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Diabetes tests and testing equipment in Cats
Using human glucose meters for testing pets
Diabetes - treatment with home testing
Using human glucose meters for testing petsQuestion: Thanks for the newsletter, and congratulations to the new graduate!! Can I
use a human glucose monitor for my dogs, and if so, what is the acceptable glucose
reading? For a 30-35 lb. male Frenchie, 6 years old; and a 40+ lb. female
blue heeler who is 2 and 1/2 years old?
Thanks so much, Jean
Answer: Jean-
The human glucose meters are the glucometers that I was referring to. I
should have made that more clear in the newsletter.The normal range for blood glucose for dogs is around 60 to 110
mg/dl or 3.9 to 6.1 mmol/L.The normal range for blood glucose for cats is around 70 to 140 mg/dl or
5.9 to 10 mmol/L. Some cats can get their blood sugar as high as 250 mg/dl
if they are stressed, though. This makes it a little harder to interpret
high glucose readings in a cat.If there is a reason for routine screening for diabetes, like a known
family tendency in one of the dog's lines, using urine glucose strips is
easier than trying to draw blood and use a glucometer. If there is glucose
in the urine, then checking the blood glucose would be a good idea and your
vet can help you determine the best way to correct the problem.Mike Richards, DVM
6/10/2000
Diabetes - treatment with home testing
I have a 15 year old cat Maya, who was diagnosed with diabetes in
April. I understand that you have clients that home-test (as we do) and I'm
wondering how you structure your treatment plan while regulating and then
managing diabetic animals, when the owners can test bg's at home. What is
your general approach to diabetes treatment, assuming willing clients? Can
hypertension be a factor, and do you treat proactively?
In Maya's case, she seems sensitive to insulin, but her response to the
same dose will vary greatly from day to day, and I don't know why. I don't
think it's her diet, or how much she eats, because that's pretty
consistent.
She does have chronic gingivitis which I've been keeping at bay with
Clavamox, until the diabetes could be controlled. (However, it has recently
flared up, and her bg's have also been very low all of a sudden (at least in
part because she eats less when her mouth hurts)) Do you think that her
underlying gingivitus might make her response so variable? Has it been your
experience that having her teeth removed would resolve this condition? How
"regular" are cats' bg's usually, assuming no other illness? I would think
that it would take home testers to know this, since most vets seem to do
only one-day bg curves.
Thanks for your writing on risk assessment in the Digest this week. It
was very thought provoking, and worrying. (and I think you are
under-charging for this great service that you provide on line).
Thanks for any thoughts you might have.Gratefully,
L and Maya
A: When we have owners who can easily test blood glucose at home, we try to
get them to do blood glucose curves in which the blood levels are checked
every four hours for 4 tests, to give us an idea of how well the insulin is
working over the course of the day. We usually try to get this done every
two weeks or so until the owner is good at recognizing the clinical signs
of under or overdosing with insulin (attitude, appetite, and water
consumption changes that signal a problem). Then we back off and go for
longer intervals, depending on the client. If I ever have a cat that is
really willing to let blood be drawn, I'd really like to see if it was
possible to adjust insulin for activity, illnesses, stress, concurrent
illness and all those other things that can affect insulin levels. I know
we could do a better job of insulin dosing in most patients -- but blood is
just very hard to get from a cat and doing it too often makes the process
even harder.I have seen or heard (my memory is failing on which one) a recommendation
to use anti-hypertensive agents in diabetic patients, on the assumption
that most have, or will have, hypertension due to the effect of diabetes. I
have not routinely dispensed these medications but have tried them in a
couple of patients. Since we do not have the equipment to monitor blood
pressure in our practice, we can not prove or disprove the need or the
actual effect on blood pressure, though.I do think that any underlying illness can affect blood sugar and I also
think that more antibiotics cause changes in the blood sugar levels -- or
in the levels the tests detect, than we are aware of. I checked to see if
this had been reported for Clavamox (Rx) and did not find any indication
that it did. The best you can do in these circumstances is to pay really
close attention to Maya's daily routine and try to make adjustments to the
insulin dosage as need be -- but this should be done after consulting with
your vet, who knows you and Maya personally and can assess how much change
to make in dosages or even if this is a good idea at all.Hope this helps some.
Mike Richards, DVM
9/8/99
Last edited 01/30/05
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