Comparison of human and cat glucose monitors

[JosieG]

Im sure this question must have been asked previously but I cant find any info about it, so apologies for wasting anyone's time and please re-direct me to where the info is, if it exists.

Has anyone undertaken direct comparisons of blood glucose readings on human-calibrated blood glucose meters, and those calibrated for cats? The various datasheets that have been set up (US vs international, human vs cat meters), seem to suggest that 2.8mmol on a human meter is the same as 3.8mmol on a cat-calibrated meter, for example.

My cat just had a BG reading of 9.7mmol at the vets but tested 7.9mmol at home a few minutes later on my Freestyle Optium Neo. Im interested if any direct comparison of the various meters have been undertaken so that we can say with certainty that a reading of 'x' on meter 1 is actually the same as a reading of 'y' on meter 2. My vet gets concerned when my cats BG is towards the lower range of desirable, but I don't because I believe that whatever reading I am getting on my human-calibrated meter, his BG will actually be a little big higher than that if I was using a cat meter. I would love to know if my assumption is correct or not.
thanks
Joanne

PS. this thread just posted to the main forum page without asking me where I wanted it to go. Not sure how to move it. Apologies if its in the wrong place and please relocate if you can (or tell me how to do it and I will move it)

 

[Deborah & Muffy(GA) & Wendall]

When the AlphaTrak first came out in 2006 one of the members here, Hope, did a comparison with several meters, including the AT. She concluded that the AT was no better than a human meter and not worth the cost of the meter or the test strips. You can read about it here: http://www.felinediabetes.com/glucometer.htm

You can also use the search function to find other meter comparison discussions. Here's one: https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/accuracy-of-human-meters-on-cats.36558/#post-384346

When I joined the board in 2004 there were no special pet glucometers. All of us here - and most vets - used the human ones. When a glucometer manufacturer became aware of this, they capitalized on it by 'creating' one specifically for animals, which actually was an AlphaTrak label stuck on a Freestyle meter (the original label was still underneath). Then they convinced vets that measuring glucose in blood was somehow different for animals, a clever marketing strategy.

I compared my human meter (Contour) with my vet's AT a few years ago and there was a negligible 15 pt. difference.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

Theoretically there should be a conversion factor between human and pet meters. However, since the accuracy of the hand-held meters is +/- 15-20% using a theoretical conversion factor is meaningless in the real world. pet meters read lower than human meters because of the different distribution of glucose in the cellular portion and liquid portion between cat (and dog) and human blood.