Diabetic pets get new lease on life with monitoring system UGA helped developed

The University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine Diabetes Clinic is changing the way you can treat your pet's diabetes.

Typically, owners have to take blood samples from pets multiple times a day to monitor their blood sugar levels. That determines the amount of insulin the owner then gives to the pet. Now, the UGA Diabetes Clinic is offering pet owners a much simpler way to find out how much glucose to give through continuous interstitial glucose monitoring (CIGM).

Here's how it works:

The UGA Diabetes Clinic will attach a glucose monitor to your pet. The monitor is made by iPro2, but UGA students developed a program to use with the monitor to return meaningful data on a pet's blood sugar levels that veterinarians can analyze.

The pet will go home and wear the monitor for three to five days.

The monitor takes blood sugar level readings every five minutes and records them.

After three to five days, the pet owner detaches the monitor from the pet and mails it back to the UGA Diabetes Clinic.

From there, the veterinarians analyze the readings and determine what kind of insulin and how much insulin your diabetic pet needs.

Want to participate? Talk with your vet and ask to be referred to the UGA Diabetes Clinic.

Many pet owners don't know their pet is diabetic. Here are some warning signs you can look out for:

  1. Drinking excessive amounts of water.
  2. Urinating often.
  3. Change in appetite.
  4. Weight loss.
  5. Lethargic behavior.