Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Health & Behaviour => Health & Behaviour General => Topic started by: JackSpratt on October 08, 2007, 11:56:38 AM
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Has anyone heard of it and what does it entail? I've been told you can check insulin levels more accurately with it, but am not sure what the difference is between this test and the normal test to take bloods.
Thread name changed - hope that is OK, JS!
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Is this for a cat or a human?
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I thought Glucosamine was something you gave to animals with arthritis to assist with joint movement. Or is that chondrosamine? I expect it would be a blood test, but if a more sophisticated test it may entail fasting and withholding water for a period before the sample is taken...
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I reckon JS has got confuddled with the test name as glucosamine is a joint supplement.
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oh good, I was wondering if I was losing my marbles... :Crazy:
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Do you mean a glucose tolerance test? That is a test for diabetes but I don't know anything about such tests in cats.
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It is highly likely I've got confused with the name....I wrote the actual name down and put it "somewhere safe." And yes, I think it's a glucose tolerance test to figure out the fluctuation in a cats blood sugar levels.
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well, for humans that involves fast overnight, blood test then drinking a concentrated glucose mix :sick: then they take samples at intervals to see how your body is coping with it. They forgot to tell me not to drink or exercise during the test and I got bored and walked down to the shop and bought a bottle of chilled water (it was queensland and summer and I was thirsty dammit!!) :rofl: :rofl: they really told me off, but at least they didn't make me do the test again ... phew!!
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I have changed the thread title in the light of the discussion; hope that is OK
:hug:
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It's fine, Christine. :)
Here you go: fructosamine test. THAT'S what the vet recommended the next time my Little Junkie has a blood test!
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Best thing is to bop it into Google ;D
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I thought Fructose was the sugar that comes from fruit - now I am really confused... :Crazy:
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http://www.petdiabetes.org/fructosamine.htm
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Brilliant stuff! Thanks Christine. Have skimmed through the article and will read it more thoroughly tomorrow. :)
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Jack, this is a test that vets are advising to have more and more because it shows how well controlled a diabetic is and can indicate how the glucose levels have been over a period of weeks instead of just at a certain time like the one they do on a glucometer. I think it usually works best in cats that are seem to be reasonably stable in terms of glucose levels.
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Well, as far as we can tell the insulin stabilises my little guy pretty well - at least I'm hoping it does! He did have a bit of a turn fairly recently, but he'd been sick that morning not long after his jab and I think his insulin didn't have time to get into his system properly.
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An normal blood glucose test taken with routine bloods tests the glucose levels in the blood there and then at that present time, fructosamine tests glucose levels but gives the information on what the blood glucose is doing over a longer period of time and not just at that particular moment, In diabetes the blood glucose should be taken very regularily with the fructosamine blood test being done once every so often ( ie 3 months or what ever in a stabalised patient, perhaps slightly more often in less stabalised cases) This test as far as i know cannot be done in the practice itself and has to be sent away to an outside lab.