Can you use a Human Glucose Meter for Dogs?

“Can we use human glucose meter for dogs?” is a frequently asked question by many diabetic dog owners. The answer is, It is not wise to use a human glucose meter for dogs.

Why?  We will discuss it in this article.

Why do you use a human glucose meter for dogs?

There are possibly three reasons why you would do that.

• First, owners want a cost-effective treatment for their dogs. The glucose meter made for pets is relatively expensive than those made for humans. Measuring glucose levels is not a one-time thing. For Diabetic dogs, it’s a lifetime routine. So owners want to stick to something that is relief on budget. (Read how to prevent diabetes in dogs)
• Secondly, You don’t have a pet glucose meter available so in an emergency you want to check your dog’s glucose from a human meter.
• Third, you already have a human glucose meter at home. So you don’t want to buy another one.

But anyway,  as we are clear,  you should not check the glucose level of dogs with a human glucose meter. (Read when to test dog blood sugar)

Calculate Your Diabetic Dog’s Daily Diet

Why you should not check the glucose level of dogs with human glucose meter? 

A glucose meter is used to detect the amount of glucose in the bloodstream. A glucose meter works by taking a reading on a droplet of blood. You have to draw out blood by lancet and insert it in a glucometer. The glucometer will detect the number of glucose levels. (Read glucose level 500)

A glucose meter detects the blood glucose in blood plasma. Now, this is very clear that dogs and humans don’t share the same biology or anatomy. Their blood is not the same in any way. If dog blood is transfused to humans,  it will cause organ failures. Humans and dogs are different in every sense.

So a diabetic dog and a diabetic human should not be treated the same in terms of medication or treatment. Many people claim,  that this is about glucose and not blood type.

In our opinion!

The glucometer will give results when you will put a dog’s blood on a strip but you can’t count or rely on them.

In case of extreme emergency,  you may take a reading with a human meter because something is better than nothing. However, this is still not advised and should not be practiced regularly.

What if you use a human glucose meter for dogs?

Although this is not recommended, in an emergency, you may take the dog’s glucose readings from a human glucose meter. Yes,  we know we are saying you “may” …but only if there is no other option.

Many people also claim that if your vet has a glucose meter that gives the same reading as your home meter,  it’s ok to use a human meter. They explain that the main concern of using any glucometer is getting continuous results that don’t disturb the glucose chart. So Unless the dog’s daily glucose readings are not “different”,  it’s fine to use a human glucometer.

A  glucometer Alphatrack is mentioned as the best dog glucometer.

Let’s compare some pet and human glucometers

So we see that both vet and human glucometers range within $20-$75. Both categories have expensive and cheap glucometers. So this is useless to say that one for pets is more costly. if you love your dog a few bucks are not an issue.

Conclusion:

We don’t recommend checking the dog’s glucose level with a human glucometer.