

Therefore, it is ideal if the feeding and insulin injection are done in the hospital so the injection can be observed. When first regulating a diabetic patient, assessment of owner technique is crucial. Unless patients eat their normal amount of the normal food at the normal time, a BGC should probably not be obtained. 32-34 Although human glucometers are readily accessible to pet owners, the Task Force does not recommend their use due to inaccuracies when reading canine and feline blood.Ī normal insulin treatment and feeding schedule must be maintained as much as possible during the BGC. The AlphaTrak 2 may be the most accurate BG meter (glucometer) for veterinary patients because it has been calibrated in dogs and cats. However, when BG is <150 mg/dL in both cats and dogs during any curve, BG should be measured hourly. When using glargine (Lantus) in cats, BG should be monitored every 3–4 hr. To construct a BGC, BG is generally measured q 2 hr for one interval between injections (i.e., for 12 hr if insulin is administered twice daily and for 24 hr if insulin is given once daily). At any time clinical signs recur in a controlled patient and.At least q 3 mo even in well-controlled diabetics.At 7–14 days after an insulin dose change.After the first dose of a new kind of insulin.There are several situations when a BGC should be performed: The only way to know how to appropriately change an insulin dose is to perform a BGC. More importantly, although other techniques and clinical signs may suggest control is lacking, multiple reasons for poor control exist, including too low and too high an insulin dose. Thus, a periodic BGC is recommended for seemingly well-controlled patients. They identify clinically undetectable hypoglycemia so that the insulin dose can be decreased before clinical signs of hypoglycemia develop. Blood glucose curves serve two very useful purposes that other monitoring parameters do not.
