Assesment of two portable blood glucose meters for use in dogs and cats

To evaluate the clinical and analytical accuracy of two portable blood glucose meters (PBGM) in cats and dogs. Samples were obtained from 30 cats and 30 dogs divided in three glycemic ranges (high, medium and low). Each device was tested on: (1) capillary blood; (2) fresh whole venous blood; (3) blood containing EDTA; (4) fluoridated blood and (5) serum. PBGM readings were compared with results of a hexokinase reference method. Influence of hematocrit, 2 different anticoagulants and type of blood (capillary and venous) was also investigated. In both cats and dogs, PBGM readings of capillary blood, whole blood and blood with an anticoagulant tended to underestimate while readings of serum tended to overestimate the results obtained by the reference method. These differences were more distinct in the high glycemic range. Evaluation of the mean differences between readings of a PBGM on whole blood and values measured by the reference method in the three glycemic ranges revealed that these differences would not cause any incorrect clinical decisions. Differences between capillary and whole blood were not significant in dogs whilst in cats capillary blood showed lower results when compared with whole blood. With low hematocrit both PBGM overestimated glucose concentrations. Both PBGM showed lower results when tested on blood containing an anticoagulant compared to fresh whole blood. Conclusions and clinical relevance: Our study found both PBGM, despite clear variations of performance, to be sufficiently accurate and safe for clinical use in both cats and dogs.