RVC Pet Diabetes App [iPhone]

Pets with diabetes can be treated very well resulting in a good quality of life. The best results are achieved when you as a pet owner record all things that are important indicators of success or failure. The diabetes management can be fine-tuned on the basis of these, avoiding complications associated with low and high blood sugars, as well as the costs associated with such complications.

This free app was designed by pet diabetes expert Dr Stijn Niessen of the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, UK. He designed the app for two main reasons:

1. To provide diabetic pet owners with a convenient free tool to actively participate in the medical management of their beloved pet;

2. To enable the gathering of strictly anonymous data on diabetic pets and their management. This enables diabetic pet owners to actively participate in research and help develop better treatment options for pets with diabetes.

The Diabetes Log feature of the app allows users to record, and easily share with their veterinarian, all those parameters that are essential to keep an eye on when it comes to pet diabetes management; they include: clinical signs like weight, appetite, thirst and urination changes, as well as urine and blood sugar values (for those owners who perform home blood or urine glucose testing).

The app also features the following:
• a medication reminder function
• a reminder to change the insulin injection sites (avoiding inflammation of areas too frequently used)
• a scientifically validated tool which calculates and monitors quality of life
• a scientifically validated tool to score your pet’s clinical signs
• a tool to calculate the number of calories your diabetic pet likely needs
• a tool to calculate the exact amount of food your diabetic pet likely needs
• plenty of space to enter and keep save useful information (e.g. contact details of your veterinarian, important medical history, questions for your veterinarian, etc.)
• visualisation of trends (using graphs), including changes in thirst, weight, fructosamine, average blood sugar values, urine ketones or sugar values, etc.
• links to useful pet diabetes videos
• an easy “export” function enabling the sharing of entered information and graphs with anyone interested, including your veterinarian.

So, take control of your pet’s diabetes and start logging entries into the Diabetes Log. This will maximise your chances to achieve the best possible result, together with your veterinarian. Life is complicated enough, let the Royal Veterinary College Pet Diabetes App be your personal assistant to take extra good care of your furry member of the family (and automatically help pet diabetes research along the way!).

Dr Stijn Niessen – Senior Lecturer – Royal Veterinary College –University of London – United Kingdom

This App was developed with the support of the Rumba Foundation - www.therumbafoundation.org.uk

Feedback: fdrc@rvc.ac.uk