Mumbai: A pet dog , Nikki, with uncontrolled blood sugar levels just got a tech device to keep track of his glucose levels. The 3-year-old male pug has been wearing the ‘continuous glucose monitor’, or CGM, sensor since he was admitted to the veterinary hospital at Parel on Friday.
The CGM is a circular patch pinned on the abdominal region, or nape (the region above the neck), of an animal. Of a diameter slightly bigger than that of a 10-rupee coin, it displays glucose levels on the cellphone to which the sensor is linked through an app. The sensor is live for two weeks, after which it has to be peeled off from the body and discarded. The dog, on insulin, had a blood sugar level above 400 mg/dl when he was admitted. Normal sugar levels range between 80 and 120 mg/dl. The glucose sensor helps monitor sugar levels and adjust insulin dosage accordingly.
“This is a rare occasion on which we have used the CGM on a pet. It helps monitor blood glucose,” said Dr Chandrakant Galdhar, professor of medicine at Mumbai Veterinary College, who is treating the pet. For humans with diabetes, the sensor has become common in recent times.
Were it not for the sensor, the alternative to monitor the pet dog’s blood sugar would be the glucometer. That would imply jabbing him with a needle to draw a blob of blood each time to know his glucose level. So, use of the multiple pricking with the glucometer depends on how cooperative the animal is. “Often, pets don’t cooperate… they can be just like children,” said Dr Rajiv V Gaikwad, professor at Mumbai Veterinary College.
