Table 1:
Mean ( ± sd) mass; length; girth; glucose measured immediately in the field using a hand held glucometer (One Touch® Ultra®) (glucometer reading); and glucose levels in plasma (Plasma glucose) of grey seal mothers and pups early and late in the suckling period and pups early and late in the fast after weaning
| Adult females | Pups | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early suckling | Late suckling | Early suckling | Late suckling | Early fast | Late fast | |
| Mass (kg) | 169.07 (16.72) | 135.11 (11.18) | 25.51 (3.21) | 41.97 (4.86) | 40.79 (3.80) | 37.62 (4.29) |
| Length (cm) | 175.63 (4.95) | 170 (5.35) | 95.92 (3.45) | 104.05 (4.66) | 102.65 (4.50) | 102.08 (5.99) |
| Girth (cm) | 146.26 (13.27) | 132.29 (9.94) | 77.69 (4.52) | 97.89 (6.26) | 96.00 (4.72) | 91.92 (3.95) |
| Glucometer reading (mM) | 8.15a,d (1.75) | 8.01a,c,e (0.95) | 8.62b,d,e (0.95) | 9.21b (0.96) | 7.96a,c (0.96) | 7.25c (1.09) |
| Plasma glucose (mM) | 9.69a,c (2.51) | 8.21b (1.82) | 9.74a,c (2.4) | 8.95a,b,c (2.69) | 8.34a,b,c (2.51) | 9.89c (2.56) |
| Correlation | 0.17 | 0.36 | 0.05 | 0.51 | 0.15 | 0.43 |
| T | 0.48 | 1.47 | 0.21 | 2.41 | 0.57 | 1.57 |
| df | 17 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 11 |
| P | 0.636 | 0.161 | 0.840 | 0.027 | 0.576 | 0.145 |
| Difference | 1.54a (2.89) | 0.19a (1.73) | 1.12a,b (2.73) | −0.25b (2.36) | 0.38a (2.55) | 2.34c (2.32) |
| Sampling–separation (min) | 89.74a,b,c (24.49) | 101.25a (29.05) | 89.25a,b (23.57) | 102.05a (28.13) | 74.65b,c (18.33) | 72.46c (20.74) |
| Separation–freezing (min) | 81.84a,b (116.56) | 75.35a (52.75) | 46.15b (58.99) | 73.58a (51.01) | 18.12c (16.78) | 20.08b,c (5.93) |
Correlation between the two glucose measurements, T, degrees of freedom and P, the mean absolute difference between the two glucose measures, time elapsed between sample collection and removal from the cellular portion; and time taken from separation to freezing. Bold font indicates a significant positive correlation between the glucometer and plasma glucose readings (Pearson's correlation co-efficient). Within the glucometer, plasma glucose, difference, time between sampling and separation, and time between separation and freezing rows, cells that share at least one same letter superscript are not significantly different from each other (LME: P < 0.05).