Cathy M. asked:
>Just curious - what is the difference between animal (ferret) blood
>and human blood. Ferrets' blood sugar range is the same as a humans.
>So why are special meters required?"

Hi Cathy, The short reason is that there are differences in the
distribution of glucose in whole blood between the human species and
ferrets.

Glucometer standards are based upon the amount of glucose in the plasma
of a whole blood sample. (Whole blood is made up of RBCs and plasma).
If you divide a human whole blood sample up into red blood cells and
plasma you will find that about 58% of the plasma contains glucose. In
ferrets and canines, this same example would yield a plasma glucose
percentage of around 88%.

Hope this helps :)

Bonnie

[Posted in FML 7911]