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What are easy ways to monitor my diabetic dog's glucose at home?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Chihuahua | Male | neutered | 9 years and 2 months old | 20 lbs

Im having problems getting blood from my dog to check his blood glucose as he is a diabetic and we have been unsuccessful. The closest vet is 30 miles away at least so i cant take him in everyday and my vet is not the most compassionate and doesn't really seem to make my dog a priority. Are there any other ways to check blood glucose without drawing blood?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Dr. B. DVM, DACVIM (Oncology)

Answered By Dr. B. DVM, DACVIM (Oncology)

Veterinarian

Published on February 17th, 2019

I have provided a link here that hopefully will help you. There are a lot of good owner tutorials/videos for owners of diabetic pets. The best spots to obtain a bit of blood for a glucometer are the paw pad and ear tips but a lot of owners have trouble and the values may not always be accurate. You do not need to check blood sugars daily as this is not very accurate. Checking a spot check blood sugar is more important if you think the value would be low, which is more concerning than a high sugar. A blood glucose curve is a better way to monitor and this is done 7 to 10 days after diagnosis and after any dose change. Some owners monitor urine dipsticks as well. If you feel like you need more help with this disease process then you could ask for a referral to a veterinary internist who specializes in managing chronic diseases like diabetes. I hope this helps and thank you for using PetCoach!

https://www.aaha.org/guidelines/diabetes_guidelines/resources.aspx
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Related Answers from Veterinarians

  • Answered By Laura Johnson VMD

    Veterinarian

    Published on September 15th, 2017

    HI, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Bailey! He is adorable!

    Regular insulin is short acting and needs to be given every 6 hours which is not feasible at home. The only time I have prescribed regular insulin is for diabetic cats who have acromegaly. My suggestions are to discuss with your Veterinarians over the phone how to gradually increase Bailey's insulin dose. You can be taught, by purchasing a glucometer (made for animals not people), how to measure his blood sugars at home. The glucometer itself is initially expensive but it may save you in the long run. Also using Keto-diaticks to measure ketones and glucose in his urine. That way you can do blood sugar curves at home and report to your Vet. My other thought, is that Bailey may need a different insulin. Overall we may just have to wait for his pancreatitis to resolve. Pancreatitis can make diabetes hard to regulate as can Cushings. If Cushings disease is suspected he may need to be tested for it and treatment started to help regulate his diabetes.

    Sadly cataracts are almost inevitable in our canine diabetics. Maybe when you recoup your costs you can consider having the cataracts removed.

    I am sorry you and Bailey are struggling and I wish you both the best!

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    3Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Smart Picks for Smart Questions

Health & Wellness
Where can I find a printable blood sugar chart for my diabetic dog?
Most "normal" dogs have a blood sugar range from 75-150. But most diabetic dogs are never that low. Our blood sugar goals for most diabetes are more like 150-250. The most important thing is to closely monitor Bindi's levels in order to help your veterinarian adjust her insulin accurately. And do not change the insulin dose without speaking with your veterinarian or based on a single reading. The most important thing is monitoring trends in her blood sugar levels. I am attaching a handout below which has a form that you can download to help record and monitor her blood sugar levels. https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952916 Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.
Updated on September 23rd, 2025
Vet Q & A
How often to test diabetic dog blood sugar & what's a healthy range?
Great question! Typically I have owners do curves at home starting with a check before breakfast and insulin, then every 2hours until their next insulin dose. Ideal is 80-120 for me, but below 200 is pretty good control. If you are just starting to monitor your diabetic dog, I usually wait 1 week of dosing to start a curve. Do the curve on a day when you will be home with Toby and can check every 2 hours, and when there is no stressful activities going on, like visitors/construction, etc. Once you get your curve, you should send the results to your vet so they can analyze the results and make any changes to his insulin treatment if necessary. Do not change insulin dosage without talking to your vet first. Good luck and kisses to Toby!
Updated on September 23rd, 2025
Health & Wellness
My cat has diabetes. How often to test blood, regulate, or use urine?
Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! There is not a set number of times per day or anything like that. That is something that is determined based on the current control of the diabetes and is adjusted accordingly. That should be recommended by the veterinarian who is prescribing the insulin and keeping tract of the case closely. There is no way to accurately measure glucose in the urine for these cases. How long it takes to achieve steady levels also varies widely per case but possibly within a week or so. Best of luck!
Updated on September 23rd, 2025
Vet Q & A
When to check my diabetic cat's blood sugar: before or after insulin?
Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I think this is Veterinarian preference. If your Vet wants you to be doing this at home, double check with them on what time they want you to check Nappy's blood sugar so they can accurately guide you on changes. With that being said, I like the reading to be right before the insulin is due to be given or 6 hours AFTER it has been given (which should be the lowest point of the day). I sometimes have owners do full blood sugar curves at home, which requires measuring the blood sugar every 2 hours for 12 hours, starting right before the morning dose of insulin. I hope this helps!
Updated on September 23rd, 2025
Vet Q & A
Can I use a human glucometer on my dog? What's a normal level?
Yes, human glucometers can be used in pets, but often the results are not a direct correlate to true blood glucose in dogs - they tend to be lower than what it really is. Normal blood glucose for dogs would be 80-120 but can vary depending on stress level, recent meals, or concurrent illness. If you would like to routinely check Miley's blood glucose, I recommend that you talk to your vet about a veterinary glucometer. If you still want to use another glucometer, your vet can draw multiple sample throughout the day to compare the numbers of the human glucometer and compare it to a veterinary glucometer.
Updated on September 23rd, 2025
Health & Wellness
My dog's blood glucose is low, but vets disagree. What's next?
I don't see an age, breed, or sex listed for your pet, which would give us helpful information in terms of how to interpret that finding. It is certainly lower than expected; usually when dogs (or cats) have their blood drawn, they are a bit stressed from being at the vet, which tends to increase the blood sugar for a short period of time, so usually we will see animals be over 80-90, and most commonly over 100. It may be worth asking your vet about running a "baseline cortisol" test to screen for Addison's disease. I will attach some information below. Keep a close eye on your dog as well. If he seems lethargic, tired, walks with a weak or wobbly gait at times, etc, (or certainly if he has more obvious problems such as a seizure), then this probably is a problem for him. Other possible causes of low blood sugar (again age, breed, and sex also play in here in terms of liklihood), include insulinoma (a tumor in the pancreas), liver disease, or toxin exposures (most notably xylitol). I hope that is helpful for you.... for more detailed information consider requesting a consultation so we can go back and forth with information. Thank you for asking PetCoach! https://www.petcoach.co/article/addison-s-disease-hypoadrenocorticism-in-dogs/
Updated on September 23rd, 2025
Health & Wellness
My diabetic dog's glucose is high and fluctuating. When to see vet?
Consider having Mojo rechecked by your veterinarian. A bG curve should be done to confirm the insulin dose is appropriate or if it needs to be adjusted. In a diabetic dog, a bG between 5-12 mmol/L over a 24 hour period is considered "stable". Rapid or wide swings should be addressed by your veterinarian
Updated on September 23rd, 2025

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