Diabetes can be tricky to control in both humans and cats and dogs kept as pets. Did you know that the FreeStyle Libre, a gadget designed to measure blood sugar in humans, can also be used to measure it in cats?
Using the technology, you may use a specific Bluetooth reader or an app on your smartphone to check a cat’s levels while you’re at home.
Over the shoulder blades of cats, a little patch of fur is shaved. The skin is then covered with a disc the size of a half-dollar coin. Under the skin, a small needle that stays in the disc’s centre measures the glucose levels.
Once the data has been collected, you can download it to your smartphone and share it with your veterinarian.
Knowing how much insulin to give requires using the data. Since there is no need for a needle puncture, it is less traumatic and you are more likely to acquire an accurate picture. The stress of trying to draw blood can raise a cat’s blood sugar, but not with the Libre gadget.
The tale of Shadow, a black cat, was reported by The Vet Times in the UK. The 10-year-old cat’s diabetes entered remission as a result of monitoring her blood sugar levels with a FreeStyle Libre.
Her human family used the Bluetooth reader to check her blood sugar after veterinarians installed her with the device.
