Excuse me?  Most cats take insulin injections very well -- the needle
is tiny, the shot takes all of a microsecond, and, believe it or not, I
think they do indeed appreciate that they feel better when they get
their shots.  My diabetic cat Kelson, I swear, PURRS when he sees me
getting the insulin ready for him, and will often meow and rub at me to
remind me that it's time for his shot if I'm close to forgetting.

The hardest part in treating a diabetic cat is figuring out how much
insulin to give.  Once you've got the schedule and dosage down, it's
really a piece of cake, and I speak from experience.  If Kelson could
talk, I know he'd tell you he's far, far happier getting shots twice a
day than the alternative.  To the original poster, please do get your
kitty on insulin if he is indeed diabetic, as he'll feel worlds better
and so will you.

- Nancy.

The cat will not appreciate the fact that those

That's not entirely true.  If done correctly with as little fus and
restraint as possible, most cats, at least the several dozen diabetic cats
we've managed, don't mind the insulin injections or the ear prick for blood
glucose monitoring at all.

The key is not to stress out the cat by making a big deal about it or
chasing her and using excessive restraint..

Phil.

Gill,

Its usually the other way around in cats - Glucosuria predisposes cats to
infections -especially urinary tract infections because sugar in the urine
is an excellent breeding ground for bacteria.  Its quite possible that a UTI
exacerbated underlying diabetes and the antibiotic simply treated the
symptoms.  Cats have a high renal threshold for glucose (220-310 mg/dl) so
it seems unlikely that an infection would be the primary cause of
glucosuria.

If I were you, I'd err on the side of caution and ask your vet to run a
complete blood test to determine her actual blood glucose concentration and
any other possible abnormalities including renal dysfunction and infection.
A serum fructosamine or glycosylated hemoglobin test measure the average
level of glucose control over the past few weeks.   Either of these would
tell you if your cat does in fact have diabetes as opposed to transient or
physiological hyperglycemia.

Urine glucose testing in cats is very unreliable and has some serious
limitations partly because of the cat's high renal threshold.  Also, the
urine glucose reading does not reflect the *actual* blood or urine glucose
concentration at the time the urine is tested since urine in the bladder, at
any given time, is an accumulation of several hours of urine formation.
Actual blood glucose could be higher or lower than reflected by the urine
test strips.

If I were you, I'd err on the side of caution and ask your vet  to run a
complete blood test including serum fructosamine or glycosylated hemoglobin.

Best of luck.

Phil.