Like humans, common household pets may suffer from diabetes, too. According to reports, up to about 1 in 200 dogs and 1 in every 400 cats may suffer from either Type I or Type II diabetes. However, human diagnostic kits for Blood glucose monitoring are up to about 39% off the mark when applied to dogs and cats.

Today, Abbott launched the AlphaTRAK, the first complete hand-held blood glucose monitoring system designed specifically for diabetic cats and dogs. The device take into consideration the physiological differences between dog and cat plasma from that of humans, providing blood glucose measurements that are accurately calibrated.

In a head-to-head clinical evaluation, the AlphaTRAK was compared to two human glucose meters as well as against the Antech Laboratories reference laboratory test, which is considered the "gold standard" for animal blood glucose testing. On average, AlphaTRAK provided results that were statistically equivalent (+1%) to the Antech results.

Read more about pet diabetes from PetDiabetes.org and about AlphaTrak from Abbott. Hat tip to the Gadgets Blog.