Confused on Relion Confirm Glucose Meter

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Kadie (Juba's Mom)

Kadie (Juba's Mom)

Member Since 2015
Hello and good evening everyone,
Today my husband and I purchased a Relion Confirm glucose meter, neosporin ointment, extra lancets, test strips, and a journal to keep track of our kitty Jubalee Jujubee's blood glucose numbers.
We tested her at around 5:00pm MST and got a reading of 43....I know this isn't correct.
What are some things to get us started when using this brand of glucose meter? Do we need to calibrate it? It looks like we got a decent blood drop (there was enough for the meter to read it.)
I want to test her again within the next hour to see if there's a difference.
Currently Juba is on 1 unit of Lantus 2x/day. We are slowly changing her diet to completely low carb wet cat food. Right now she's getting a mixture of FF classics and Friskies Pate with a 1/2 teaspoon of canned tuna for a snack 2x/day.

Thanks!
 
I'd retest immediately and see if you get something similar...the Confirm is a pretty good meter...a lot of us use it.

It could be a bad strip, or that could be his real blood glucose and we need to know which one

We also have a spreadsheet we use that is a very valuable tool. Here's instructions on "How to create a spreadsheet"

If you have problems with getting it going, let us know! Someone can help you with it!
 
I'm another newbie who uses the Confirm. I've gotten some whacky numbers but mostly they've been reliable. MJB has a really good article on using glucometers that saved my sanity yesterday.
 
I've tried again to get a reading and she just wasn't having it, lol.
I think she's on to me.
She isn't showing signs of hypo or anything like that, and her numbers have been in the 300's-400's last week, plus we have an appointment on Tuesday to see where she's at.
I think since we just bought this meter and haven't even read the instructions we should probably do that first before testing Juba and then fretting over a low number.
 
Kadie said:
I've tried again to get a reading and she just wasn't having it, lol.
I think she's on to me.
She isn't showing signs of hypo or anything like that, and her numbers have been in the 300's-400's last week, plus we have an appointment on Tuesday to see where she's at.
I think since we just bought this meter and haven't even read the instructions we should probably do that first before testing Juba and then fretting over a low number.
Click to expand...
good luck! word to the wise.. ReliOn makes two different strips for that meter; make sure you get the "ultra" strips. They require a lot less blood than the "regular ones" And the "ultra" is in tiny script on the box and it's easy to miss!
 
@SuePea ...the Confirm and the Micro meter take the same strips. Relion also has an Ultima and a Prime meter that each take different strips. The ones for the Confirm and Micro say they are for the Confirm and Micro

confirm strips.PNG
 
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@Chris & China, yes but there are two different sets of strips that work with the Confirm and Micro. The first time I just grabbed a small box of strips that said it was for those two meters and it used a tiny amount of blood. Once I ran out I went back and got a box of 100 but wasn't until I got home and went to do the test that I found that the collection tip looked much bigger & found out I couldn't get away with as small a sample. I had to dig the first box out of the trash and look at them side by side--the small box said "Confirm and Micro ultra" and the new one didn't have the "ultra" part. Catch is now I'm stuck with the big box and I'm not about to go out and spend another 40 bucks to get the smaller ones, not until I've finished with this one. Poor Charlie is getting poked multiple times to get enough blood. Someone on the other thread gave me a hint to try to get blood into the pad before I try. We'll see how it goes with this next stick now..
 
Well ... she may have earned herself a reduction of 0.25 units by dropping below 50 mg/dL!
How many hours ago did you give insulin?
If she got her Lantus less than 5 hours ago, feed 1-2 teaspoons of high carb gravy, or put a couple drops of Karo or other syrup on some food and give it to her to eat.
In 20-30 minutes re-test.
If still low, repeat the feeding, wait, re-test.

Or, if testing is a total no go, you can "abort the cycle" by feeding high carb food and a fair bit of it, plus leave food out, so you can go to sleep. She'll be very high in the morning if you do this ... and she will be safe.
 
Thank you so much for the advice.
After battling with the little stinker I watched her to make sure she wasn't showing any signs of hypo and fed her her normal diet and shot at her normal time (9:00pm MST) tonight.
It's now 11:00 MST and she is perfectly ok. No hypo, no shakes, she's good.
I will definitely retest tomorrow morning to see where her numbers are and to see if I can get an accurate reading this next time.
Would it hurt to possibly test our other cat (non diabetic) just to see what his numbers are so I know this meter isn't rigged?
 
you can test your other cat...you can also test yourself ... (after all, it is a human meter!..LOL)

Don't lull yourself into believing that you'll see "signs" of a hypo though.....for some cats, the first sign is a seizure that they never recover from.

It's always important to get a test before shooting so you know for sure it's safe to give anything at all....and then it's important to get a test somewhere mid-cycle on the AM cycle to see how far down it's taking her and then at least a "before bed" test at night to let you know if it's OK to sleep without worry or if you should set an alarm to make sure to get another test in later at night.
 
Can we get you started using our grid to record your glucose tests? It will help us give you better feedback. Instructions are here.

Understanding the spreadsheet/grid:

The colored headings at the top are the ranges of glucose values. They are color-coded to clue you in as to meaning.

Each day is 1 row. Each column stores different data for the day.

From left to right, you enter
the Date in the first column
the AMPS (morning pre-shot test) in the 2nd column
the Units given (turquoise column)

Then, there are 11 columns labeled +1 through +11
If you test at +5 (5 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +5 column
If you test at +7 (7 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +7 column
and so on.

Halfway across the page is the column for PMPS (evening pre-shot)
To the right is another turquoise column for Units given at the evening shot.

There is second set of columns labeled +1 through +11
If you snag a before bed test at +3, you enter the test number in the +3 column.

We separate day and night numbers like that because many cats go lower at night.

It is merely a grid for storing the info; no math required.
 
Chris & China said:
@SuePea ...the Confirm and the Micro meter take the same strips. Relion also has an Ultima and a Prime meter that each take different strips. The ones for the Confirm and Micro say they are for the Confirm and Micro

View attachment 14681[/
Kadie said:
Hello and good evening everyone,
Today my husband and I purchased a Relion Confirm glucose meter, neosporin ointment, extra lancets, test strips, and a journal to keep track of our kitty Jubalee Jujubee's blood glucose numbers.
We tested her at around 5:00pm MST and got a reading of 43....I know this isn't correct.
What are some things to get us started when using this brand of glucose meter? Do we need to calibrate it? It looks like we got a decent blood drop (there was enough for the meter to read it.)
I want to test her again within the next hour to see if there's a difference.
Currently Juba is on 1 unit of Lantus 2x/day. We are slowly changing her diet to completely low carb wet cat food. Right now she's getting a mixture of FF classics and Friskies Pate with a 1/2 teaspoon of canned tuna for a snack 2x/day.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I have the ReliOn Confirm and the One Touch Ultra. I have noticed with the ReliOn that when it is low it is lower than my One Touch, but not by alot. but when it is higher, it's a lot higher than my one touch. I have been using the One Touch longer and have more faith in it, so I usually go with it.
Click to expand...
 
I also use the Relion Confirm and just noticed tonight that there are 2 test strip types, one called ConfirmPlus, and one just Confirm. I've had the meter since February, and the strips up till now had all been the plain Confirm. Now suddenly, there are ConfirmPlus. The strip look different on the cover, but the boxes otherwise have identical information. Has anyone else run into this yet? I can't return them, but might be able to swap them out, apparently the stores still have both kinds for now. I've attached a pic, a little blurry sorry

Chris & China said:
@SuePea ...the Confirm and the Micro meter take the same strips. Relion also has an Ultima and a Prime meter that each take different strips. The ones for the Confirm and Micro say they are for the Confirm and Micro

View attachment 14681
Click to expand...
 

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Megan & Oren said:
I also use the Relion Confirm and just noticed tonight that there are 2 test strip types, one called ConfirmPlus, and one just Confirm. I've had the meter since February, and the strips up till now had all been the plain Confirm. Now suddenly, there are ConfirmPlus. The strip look different on the cover, but the boxes otherwise have identical information. Has anyone else run into this yet? I can't return them, but might be able to swap them out, apparently the stores still have both kinds for now. I've attached a pic, a little blurry sorry
Click to expand...

Have you been able to find them in any size other than 20 strips? My WalMart only has them in the 20-quantity box, which makes for a definite price increase. It really does make a difference; it takes a lot more blood to get a sample with the "regular" Confirm strips than it does with the Confirm Plus. I have been on their website, both Walmart's and Relion's and there's no mention of the Plus strips.
 
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SuePea said:
Have you been able to find them in any size other than 20 strips? My WalMart only has them in the 20-quantity box, which makes for a definite price increase. It really does make a difference; it takes a lot more blood to get a sample with the "regular" Confirm strips than it does with the Confirm Plus. I have been on their website, both Walmart's and Relion's and there's no mention of the Plus strips.
Click to expand...

i just bought a box of 50 strips for 19.98, which is what the 'regular confirm' strips have always been. My store has 20, 50 and 100 size boxes. 8.98, 19.99 and 35.88 respectively. But I'm a bit concerned that the ConfirmPlus are somehow different than the confirm, though strictly from the box info. they seem to be identical except for the shape of the strip. I could find no reference/mention of the Plus strips either.
 
Those are the same "new" way that the Arkray strips from ADW look....with the much smaller "sipping" area

I like them a lot!

They used to be called Glucocard 01.....now they're called Glucocard 01 Plus

Since Arkray makes the Relion meter for Walmart and they're the exact same meter (just "re-branded for WalMart) it looks like they're using the new strips too
 
thanks Chris!! I did notice from the pic that the takeup /sipping area looked smaller, so I guess that's a "plus"! It just worried me because the end that gets inserted into the meter looks different too and I was afraid it wouldn't work for some reason? But I guess I shouldn't worry. I currently have a box of each kind, 50 strips each.
 
Megan & Oren said:
13396848


i just bought a box of 50 strips for 19.98, which is what the 'regular confirm' strips have always been. My store has 20, 50 and 100 size boxes. 8.98, 19.99 and 35.88 respectively. But I'm a bit concerned that the ConfirmPlus are somehow different than the confirm, though strictly from the box info. they seem to be identical except for the shape of the strip. I could find no reference/mention of the Plus strips either.
Click to expand...

May I ask where you are? I'm in southwest Idaho, near Boise.
 
I knew it was a long shot! Maybe I can get my pharmacy to talk to your pharmacy about getting the better selection of "plus". I hate checking Charlie's blood with these current strips.
 
Has anyone noticed any discrepancies between the regular Confirm strips and the "Plus" Confirm? I'm a little paranoid here. Colby is not regulated by any stretch of the imagination, but it is unusual for him to run in the 400s this time of night. Unfortunately, I don't have a regular Confirm strip to compare.
 
The Plus strips seem to be running a little higher than the old ones, but since we don't have a choice in the strips (or if your WalMart still has old stock, it'll be running out soon and then you'll only have the Plus ones) it really isn't going to matter.....you have to deal with the numbers you have.

Looks like he may also be bouncing from the 161 on 4/30's AM cycle
 
Maybe see if ADW still has the older strips. Gracie seems to be testing about the same on the new strips.
 
So do either one of those type strips below work with the Relion Confirm then because the ones with the indentations (first picture) are more expensive
 

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yes, they both work.....the "Confirm Plus" are newer....they were released over a year ago so I'd check the expiration date on the first ones that are just plain "Confirm"

The first box is also a box of 100....the Confirm Plus in the 2nd picture is only 50
 
Thank you very much for answering! Glad to know I can use either. Having a bit of a hard time with that meter though lol. I did check the date on the older version and it is next December and they will be well used before then. Thanks again
 
Kadie (Juba's Mom) said:
Thank you so much for the advice.
After battling with the little stinker I watched her to make sure she wasn't showing any signs of hypo and fed her her normal diet and shot at her normal time (9:00pm MST) tonight.
It's now 11:00 MST and she is perfectly ok. No hypo, no shakes, she's good.
I will definitely retest tomorrow morning to see where her numbers are and to see if I can get an accurate reading this next time.
Would it hurt to possibly test our other cat (non diabetic) just to see what his numbers are so I know this meter isn't rigged?
Click to expand...

A cat won't show symptoms of hypoglycemia until it's already gotten to the point of being severe and life threatening--the goal of home testing is to catch hypoglycemia before it gets to that point. 43 is low, but not so low a cat would typically have symptoms at that point.

When an unregulated diabetic cat hits a low number like that, their body usually responds by dumping glucose into the blood stream, so you're likely to see a much higher number today even if the 43 was correct yesterday. With Lantus, you want to test at least 3 times a day to get a full picture of how the insulin is working--once before each shot, and then a test about halfway through one of the cycles to see how low she's dropping. With these daily tests, you'll be able to tell if high numbers are because of too much insulin or too little insulin. The Relion Confirm is a pretty reliable meter, so unless you think something was off with the test (like the strip didn't sip up enough blood), then it's likely the 43 is correct.

It wouldn't hurt to test your other cat! :) I've also randomly tested myself before to make sure the meter wasn't off.
 
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