How To Monitor Blood Glucose In Cats

Posted at February 20th, 2023 | Categorised in Blood Sugar

How To Monitor Blood Glucose In Cats – We use cookies to make it great. By using our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Cookie settings

This article was written by Jamie Freer, DVM. the doctor. Jamie Fryer is a licensed veterinarian based in Washington. With over ten years of clinical and industry experience, he specializes in veterinary medicine and surgery, animal behavior and animal genetics. the doctor. Freire holds a BA in Biological Sciences from the University of Portland and a DVM from Oregon State University.

How To Monitor Blood Glucose In Cats

After receiving enough positive feedback, it marks an article as reader-approved. In this case, 100% of readers who voted found the article helpful and rated it as approved by our readers.

The Fitbit App Will Soon Help Users Track Their Blood Glucose Levels

Keeping your cat’s blood glucose levels under control requires careful monitoring of your cat’s behavior and occasional urine testing. You may also need to take your cat to the vet for a blood sugar test or perform a blood sugar test on your cat at home. If you suspect a problem, call your cat’s veterinarian and make an appointment as soon as possible.

To test your cat’s blood sugar, buy the same glucose urine test strips that humans use at the pharmacy. Next, fill the litter box with non-absorbable litter to keep the cat’s urine liquid. Then dip the test strip into a pool of fresh urine and read the results according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If the test strip shows that there is glucose in the urine, you can give your cat the normal dose of insulin. Read on for tips on testing your blood sugar with a blood glucose meter! Managing diabetes in cats can be challenging. We know that monitoring the insulin response and avoiding hyper and hypoglycemia is important for successful control of clinical symptoms. However, the veterinary clinic (Sparks

, 2015), and multiple blood sampling may lead to stress and negative association. Options include home blood glucose measurement by willing owners (Hazuchova

Blood Sugar Gold

, 2017), although even if this is successful, there may be day-to-day variations in the curves that alter treatment decisions (Alt

, 2007). Continuous glucose monitors (CGM) are used in small animal procedures to monitor canine and feline diabetic patients, solving the problem of interpreting blood glucose curves and avoiding serial venipuncture. These devices are generally well tolerated and easy to install, and recent research has shown that they can play an important role in the management of feline diabetes. This article discusses this evidence, describes the placement process, discusses complications, and explains when such a device may be most beneficial to the diabetic feline patient.

Figure (1) Freestyle Libre sensor device on the back of a cat being scanned with a reader device. When a sensor is scanned, it can only be read by that reader device, not by others

The most widely used CGM system currently is the Free Style Libre (Abbott), which consists of a small sensor disc placed on the animal (Figure 1) that measures interstitial glucose, and either a mobile phone app or a Reader device that stores. data. Do from the sensor disc. In addition to providing a glucose reading, the phone or reader will have an arrow indicating whether interstitial glucose is rising or falling. The device, unlike previous systems, does not require calibration with blood glucose and can last up to 14 days, although it may not work as well in cats. The sensor disk can store up to eight hours of data, which is then easily transferred to a phone or reader device.

Pettest Glucose Monitoring Kit For Dogs & Cats

The accuracy of the Freestyle Libre in humans has been evaluated favorably compared to capillary blood glucose, and three recent studies in cats have shown good agreement between interstitial and blood glucose readings (Deiting and Mischke, 2021; Del Baldo

., 2021; Shi and Hess, 2021). However, when there is a discrepancy between results, the time delay for equilibration between blood and interstitium should be considered. Dear heart

. (2021) showed that during rapid blood glucose changes, there can be marked differences between the two compartments and this should be taken into account when interpreting the results. Deiting and Mischke (2021) also commented on some readings that differed significantly between interstitial and blood glucose, particularly in some patients.

Blood Glucose Monitoring

All ambiguous results should be checked with blood glucose measurements and trends should be analyzed taking into account device limitations. The system is designed for people with diabetes, so there are preset parameters for those types. The “Libre 2” system allows you to set alarms when the interstitial glucose falls above or below certain parameters, although it can be turned off.

Most sensors can be placed in conscious patients, but some pressure is required to activate the sensor. Therefore, for some cat-like patients and if inexperienced with sensor placement, sedation or anxiety reduction with gabapentin or butorphanol may be helpful. If diabetic patients are sedated for other procedures (eg, imaging), the opportunity should be taken to place the sensor. Each sensor has an applicator device (Figure 2) that is required to insert the sensor disc.

This device can be placed anywhere and studies have used a variety of sites. The dorsal neck may be used in cats (Shea and Hess, 2021), or the dorsal thorax caudal to the scapula (Fig. 3; Dieting and Mischke, 2021; Schulson).

., 2021). It is important to cover the area closely, wipe it to remove dirt (wet wipes are provided with the sensor) and allow it to dry completely before use.

Evaluation Of The Freestyle Libre In Cats With Diabetes Mellitus

Although the sensor disc is adhesive, the author adds “dots” of tissue adhesive (cyanoacrylate) around the edges of the adhesive area, or the edges may “lift” over time (Figure 4). A similar strategy has been adopted in recent studies (Del Baldo

., 2021; Shi and Hess, 2021). In a study of 34 diabetic cats, the authors did not use additional glue, but secured the edges with sutures, which they reported was well tolerated (Ditting & Mischke, 2021). In the author’s experience, this is not necessary.

Figure (2) sensor disk in water application. The thin catheter is flexible in the middle and is inserted under the skin

Figure (4) Adding additional tissue adhesive to the sensor disc at small “spots” along the edge of the adhesive disc

Glucose Curves For Cats

Figure (5) The author tries not to cover the sensor or use a dressing or shirt because it is poorly tolerated in cats. A soft buster collar can be used to prevent patient intervention

Patient interference is uncommon and there is usually no need to cover the sensor. In cats, dressing up and t-shirts can cause stress and can limit normal behavior and affect reading. If the sensor is placed on the neck, some doctors cover it with a bandage or a loose cloth collar (Del Baldo

The sensor must be scanned every eight hours to upload the data to the phone or reader device. Results can be sent from the client to the clinic using an app or a reader connected to a computer to upload the data after installing the necessary software. Figure 6 shows an example of a report that has various features, including daily graphs, daily average glucose, and the amount of time the interstitial glucose is within certain parameters (again, predefined for humans). Graphs are the most useful information obtained.

Figure (6) An example of a report provided by the Freestyle Liber system for a diabetic cat. The gray area represents the ideal blood glucose reading in humans, although this can be adjusted on the reader. This cat is approaching/recovering and hypoglycemia is seen on day 1 (blue arrow). Also note the hyperglycemic episode on day 2 (green arrow) that coincided with the trip to the clinic, illustrating the impact of stress on blood glucose and the decisions made based on that reading to increase insulin doses. In these cases, a CGM is useful for displaying readings at home over a longer period of time

Diabetes In Cats — Elwood Vet

This system can be used in the clinic of newly diagnosed diabetic patients to observe insulin response and duration of effect, after which the patient is discharged with the sensor. Cats with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), unstable diabetes (eg, persistent clinical signs, persistent hyperglycemic or hypoglycemic episodes, suspected Somogi), or feline patients approaching recovery may also benefit.

CGM can be used in septic or critically ill patients in whom hypoglycemia is a concern or in patients

Dexcom blood glucose monitor, blood glucose monitor cost, blood glucose monitor review, blood glucose in cats, libre blood glucose monitor, freestyle libre continuous glucose monitor in cats, continuous glucose monitor for cats, blood glucose monitor for cats, how to monitor blood glucose, buy blood glucose monitor, alphatrak glucose monitor for cats, glucose monitor for cats

Tags :