8/10 Taishi AMPS 374, +6 207, PMPS 234, +2 190, +4 224

Taishi_Ci

Taishi_Ci

Member Since 2021
Yesterday: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/8-9-taishi-amps-375-3-275.251140

Holy moly! Today has been a mess. Taishi is doing fine, but if you want to read my bad cat-mom drama, here it is lol

Last night when I went to test Taishi for his PMPS, I realized we were down to only 3 test strips. I knew we were running low, but I didn't realize we were that low. My husband mentioned that sometimes when he tests he ends up using more than one strip :facepalm: so that might be why we were lower than I expected. I immediately ordered more from Amazon, but they weren't going to arrive until Wednesday. Panic ensues.

I decide to do the risky thing and get a +2 last night - saving only one test strip for his AMPS (which fortunately went smoothly). I assumed it would be pretty easy to pick up some extra test strips from the local pharmacy to get us through the day until the Amazon order arrived.

I was wrong. I had no idea how many different brands/types of glucometers there are. The first 2 pharmacies didn't have the strips I needed (although they had 20 other kinds). I then went to Walmart, and they didn't have the strips I needed either. Feeling frustrated, I broke down and grabbed the cheapest human BG monitor they had (ReliOn Classic) and the pack of ReliOn test strips on the shelf next to it.

I got home, opened the packages, and got ready to test... until I realized I had purchased the wrong kind of strips. I saw the ReliOn brand and a picture of a red meter on the box and assumed it was the correct thing. Of course, I couldn't return the incorrect strips :facepalm:

Back to Walmart to buy the correct strips. They're out. No strips for the ReliOn Classic. I can't return the new meter I bought either. No returns on diabetic supplies. :banghead:

Drive to the Walmart in the next city over. They have the strips we need for our existing meter! But they want 2x the online price for them. Highway robbery. Fortunately, the *do* have the strips for the ReliOn.

This entire process took about 4 hours. I feel like a HORRIBLE cat mom. We increased Taishi to 2.25 this morning, so I was hoping to test more frequently, but I just got the new meter in time for his +6. He read 207 on the human meter and I put that into my spreadsheet.

We have 100 test strips for our AT on the way, so we will work our way through those and keep the human meter as backup. However, seeing the price difference in the strips and knowing that they can be purchased locally (even though the Walmart isn't super close by) might ultimately make sense. It does seem like the human meter uses significantly more blood than the AT, unfortunately.

Hope everyone is having a less stressful day than me! :blackeye:
 
Oh goodness on the meter/strips! Someone here once told me to keep at least two 100 packs on hand (so 200 strips total) and when you open the second pack, order a new pack. For Walmart, they ship for free on orders of $35 (the 100 pack of ReliOn prime is annoyingly 34.69 lol but you can add cotton balls or something else for your household you may need). FWIW, I converted from AT to ReliOn Prime for mostly cost reasons and just kept my AT2 as an emergency backup (and had to hide it from myself lol).

Hope you have a smoother day tomorrow :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
JaxBenji said:
Oh goodness on the meter/strips! Someone here once told me to keep at least two 100 packs on hand (so 200 strips total) and when you open the second pack, order a new pack. For Walmart, they ship for free on orders of $35 (the 100 pack of ReliOn prime is annoyingly 34.69 lol but you can add cotton balls or something else for your household you may need). FWIW, I converted from AT to ReliOn Prime for mostly cost reasons and just kept my AT2 as an emergency backup (and had to hide it from myself lol).

Hope you have a smoother day tomorrow :bighug::bighug::bighug:
Click to expand...

Yes!! We have definitely learned our lesson re: keeping a big stash of strips. I literally had nightmares last night about Taishi having a hypo episode and no strips to test him lol Although I love the AT, I have a feeling ReliOn is going to make more sense in the long run due to cost and convenience.
 
Taishi's PMPS is only 234 tonight! Of course, we're using the human meter, but I'm assuming that's a similar reading to what we'd get from the AT. This is the lowest preshot number he's had, so I'm nervous.
 
Wow, Jessie! I see you've had quite the day!

Wrt the PMPS of 234, the ReliOn will read lower than the AT, but you've shot a 258 (on the AT) before which is within meter variance. You can do this! :-)
Curious to see how the night cycle pans out!
 
Ohh that is some adventure, i am a panicky person so i have night mares that we are out of strips even when we have huge stocks haha i can imagine the stress of having to run around and hope to find them locally :blackeye::blackeye: glad it turned out fine and that you got your hands on a much cheaper human glucometer :D
Good luck with tonight cycle, hope it goes smoothly and Taishi goes into lower numbers :bighug:
 
Gave Taishi his "before bed" poke and he read out at 190 on the human meter. Is it safe for me to go to bed, or do I need to stay up and continue testing? He seems to be following a similar pattern as in the past (and actually, it was a much gentler drop in numbers compared to his previous blues), so hoping we're good for the night.
 
It would be good to get another test at +4 or +5, if you can set an alarm. Just for more data.

Btw, please take out the "GA" prefix in the thread title - it is to indicate a cat has "Gone Away" / become a "Guardian Angel"! I always get a little heart attack when I see that!
 
Bandit's Mom said:
It would be good to get another test at +4 or +5, if you can set an alarm. Just for more data.

Btw, please take out the "GA" prefix in the thread title - it is to indicate a cat has "Gone Away" / become a "Guardian Angel"! I always get a little heart attack when I see that!
Click to expand...

Oh my gosh! Thank you for catching that! I meant to select the ? and not the GA, obviously. I'm so sorry. What an awful mistake for me to make - I didn't mean to select it.

Unfortunately a +4 or +5 for me typically means me just staying awake. I will try to stay up for the +4, but I'm so worn out after today. Obviously if he is in danger of a potential hypo episode (this is very unlikely at this point, I assume?) I'll chug some caffeine and be up all night with him...
 
Taishi_Ci said:
Obviously if he is in danger of a potential hypo episode (this is very unlikely at this point, I assume?) I'll chug some caffeine and be up all night with him...
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No. I doubt he will drop dangerously low. The reason I ask for the later test is to get his nadir. Don't worry about it tonight. :-)
 
Yikes, what a day!

The Alphatrak takes 0.3microliters of blood and there are some human meters which also only need 0.3 though most seem to be 0.5. With persistence and careful searching (in here and on google) you can find what human meters take the smaller amount. I use the Freestyle Lite (and the strips are a similar design to AT but only ~$25 on Amazon or less on ebay) and Novamax as backup which both only need 0.3.

Good luck!
 
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