Monitor Your Diabetic Pet at Home
If your cat or dog has been diagnosed with diabetes, you have probably been temporarily overwhelmed with information on the disease, treatment and monitoring. During our consultations with owners of diabetic patients, we talk about monitoring the blood glucose values at specific intervals while we are determining the correct amount of insulin to give. This process of monitoring (usually called a glucose curve) has traditionally been done within a hospital setting but is being done more frequently at home.
Just like with humans, there are small, portable blood glucose monitoring systems that are calibrated for dogs and cats. They use a small drop of blood to measure the sugar levels. The drop of blood is usually easily obtained from a prick on the ear or the paw pad using a special lancelet much like the ones human doctors use on our index fingers. Because pet’s glucose levels may be affected by stress (i.e. traveling to and staying at the hospital for 8 -12 hours) the accuracy of the readings when the test is done at home is improved. The cost effectiveness depends on how often your pet has to be monitored to get the insulin dose correct. A glucose curve can cost up to $100 each time it is run at a hospital so an at-home kit can pay for itself in two to three monitoring cycles.
It also helps owners of diabetic patients know if the patient is having an acute problem associated with too high or too low blood sugar. A simple glucose check at home can be reported to your veterinarian and help determine the next step if your cat or dog doesn’t seem to be feeling well on a particular day. If you decide this is something you would like to do, ask your veterinarian for the brand they recommend. Remember, the kit you buy needs to be calibrated for dogs and cats. Most veterinarians sell these kits or can get them for you.
Pictured is the GlucoPet Blood Glucose Monitoring System.
--Dr. Olson
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Dr. Olson practices small animal medicine in Denver, CO and is a regular contributor to Wag Reflex.
joesen on December 16, 2010 at 10:22 PM
It also helps owners of diabetic patients know if the patient is having an acute problem associated with too high or too low blood sugar.