Home monitoring of blood glucose concentration by owners of diabetic dogs.
The objective of this study was to investigate whether home monitoring of blood glucose of diabetic dogs by owners would be possible on a long-term basis. The owners of 12 diabetic dogs were each asked to generate four glucose curves by taking capillary blood samples from their dog's ear, at three- to four-week intervals. Within one week of each curve being produced by the owner, an additional curve was produced by a veterinarian in the hospital. Ten owners were able to generate blood glucose curves; three of them needed a second demonstration, and two telephoned for further guidance. The blood glucose concentrations obtained from the first two 'hospital' curves were significantly lower than those measured at home. Overall, in 42 per cent of cases, the treatment based on the hospital curves would have been different from that based on 'home' curves. The results of this study indicate that the majority of owners were able and willing to perform long-term monitoring of the blood glucose concentrations of their dogs.
Casella
M
M
Clinic for Small Animal Internal Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 260, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
Wess
G
G
Hässig
M
M
Reusch
C E
CE
D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D015190:Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring / Q000662:veterinary*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D010067:Ownership; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland
D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin