# WARNING: pet-temp ear thermometer



## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

Hi folks.

I thought I would stick a warning up in here for a product that until today I swore by and recommended to everyone. I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.

It's an ear thermometer for cats and dogs, and is called "Pet Temp Instant Ear Thermometer". This is it:

Pet-Temp Thermometer | Advanced Monitors Corporation

Anyway I managed to screw up very very badly today when this thing gave me inconsistent and totally wrong readings. (luckily the cat's okay, but that's hardly the point)

It was reading around 37.5ish to 38ish when it should have been reading a whole two degrees higher.

I trust my thermometer (and my kitchen scales!!! lol, in case you haven't all noticed) and would be lost without them. How else do we know when we need to see a vet? But this thing failed me greatly today, and I just don't want anyone lese to fall into the same trap I did and think no vet visit is necessary because the cat has got a normal body temperature.

Just for the record: I got the vet to try it out too (thinking maybe I was using it wrongly) but she got the exact same problems, readings continually around 2 degrees too low.

In other words, it was giving healthy readings for a cat with a raging fever!

Please be *very very* careful if you have one of these things.

Me.... I am going back to my old fashioned anal thermometer.


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## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

That's not good!

Are you contacting the makers? 2 degrees is a massive amount to be out by, either way


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

No, you're bloody right it's not good.

I have emailed them and will give them a few days and if I don't have a satisfactory response I will phone them.


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## Atlantys (Aug 24, 2010)

Yikes. :scared: Hope you do get a response soon: that could have had fatal consequences! I wonder what they'll say?

Most importantly, how is your kitty doing?


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

Atlantys said:


> Yikes. :scared: Hope you do get a response soon: that could have had fatal consequences! I wonder what they'll say?
> 
> Most importantly, how is your kitty doing?


My cat's fine, thank you Atlantys (well.... she is a bit off colour, but she'll live).

The thing is though, I use this same thermometer with shelter (foster) cats (it has protective lens covers over it so germs can;t be transferred between different animals).... and I reallllllly missed spotting a sick cat today, thanks to my screwed up thermometer.

It was only when I went to see another foster family with a visably sick cat, and I was still getting a "normal" reading that I started to double check with the anal thermometer.

And the realllllly weird thing is.... I *knew* my own cat is off colour (had her at the vets twice over the weekend) ... but... still I trusted my thermometer and assumed she just didn't eat this a.m as she isn't that much of a morning cat.

 live and learn I guess !


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

Thanks for flagging that up Tje. Be interesting to see what they say. 

I have so far been lucky and when bagpuss (it is always bagpuss) has had a fever the readings on the pet thermometre have matched that of the vet by 0.1 degree. Now I am wondering whether that has been pure luck.

There have been times when we got widely differing readings within the space of 10 min, but put that down to the cover being dirty etc. 

Shame really, it is excellent in terms of ease of use and speed. Time to dig out the digital thermometre again and for their cartoon faces of shock me thinks.


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## Doolally (Oct 12, 2010)

I wish someone would invent a reliable ear thermometer for pets.

When I recently had an operation the nurses came round every few hours for obs, stuck a thermometer in everyones ear and seconds later had a temperature.

I'm a Vet Nurse and I think it's well known that ear thermometers aren't reliable in animal's and no practice I've ever worked in uses them...Such a pain in the a*se using a rectal thermometer, quite literally sometimes, they just can't physically be used if something's had rectal surgery....but there just doesn't seem to be a reliable ear thermometer on the market


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## Old Shep (Oct 17, 2010)

I don't think dogs or cats ears are suitable for temp taking. When a human's temp is taken with one of these the thermometer has a good contact with the skin of the ear and I don't think that's the same for dogs and cats (and probably rabbits too!). Rectal's best (though, as you say, not always possible!)


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

Doolally said:


> I wish someone would invent a reliable ear thermometer for pets.


well I actually though this one was reliable. lol. I thought this was the one I had been waiting forever for.

I mean I checked it and double checked it in the beginning using it in combination with a regular (anal) thermometer .... and everytime I bring a foster cat or kitten to the vet and I say it has a temp of 40.1, the vet of course double checks, and their readings were never glaringly different to mine ..... until yesterday.


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