What fructosamine levels can tell you about your pet's health
Fructosamine level check is one of the ways a diabetic pet is monitored. It is also used to monitor glucose levels in diabetic humans. Fructosamine is a type of protein found in the blood that is in proportion to blood glucose. When it is measured, it helps determine the average glucose level for the previous 2-3 weeks. Fructosamine is often used in combination with glucose curve monitoring, which is a series of single glucose level checks. Fructosamine is often the preferred method to monitor glucose levels in cats because it is not affected by stress, which can cause an increase in the blood glucose level.
How it works
Measuring fructosamine is a helpful way to help monitor glucose control by estimating the average glucose level. For this test, a small amount of blood is taken from the patient and submitted to a laboratory for analysis. The analysis measures the amount of fructosamine protein in the sample. The test results indicate whether the animal has excellent, good, fair, or poor glucose control.
In most cases, fructosamine is a good way to know how well a patient's glucose level is maintained. However, one issue that can arise that can give an inaccurate test result is called a Somogyi Swing. This condition occurs when the animal’s insulin dose is too high and it causes the blood glucose level to drop low. When this occurs, the body has a natural response to release more glucose and the levels rebound to very high levels. Since fructosamine checks the average glucose level, if there are high and low numbers, they can average out to a normal result. Since this can happen, one should check a glucose curve periodically, especially if the animal is experiencing signs of uncontrolled diabetes, like increased urination and thirst.
What is it used for?
Fructosamine is a helpful tool to make sure there is good glucose control in diabetic patients. Since it checks for the previous two to three weeks glucose levels, it would not be affected by the stress that occurs when the blood sample is taken. Pets, especially cats, can become extremely stressed when visiting the veterinary clinic for any reason. Stress may cause an abnormal increase in the glucose level. A non-diabetic cat, for example, may have an unusually high blood glucose level from stress. If a diabetic cat is stressed when checking glucose levels, the levels can be abormally high from the stress. So, the way to distinguish between high glucose from stress and high glucose from diabetes is to check a fructosamine level.
Most veterinarians recommend to check fructosamine levels periodically on stable diabetic patients at least every 3-4 months. One should check the levels even more frequently on those pets showing signs of increased urination and thirst, which may indicate that the diabetes is not controlled by the insulin dose.
Fructosamine levels are just one of the ways that a diabetic patient is monitored. Pet owners should monitor their diabetic pets for presence of uncontrolled diabetes, such as increased urination, increased thirst, and weight loss. In addition, veterinarians should check periodic glucose curves to see exactly how the animal is responding to insulin.
