Vet said no to home glucose testing.

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Matt in AR

Matt in AR

Member Since 2016
My mom's cat Foxy, tested positive for diabetes. Her vet put him on 3 units Novolin 70/30 twice a day. I had to bring him to live with me, because she cannot give him insulin because of her arthritis. Its been ten days and I took Foxy to the vet in my town as her vet said to. I asked her about home testing him and she said no, because vets use venous blood and the human glucose tester uses arterial blood and it won't give the right results. (I may have got venous and arterial mixed up.)
So now what? I bought the ReliOn Prime tester, strips, lancets and pen so I could keep track of his blood sugar. Is it true they are not useful for cats?
 
My vet tested Tigger yesterday in both the ear and vein..I assume this is what your vet meant? The results were almost the same!
 
The ear test was what I was asking about. I got a reply on the intro board so I will go ahead and do the ear blood tests. They may not be exactly the same but are close enough to make sure I won't be giving him too much insulin.
 
Hi Matt, and welcome to you and Foxy.

You certainly can keep track of Foxy's blood sugar levels using the Relion Prime and taking samples either from Foxy's ear or paw pad. Human meters read lower than pet-calibrated meters but as long as you use a blood glucose reference range appropriate to the human meter you will be able to track Foxy's blood glucose levels and she will be much safer than with no home BG testing at all. Indeed, most of the members here home test with human meters.


Mogs
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There is no reason you can't home test just because the vet does vein testing there. The key is to keep your cat safe and not have to take them in for that kind of testing much. Most of my home testing is not that far off of the vet's testing anyway. (Last one Ani was 212 at home and then 198 about 30min later at the vet).

You test preshot at home to make sure it is safe to give insulin, and then at other times in the cycle to make sure they are not getting too low. The insulin your mom's kitty is on is one that can drop a cat very quickly so home testing will be very helpful.
 
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Matt in AR said:
My mom's cat Foxy, tested positive for diabetes. Her vet put him on 3 units Novolin 70/30 twice a day. I had to bring him to live with me, because she cannot give him insulin because of her arthritis. Its been ten days and I took Foxy to the vet in my town as her vet said to. I asked her about home testing him and she said no, because vets use venous blood and the human glucose tester uses arterial blood and it won't give the right results. (I may have got venous and arterial mixed up.)
So now what? I bought the ReliOn Prime tester, strips, lancets and pen so I could keep track of his blood sugar. Is it true they are not useful for cats?
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I am testing my newly diagn. kitty I bought a cat/dog blood sugar monitor. It is called ALPHATRAK. I bought it off amazon. it is a must to monitor them at home and change their diet to a high protein low/no carb diet I am using Young Again zero carb cat food now.
 
Personally, I find your vet's opinion to be under-informed, and quite frankly dangerous, for a cat that is on a fast-acting insulin like Novolin.

Home test no matter what your vet says. It's the only way to make sure Foxy is safe.

I'd say to try to convince your vet to switch Foxy to a more appropriate insulin like Lantus or Levemir, but I don't know how much success you'd have if you're already encountering resistance over common sense things like home testing.
 
Matt in AR said:
I tried tonight and got my finger twice. I finally got his ear and he promptly wiped it off. Rather then stress him further, I'll try again tomorrow.
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A lot of us used the "3 strikes" routine when we were starting out with testing. If not successful after 3 attempts, give a treat and revisit the situation later.

A folded up paper towel or cotton pad behind the ear can help keep you from poking yourself. Warming the ear with a small rice sock or pill bottle full of warm water makes a big difference in blood flow. Bigger (25-28ga) lancets help when starting out, too. Bigger hole= more blood.

Learning to test can be very frustrating the first days, but don't lose hope! It all gets easier :)
 
Here's something I wrote up for others that needed help with testing...maybe it'll help you too! (substitute "him" for "her"....LOL)

It can be really helpful to establish a routine with testing. Pick one spot that you want your "testing spot" to be (I like the kitchen counter because it's got good light and it's at a good height....it also already blocked 2 escape routes due to the wall and the backsplash) It can be anywhere though...a rug on the floor, a table, a particular spot on the couch...wherever is good for you. Take her there as many times a day as you can and just give her ears a quick rub and then she gets a yummy (low carb) treat. Most cats aren't objecting so much with the poking..it's the fooling with their ears they don't like, but once they're desensitized to it and learn to associate a certain place with the treats, they usually start to come when they're called! Or even when they hear us opening the test kit!

You also have to remember...you're not poking her to hurt her...you're testing her to keep him safe and understand what's going on inside her body. There's just nothing better than truly understanding what's going on inside your kitty's body and with this disease, the more knowledge you have, the more power you have against it. The edges of the ears have very few pain receptors, so it really doesn't hurt them. Also, if you're nervous and tense, it's going to make your kitty nervous and tense too. As silly as it might seem, try singing! It forces you to use a different part of your brain!

It's also important to make sure her ear is warm. A small sock filled with a little rice and microwaved or a small pill bottle filled with warm water (check temp against your wrist like you would a baby bottle) works well

Finding the right "treat" will be a great help too! Freeze dried chicken, bonito flakes, little pieces of baked chicken...whatever low carb treat you can find that she really enjoys will help her to associate the testing with the treat! China's Achilles heel was baked chicken, so I'd bake a piece, chop it into bite sized pieces, put some in the refrigerator and freeze the rest to use as needed. It didn't take long for her to come any time I picked up the meter!
 
I have found with Dre that if I put some pressure like eyebrow plucking except more of a little pinch not a pull, where I poke it lessens the poke and I rub it right away. Good luck !!
You have a great attitude and kitty will sense that and relax. I sing to Dre :)
You got this !
 
When I test Diego I always, always make it a pleasant experience. Just because his ears can bleed easily now doesn't mean I rush through his blood tests. I still get up every single morning and, while I'm making a pot of coffee I put some hot water into a pill bottle for his ear stick. He already knows that when I wake up, I make coffee and then we start with his test. I'll pick him up and love on/kiss him and bring him to our little testing spot aka my bed. He willingly plops himself down in my lap and I rub his little ear with that warm pill bottle for 30 seconds or so and then massage it for a few seconds. Then I put my strip in, do the little poke, test, clot the blood and rub some neosporin on his ear. Then I'll love on him some more. Once I stopped trying to rush through my mornings and I set aside just five minutes in the morning to make this relaxing and enjoyable for him, he really responded in a similar fashion by calming down too. The same thing is repeated later on that night. Sometimes his ears are very warm already, in which case I'll just rub his ear for a few seconds.
 
We back paw pad test here (not toes but larger padded area) Gobbles absolutely abhors his ears being tested, so he is tested on back leg paw pad....he doesn't even flinch. You need to use a larger lancet (25 or 26 gauge) and be a little patient waiting for the drop of blood to surface....after a few weeks, the pad will bleed easily. And always be sure to put a dab of triple antibiotic on test site, even if you don't draw blood and give kitty a treat. I have been testing like this for 3 years now and there has never been any issues or infection.
 

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