FHB's paper on blood glucose testing re: intestinal obstructions - now available

The author told me this morning that this paper is being published officially next week but detail of the research is 'out there' and 'available on the internet' to read. I've had a very quick Google but don't know where to find it.

Thought those of you that can take in such information would be interested to know.. and if any of you can find it - please post a link! :wave:

Thanks Jane.

I think I was expecting a more extensive read than that. :lol::lol:

Anyhow, she just said that she was pleased that it was now officially available and that hopefully it will be a useful tool for everybody.


I just need to get the courage to use the blooming monitor now, perhaps I need hypnotherapy or something such. I really don't know why I make such a meal of it, the theory is easy enough ... how hard can it be to do a simple blood test :?

:wave: Thank you for this. I first encountered this "new" practise towards the end of last year when Savannah was showing signs of stasis / bloat etc. My vet who I know in recent years has attended the RWAF conferences said at the time that it was a new thing that they were introducing with bunnies admitted with gut issues.

A repeat episode at the start of this year also led to her having readings taken again. I knew nothing more about this at the time other than what her readings were throughout the episodes. Having seen this albeit brief article I now know a little more. I was charged £7 for an initial glucose test and then around £3 for each further one (1-2 a day over a week) as this was the primary source of monitoring her progress alongside a physical examination and assessment of her visual behavioural progress. I don't know how much the readers and all of the consumables cost as I've not looked into it, but for me the main issue would be storing and disposing of the needles required to draw the small droplet of blood to place on the slide, as I don't have any other regular use for them.

It is certainly food for thought.

You can get the monitors for about £10 of ebay, postage included. They come with about 10 or 15 of the reading cards which can only be used once. When you come to replacing them (I've not got there yet) I think it's about a £10 investment again. There is a use by date on the cards. From memory about ?2 years. The needles that come with the kit aren't suitable so you'd need to buy some of them too, again about £10 ish, available from "Vet Uk" amongst other places. Well worth the investment for anybody who can bring themselves to stick a needle in the vein in their ear ... which in theory is easy enough.

Edit to add: Post 7 on here gives the details of the kit I was advised to get:
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...-3&p=5099221&highlight=conference#post5099221

Flippin' heck its £24 to buy the article :shock:!!! My local library used to offer a service to get photocopies of papers at a fraction of the price, I'll have to find out if I can get it cheaper that way!

Also does anybody (Jane ) have the title and full reference of the paper by John Chitty & Virginia Richardson about the increased metacam dosage?

Boudicca said:

Flippin' heck its £24 to buy the article :shock:!!! My local library used to offer a service to get photocopies of papers at a fraction of the price, I'll have to find out if I can get it cheaper that way!

Also does anybody (Jane ) have the title and full reference of the paper by John Chitty & Virginia Richardson about the increased metacam dosage?

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Ah, that's me being really thick then, I didn't see the column that said the full version was to buy. I'll only pay £24 if it individually names my rabbits that gave samples

Its £24 hours to access it for 24 hours isn't it!!

Hugo's There said:

Its £24 hours to access it for 24 hours isn't it!!

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Yeah, I initially assumed that you paid and they sent you a printed copy on good quality paper. What a fool.

I'm presuming you can copy and paste the version that you get to read. Even if I had £24 to spare, I'm not very technical so I'd be worried about not being able to get access to the information in the 24 hour that I'd have access. I'm going to work on the belief that I know all that's relevant to me as a lay person anyway. I wonder how many people would be keen enough to spend £24 on the info.

Bunny Buddy said:

Yeah, I initially assumed that you paid and they sent you a printed copy on good quality paper. What a fool.

I'm presuming you can copy and paste the version that you get to read. Even if I had £24 to spare, I'm not very technical so I'd be worried about not being able to get access to the information in the 24 hour that I'd have access. I'm going to work on the belief that I know all that's relevant to me as a lay person anyway. I wonder how many people would be keen enough to spend £24 on the info.

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Can we not club together and one person down load it and then print it out for us Or is that considered stealing???

Hugo's There said:

Can we not club together and one person down load it and then print it out for us Or is that considered stealing???

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It says that you're not allowed to do it.

The "paper" is out officially next week, I don't know if that has any more information or if it is easier to get etc. *Maybe* this item will only by £24 until it's released officially as the 'Paper'. To be honest I'm not sure if my little brain can get anymore from reading the full version anyway, it will probably be like reading something in Russian.

Hugo's There said:

Can we not club together and one person down load it and then print it out for us Or is that considered stealing???

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The purchaser would be in breach of the copyright if they did that. I am sure they could summarise their thougths and answer questions though! I may be able to get it through work, will have a look.

Edit: I can get it, but I need to register for an NHS athens account which could take a couple of weeks to come through. When I get it I will summarise it and post.

Hi Folks :wave:
I now have this and have had a quick read. Essentially, the abstract (which you can access for free) tells you the conclusion which is is that if a rabbits blood glucose is above 20 mmol this is thought to indicate an intestinal blockage rather than stasis and that this, in addition to a physical exam, can help provide confirmation that you are dealing with one rather than the other.

RedFraggle said:

Hi Folks :wave:
I now have this and have had a quick read. Essentially, the abstract (which you can access for free) tells you the conclusion which is is that if a rabbits blood glucose is above 20 mmol this is thought to indicate an intestinal blockage rather than stasis and that this, in addition to a physical exam, can help provide confirmation that you are dealing with one rather than the other.

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Yep, it is really important that the bolded bit is noted. I recently had a Rabbit in GS who had a BG of 23, BUT my Vet's other investigations found that he had not obstructed.

Seeing a BG Monitor register 23 can cause utter terror but it is not a stand alone confirmation that surgical intervention is inevitable x

Jack's-Jane said:

Yep, it is really important that the bolded bit is noted. I recently had a Rabbit in GS who had a BG of 23, BUT my Vet's other investigations found that he had not obstructed.

Seeing a BG Monitor register 23 can cause utter terror but it is not a stand alone confirmation that surgical intervention is inevitable x

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This is why we do very little in the way of diagnostics here as I think it does tend to lead to panic and paranoia and I am paranoid enough already! I never really check teeth or use a stethoscope and don't go over board with weighing them either as at the end of the day nothing beats a proper physical exam by a vet. I think it is much more important as an owner and a lot less stressful for a bunny to get to know a bunny really well so you can pick up on the smallest change in behaviour, then the vet can do what they need to do properly and professionally

Hugo's There said:

This is why we do very little in the way of diagnostics here as I think it does tend to lead to panic and paranoia and I am paranoid enough already! I never really check teeth or use a stethoscope and don't go over board with weighing them either as at the end of the day nothing beats a proper physical exam by a vet. I think it is much more important as an owner and a lot less stressful for a bunny to get to know a bunny really well so you can pick up on the smallest change in behaviour, then the vet can do what they need to do properly and professionally

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I dont entirely agree with this but each to their own

Jack's-Jane said:

I dont entirely agree with this but each to their own

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If they have weight/ dental issues then of course we weigh them if needed but I don't weigh all of them on a regular basis. Also with some of the problems our buns have such as cancer etc we know there time is limited and that they are going to loose some weight as a given, so we don't stress about it or stress them by weighing them we just make sure we are doing everything we can for them and try to make their remaining time as happy as possible. At the end of the day knowing their weight isn't going to change anything for them.

Also those with complex problems see the vet on a regular basis and when ever any rabbit goes to the vet for anything they are always weighed as routine so these rabbits are weighed regularly just not by us as why stress them twice!

Hugo's There said:

If they have weight/ dental issues then of course we weigh them if needed but I don't weigh all of them on a regular basis. Also with some of the problems our buns have such as cancer etc we know there time is limited and that they are going to loose some weight as a given, so we don't stress about it or stress them by weighing them we just make sure we are doing everything we can for them and try to make their remaining time as happy as possible. At the end of the day knowing their weight isn't going to change anything for them.

Also those with complex problems see the vet on a regular basis and when ever any rabbit goes to the vet for anything they are always weighed as routine so these rabbits are weighed regularly just not by us as why stress them twice!

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As I said, each to their own

Jack's-Jane said:

As I said, each to their own

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:lol::lol: There are too many other things in life to worry about