My wife is diabetic and we have a glucometer at home. How we could measure our cat's blood sugar at home and what better places on the cat's body for poking?
Thank you
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My wife is diabetic and we have a glucometer at home. How we could measure our cat's blood sugar at home and what better places on the cat's body for poking?
Thank you
Is your cat diabetic, or are you just curious? I wouldn't do anything without checking with your vet. At one time I had 2 diabetic dogs, and I was unable to check their blood sugar - only their urine. The blood sugar had to be done by the vet.Quote:
Originally Posted by ING
Yep, you need to be trained by the vet on how to do it.
AND the canine glucometer is calibrated properly for canines, differently than the human one.
I would have the vet verify if the cat is diabetic. Human meters can be used for cats. felinediabetes.com is a great web site for lay people to go to learn about how to manage diabetes. They have videos how to test, etc.
If you have a diabetic cat and are trying to monitor the glucose, ask your vet to demonstrate the PROPER way to obtain a blood sample. Some may prefer you use urine strips though for at-home monitoring.
As mentioned, glucometers are typically calibrated per species. The ones we use at work we have to calibrate not only between species, but per batch of strips we get (the "code" for the species may change with every vial of strips we get). I'm sure you can use your human glucometer to monitor your cat's blood glucose but you will need to talk with your vet about calibrating, etc.
If your cat has NOT been diagnosed, but you are concerned that your cat is diabetic, a blood glucose is NOT the only test necessary to diagnose this. Again, please speak with your vet if you're concerned your cat is diabetic, as other diagnostic tests besides a blood glucose curve are necessary.
Thank you, Jessika, and everybody for reply!Quote:
Originally Posted by Jessika
Our cat has a long history of diabetes and now we are using high doses of insulin according vets recommendation, but each blood test is pricy and it desirable to make that test ourselves for appropriate insulin adjustment.
At now we are orientating on amount of water that cat is consuming.
I am planning to visit vet clinic with glucometer and compare results for future correction.
Thanks again
You do not have to take the cat in to the vet to test. You DO need instructions on how to do it, and know if you need a special glucometer as you do for dogs. The pricey bit, as you know, is the test strips.