The flash glucose monitoring system: an invaluable tool for diabetic cats and dogs

Source:dvm360

Though diabetes is common in canine and feline medicine, its management is often complicated. It requires veterinarians and pet owners to coordinate their efforts to provide diabetic care both in the hospital and the patient’s home.

The mainstay of treatment for feline and canine diabetes is insulin alongside dietary modification. The veterinarian usually performs in-hospital blood glucose curves to initiate insulin, and repeats them:

• after the first dose of a new kind of insulin

• at 7 to 14 days after an insulin dose change

• at least every 3 months in a well-controlled animal with diabetes

• any time clinical signs recur in a controlled patient, and

• when hypoglycemia is suspected.

This can burden both the owner and the animal with frequent veterinary visits, the cost associated with each visit, and costs and stress related to hospitalizing the pet for 10-12 hours each time. Cats (more often than dogs) may develop stress hyperglycemia in the hospital setting.

At-home portable blood glucose meters can alleviate some of this burden but come with their own challenges. Needing more than 1 puncture to obtain a blood drop, not obtaining sufficient blood volume from the puncture, needing assistance in restraining the pet, and the pet’s resistance to obtaining the blood sample are all common issues.

Continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMS) differ from portable blood glucose meters in that they use a sensor applied to the surface of the body to measure interstitial glucose concentration.

However, capillary blood samples are still required to calibrate the device. The newest advancement in at-home blood glucose monitoring is the flash glucose monitoring system (FGMS), which similarly measures interstitial glucose levels through a sensor on the skin and can be worn for up to 14 days.

 The most widely used device is the Freestyle Libre, which provides glucose levels every minute directly to the monitor or to a smart phone. These systems do not require capillary blood glucose samples for calibration.

Overall, FGMS show promising use in the at-home management and overall care of diabetic veterinary patients.