havana who has a very delicate little tummy, so both of them are fed an organic wet food which contains 75% meat. They do get dried food too (Royal Canin), but Bod doesn't eat so much of this. We've worked very hard to find a diet to suit them both, so I'm hoping this can at least stay the same.

I'm not sure of any genetic issues - if some weird things do come up after our next visit to the vet, I think I might get in touch with the breeder to check up on that.

I'm just hoping it's not kidney failure, as the vet did say that whilst it could be managed in the short term, the long term outlook wasn't good.

Well, it would seem that getting a wee sample is a little more complicated than originally anticipated!!!

The vet gave us some crystal, bead type things to replace the normal litter in the tray. They are non absorbant, so after having a wee, it's meant to be easy to just collect the sample. Well, that's assuming you can get the cat to wee in the tray in the first place!

Bod is very fussy about his tray and the litter we use, so needless to say he was NOT happy with the litter from the vets! We ended up shutting all the doors in the house and leaving him in the hallway with the tray, figuring that he'd go when he was ready. It was obvious that he needed to go, because he kept going in the tray, looking annoyed, then coming out again.

After an hour or so we checked on him - no wee in the tray, but a great big pool of it on the upstairs landing. The poor chap must have been bursting and I felt so bad for him. Still, at least the evening could return to normal once the wee had been cleared up!

I'll be calling the vets shortly for advice, or alternative methods of sample collection!!!