Non-diabetic blood sugar reading of 53

[lenistar]

Hi!

Dusty and I went to the vet for a heart ultrasound and checkup on Wednesday, and while at the vet his blood sugar measured 292. (The last time we were at the vet his blood sugar was in the upper 300s, but he was very stressed out.) Fructosamine was normal then, and I just spoke to his vet, and it's normal now as well.

My vet is very thorough, and because Dusty had lost a bit of weight on Wednesday and had the blood sugar reading of 292, she felt it would be prudent to get a couple of at-home measurements just in case. After several attempts, I was able to get a reading yesterday morning. His fasting blood sugar was 53 as measured with the Walgreens True Metrix Air. She said that reading was quite low and so wasn't sure it was accurate. She did say that the human meters tend to read low and mentioned the AlphaTrak as an alternative. (Just a note that Dusty is not exhibiting signs like increased thirst and urination. That coupled with the normal fructosamine lead her to believe he's not diabetic. Again, we're just being thorough )

Anyway, my questions is: does anyone know just how low the human meters read?

Thank you!
Leni and Dusty

 

[Juls and Billy]

53 is a perfectly normal reading for a non-diabetic cat who is not taking insulin. On a human meter, you could see anything from 40- 120 on a non-diabetic cat, though between 50 and 100 is most common. If his fructosamine was normal, I would guess it was the stress of the vet visit raising Dusty's BGL. Vet was smart to have you test at home to get a reading without the vet stress.

 

[lenistar]

53 is a perfectly normal reading for a non-diabetic cat who is not taking insulin. On a human meter, you could see anything from 40- 120 on a non-diabetic cat, though between 50 and 100 is most common. If his fructosamine was normal, I would guess it was the stress of the vet visit raising Dusty's BGL. Vet was smart to have you test at home to get a reading without the vet stress.

Thank you very much for your reply! Yes, I'm very lucky to have a vet who's so thorough.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

If that was your first time testing, I'd want to get additional readings. Sometimes, a meter will produce a reading even if there wasn't enough blood on the strip. Check the numbers over several days. Stress can certainly elevate numbers at the vet.

 

[jt and trouble (GA)]

Ditto what Sienne says. Never hurts to make sure.
I also agree those numbers are fine and the raised number is probably vet stress. But again, it never hurts to be sure.

 

[Deb & Wink]

Some non-diabetic cats or diabetic cats in remission can even have BG readings in the 30's and 40's mg/dL.

She did say that the human meters tend to read low and mentioned the AlphaTrak as an alternative. (Just a note that Dusty is not exhibiting signs like increased thirst and urination. That coupled with the normal fructosamine lead her to believe he's not diabetic. Again, we're just being thorough )

Thorough is good. Alphatrak test strips are pricey.

There is a well known phenomenon called "vet stress" where a cat's BG reading at the vet can be 100 basis points higher, or more.