19 Ryde Road, Pymble, NSW 2073
Roxy’s Magical Disc
By Helen Burns | Dated April 1, 2020
Just as with people who are diabetic, with diabetic dogs and cats we need to regularly check their blood glucose level to ensure that we are keeping it within a healthy range. Up until recently, this has meant regular needles to collect a drop of blood, in addition to their twice daily insulin injections. Roxy the 6 year old spoodle is one of a number of dogs and cats whose diabetes is being managed by Gordon Vet Hospital using a special disc!
The disc is attached to a shaved patch on Roxy’s back where she can’t scratch it off, and is usually covered with an adhesive dressing just to make sure it stays in place for it’s 2 week lifespan. When the disc is in place, a thin fibre extends from it to just underneath the skin, where it samples the glucose level in the interstitial fluid (the fluid found in the spaces between cells). Roxy doesn’t notice when the disc is applied, and certainly doesn’t notice when we take a reading from it. Now, to get a blood glucose reading, all Roxy’s devoted owner needs to do is to scan it with her phone, and one painless second later, ta-da she has Roxy’s blood glucose reading on her screen! Even better, she can share the day’s readings with the vets, which we can access from our phone at the hospital.
This disc is a fantastic development to not only help us to manage our diabetic patients more accurately, but of course to reduce the number of needles our precious diabetics receive.
Written by Helen Burns
Helen graduated from Sydney Uni in 1997 with First Class Honours and worked in a practice on the Northern Beaches for 16 years. Helen joined the Gordon Vet team early in 2014 and our clients have really enjoyed getting to know her. She loves being a vet and takes a keen interest in all of her patients. Her gentle, friendly nature helps pets to feel relaxed when they visit the vet. Helen lives locally and has 3 children. At least one of her children seems destined to be a vet! When not ferrying her children around, Helen cares for her menagerie of pets. These include Chloe the dog, Obi and Leia the cats, Little Cocky the galah and Rosie the very tame eclectus parrot who all happily coexist at her house. In her spare time, Helen likes to be active outdoors, running, kayaking, camping or playing any manner of sport with her children.
