07/30/21 New member - meters and home testing

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Zach&Boots

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Hi, nice to meet you all! My 16 year old indoor cat, Bootsie, was diagnosed with diabetes earlier this week. Boots had previously been eating Hill's Science Diet Adult dry food, and suddenly stopped eating it last week. When she stopped eating as much, Boots lost a couple of pounds, which greatly concerned us. Additionally, she appeared to have some nasal discharge/dry nose.

We brought Boots to the vet on Monday, where he treated her nose with an antibiotic injection, which thankfully worked. The vet also took blood to test her thyroid and blood glucose levels. When we left, he recommended we switch to a wet food (Hill's Science) and see how she does. Boots loved the wet food and started eating again.

The test results came back on Tuesday (07/26) and her glucose level was 648, which was very concerning. We dropped off a urine sample on Wednesday and the quick test showed glucose in her urine. The vet then recommended a can of Purina DM each day as her new diet (which she now loves). The full urine test came back today and it was 3+ and did not contain Ketones.

Bootsie seems A LOT better now than she was the past couple of weeks. She appears to have regained some weight and seems more herself than she's been. Boots gets very stressed out at the vet, so before we bring her on Monday to begin the process of figuring out the right insulin levels for her, I'd like to test her blood glucose levels at home to see if she's doing any better.

I'm looking for recommendations for a meter that I can pick up at a local pharmacy (CVS, Walgreens, etc) or get next day on Amazon. Ideally it would also be good for the meter to have affordable test strips as well. I found older posts that recommended the ReliOn Prime, but it seems that it's discontinued. Do any of you have recommendations on what monitor I should use? When should I test levels (pre/post feeding)? Any advice in general about caring for a sugar kitty?


Thanks so much!
Zach
 
Welcome Zach and Boots
The Relion Prime from Walmart is not discontinued ( human meter )
They also have The Relion Premier Classic 9 dollars and those test strips for that meter are the same price for 100
That's what our numbers are based on
It's 9 dollars and 17.88 for 100 test strips
Buy any brand of 26 or 28 gauge lancets , most of us freehand and don't buy the lancing device
Cotton rounds to out behind the ear
Most likely the vet uses a pet meter
You want to withhold food 2 hours prior to testing first thing in the morning
If you want to test him thru thru the day no need to withhold food 2 hours prior to testing
 
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Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up
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6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand
I find it better to see where I'm aiming

VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar
Here is a video one of our members did
 
Feel free to ask questions when you find out what insulin your vet is prescribing
You have definitely come to the right place, if it wasn't for the members here and there advice and guidance my cat Tyler wouldn't be in remission today.They are very knowledgeable and caring
 
Zach&Boots said:
I found older posts that recommended the ReliOn Prime, but it seems that it's discontinued. Do any of you have recommendations on what monitor I should use?
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The Prime is still available. The Confirm was discontinued but the Prime is still one of the most used meters here. You can't beat the $9 cost and strips that are only $17.88/100.

Sounds like your vet may have sold you D/M food. While the pate version is low enough in carbs, the "Selects" is too high and there's absolutely nothing special in either of them that actually treats diabetes. You're paying a premium price for a food with inferior grade ingredients and a well advertised name. (just look at the ingredients and compare them to the ingredients in Fancy Feast)

Most of us feed our own cats Fancy Feast Classics or Friskies pates which are under 10% carbs, easy to find and affordable.

If you want to pay over $2 a can, there are much higher quality foods than the "prescription" junk.
 
Thank you both so much for you advice and suggestions! This message board seems so helpful and informative -- I'm looking forward to using it to help out Bootsie and hopefully get her into remission. Getting the diagnosis and getting ready to start treatment has been very overwhelming, but reading through these posts has me feeling a lot better.

I found the ReliOn meter on Walmart's site now, turns out it just wasn't available at the nearest store I had selected. I'll look into picking this up for sure! When she gets her prescription I'll definitely make sure that I post any questions.
 
You are very welcome Zack, I'm glad you feel better, diabetes is very manageable.
Glad you found the meter. When you are ready to start insulin you can set up your signature, it's at the end of everyone's post, information about our kitties.
We also have a spreadsheet we use to keep track of our cats BG to see how the insulin is working and how low it's taking them if you need advice about dosing.
We can get into this down the road. Everything will be ok .:cat:
@Zach&Boots
 
Welcome to FDMB!

I'm glad you're ahead of our suggesting that you start home testing. To be honest, any human meter will be fine. Many people do use the Walmart meter because the meter and strips are inexpensive. Regardless of which meter you choose, check out the online prices for strips. I used a Bayer Contour and paid a fraction of the price if I bought online (Amazon, Ebay, ADW) vs a pharmacy.

If your vet has not yet given you a prescription for insulin, the American Animal Hospital Assn guidelines recommend either Lantus or Prozinc for treating feline diabetes. Lantus is pricey. Most people here will order through Marks Marine Pharmacy in Canada. However, the generic form (aka "biosimilars") are now available. Several people here are using either Basaglar or Semglee which are considerably less expensive than Lantus. Prozince may be available through your vet or through animal pharmacies such as Chewy's.

If you are looking for other options regarding food, this food chart was developed by a vet and it lists the carbohydrate values for most canned foods available in the US. We consider low carb (LC) to be less than 10% carbs, medium carb (MC) is 10 - 15% and high carb (HC) is over 15%. You want to have a few cans of the higher carb foods on hand to bump up numbers if necessary. Also, most people here tend to feed their cat in the 5% range.

When you have a chance, we ask members to set up a spreadsheet and to put some information in their signature so we don't keep asking the same questions. This link on helping us to help you contains the information on how to do this plus other helpful information.

Please let us know if you have questions. The members here are very generous with their time and knowledge.
 
Thank you for all of the information! I unfortunately don't live in the same home as Boots (she's with my mom -- I'm a renter for now with a "no pets allowed" policy), but I'm fortunate enough to live only a few minutes away, so I'm visiting every day to help. All of these comments are very helpful and are definitely helping me feel better about managing this situation.

I ran out this morning and was able to pick up the ReliOn Plus meter and test strips from a nearby Walmart. It's good to know that there are alternatives to the Purina DM out there as well. I also updated my signature with information about Boots and added the spreadsheet, which I'll fill out as soon as we start home testing.

I'm very much looking forward to starting the healing process with Boots and hopefully getting her into remission and feeling better.
 
We should be starting with the home testing tonight/tomorrow since we're picking Boots up from the vet later (she's scheduled for an ultrasound of her pancreas this afternoon). I was looking through the FAQs and didn't see anything on how to adjust an insulin dosage if her BG levels are lower AMPS/PMPS (maybe I missed it). Does anyone know of a forum post that goes over this? Or is it something that my vet should explain to us?

Also, if anyone's using the ReliOn prime, is there any calibration that I need to do for it to read BG levels for a cat instead of a human?

Thanks again so much! :cat:
 
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/prozinc-pzi.24/


You don't have to do any calibrations at all on the Relion
Our dosing methods are based on the human meter as well and most of us use the human meters.
Part of that process is getting a feel for basic concepts:
  • Onset - the length of time before insulin reaches the bloodstream & begins lowering blood glucose
  • Peak/Nadir - the lowest point in the cycle
  • Duration - the length of time insulin continues to lower blood glucose
 
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Food chart
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-chart.174147/
For your hypo kit you can get the following and also look at the food chart

Have some honey on hand also


med and high carb food on hand in case he drops too low and you need to bring his BG up to safe numbers

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Beef Feast in Gravy 20% High Carbs



Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Chicken Feast in Gravy. 15% Med Carbs




Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Turkey Feast in Gravy. 15% Med Carbs


Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken and Beef Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Or any other ones from the food chart, I gave the link above
 
On human meters, the take action number is 50, so going forward, ,this is when you would feed either medium or high carb food to bring his BG up to safe numbers
Always post for help such as
Help Needed, Date,Boots then her BG
Any time you aren't sure about something please post for help
We do have a few Prozinc users that can help you
 
Hello and welcome, I've only been here a few months and everybody seems to have you covered so far. So, i just wanted to welcome you and Boots to the site!
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
On human meters, the take action number is 50, so going forward, ,this is when you would feed either medium or high carb food to bring his BG up to safe numbers
Always post for help such as
Help Needed, Date,Boots then her BG
Any time you aren't sure about something please post for help
We do have a few Prozinc users that can help you
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Thank you so much for all of your replies! It’s making this feel much less daunting.
 
Zach&Boots said:
We should be starting with the home testing tonight/tomorrow since we're picking Boots up from the vet later (she's scheduled for an ultrasound of her pancreas this afternoon). I was looking through the FAQs and didn't see anything on how to adjust an insulin dosage if her BG levels are lower AMPS/PMPS (maybe I missed it). Does anyone know of a forum post that goes over this? Or is it something that my vet should explain to us?

Also, if anyone's using the ReliOn prime, is there any calibration that I need to do for it to read BG levels for a cat instead of a human?

Thanks again so much! :cat:
Click to expand...
Welcome!

If you look on the ProZinc specific forum, there are some info posts that link to other info posts that might be helpful.

From the ProZinc New Member's sticky, I found this link to Dosing Methods, which covers the basics of when to adjust dosages. This is not my insulin, so I can't offer any additional recommendations. But I refer to the sister document re: Lantus all the time!
 
Got Bootsie back from the vet a few hours ago and she’s very happy! She seems much more herself now that she started treatment. Our vet is very thorough and very calming. He was very patient with us, answered all of our questions, and taught me and my family how to administer insulin. We’re starting her one 2U in the morning and 1U in the evening (7am/7pm). The ultrasound revealed a mild case of pancreatitis but no other issues thankfully.

The vet did mention BG monitoring, and the two options that he presented were urine testing with Keto-diastix and he mentioned the Freestyle Libre (which I don’t want to do). He seemed pretty insistent that us doing home BG testing with a meter wasn’t ideal for the cats stress level and comfort.

Have any of you tried urine testing? This can be an option at home if one of her other caregivers aren’t comfortable with testing. If you have, any suggestions on how to do this? The vet mentioned that the Breeze System from Tidy Cats is something that he’s heard of people using, but it looks like the urine gets sifted into a pad (gets changed once a week) and doesn’t seem like we’d be able to get fresh urine to test. If we changed it twice daily it’ll also be quite pricey.
 
Tagging @JanetNJ who is one of the champion ProZinc users. Generally, we give the same dose at each shot time and start lower, especially if you’re making simultaneous diet changes.

Every cat will be different, but many adapt well to blood glucose testing if you give frequent treats as you’re establishing the process. I use a lancing device, and I clicked it near my cat’s ears just to get her used to the sound, and gave her a treat each time. And even if I didn’t get blood at first, she still got a treat. Now she sniffs around the box I keep my testing supplies in and climbs up into my lap for testing. Vets see animals at their most stressed, so it makes sense that they are hesitant to “put cats through that” multiple times a day. But really, the edges of the ear have very few pain receptors so it’s not a big deal.
 
Zach&Boots said:
Got Bootsie back from the vet a few hours ago and she’s very happy! She seems much more herself now that she started treatment. Our vet is very thorough and very calming. He was very patient with us, answered all of our questions, and taught me and my family how to administer insulin. We’re starting her one 2U in the morning and 1U in the evening (7am/7pm). The ultrasound revealed a mild case of pancreatitis but no other issues thankfully.

The vet did mention BG monitoring, and the two options that he presented were urine testing with Keto-diastix and he mentioned the Freestyle Libre (which I don’t want to do). He seemed pretty insistent that us doing home BG testing with a meter wasn’t ideal for the cats stress level and comfort.

Have any of you tried urine testing? This can be an option at home if one of her other caregivers aren’t comfortable with testing. If you have, any suggestions on how to do this? The vet mentioned that the Breeze System from Tidy Cats is something that he’s heard of people using, but it looks like the urine gets sifted into a pad (gets changed once a week) and doesn’t seem like we’d be able to get fresh urine to test. If we changed it twice daily it’ll also be quite pricey.
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The problem with just testing the urine is it only spills over into the urine if the number is over 250. It won't tell you what the bg is in the moment, just what it was, so you won't have a precise number or know if it's safe to shoot. Depending on the cats personality, umpires they are really skiddish, nj most don't find it stressful after a couple weeks. I have a video in my signature showing how I tested my cat CC at home. The urine keto stocks are, however, food for letting you know if your cat had ketones. The Libre is great for skiddish hard to test cats... It stays attached to them for up to two weeks. But if you can use a regular meter, that's the way to go.

Insulin is usually best when dosed the same am and pm. The typical recommended starting dose is 1 unit twice a day.
 
Thanks @JanetNJ ! This is a lot of good information. I might look into the Libre because my mom may need to do testing and I think that this is something that she'll be much more comfortable with. Any experience yourself with the Libre? I looked through old posts and seems like some members have had a good experience with it.
 
Zach&Boots said:
Thanks @JanetNJ ! This is a lot of good information. I might look into the Libre because my mom may need to do testing and I think that this is something that she'll be much more comfortable with. Any experience yourself with the Libre? I looked through old posts and seems like some members have had a good experience with it.
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No I never personally used it but several have. It does need to ne replaces every 10-14 days or so though, but it is very convenient that it automatically sends the numbers to you.
 
Hi Zach! I have used two Libre sensors so far on my newly diagnosed diabetic/ckd gal, Starburst. There are pros and cons, but if you have any questions on it I'd be happy to help if I can.
My vet had to place a prescription for the Freestyle Libre 14 sensors (sold in a 2 pack) and a Libre reader (size of a small cell phone, it's a scanner, but if you have a newer major model cell phone an app can scan it too). A local pharmacy filled the prescription, the reader was ~$100 and the 2 sensors were around ~$130. Ideally the 2 sensors would last a month but they won't on a cat. The sensors are only "approved" for use on humans so if you have a problem there really is no recourse. They are typically place on the back of human upper arms where there is no real movement in that spot. Unfortunately there isn't a perfect spot in cats. My vet has a tech that "places" them, she has used two different spots so far. She uses tissue glue to help keep the sensor from falling off and I wrapped vet wrap around it (and my cats abdomen) to try and further minimize movement (which lead to her having to wear a dog shirt so she leaves the wrap alone).
The first sensor lasted 4 days, the second one we are on day 8 so far (knock on wood). If you look at my spreadsheet you will see that the initial insulin dose barely had any affect on her numbers. Starburst also tested as anemic and with kidney disease and my vet was adamant that we get her glucose under control before we start tackling those issues so I was desperate for some way to get her numbers down quickly. The main pro with the Libre is you can scan (literally scan) to get a reading, and as long as you scan once every 8 hours you will see the measurement "trend" every 5 to 15 minutes. This is helpful to see how low she is getting as well as her peaks. This has allowed us to make adjustments in her dose more comfortably as I can see her entire curve and won't miss the nadir. The main downside (besides cost) is I have no idea when it will stop working, and if it does I may have to do a lot of ear BG sampling, which my gal hates.
Also trends and graphs are shown with the app and scanner so you can compare different days to really see trends. If you think it is something you're interested in talk to your vet. My vet was the one who brought it up, because doing curves are more accurate if done at home rather than at the vet, and due to her other medical issues we need to tackle. Sorry for writing a novel, but wanted to put it all out there that I could think of.
 
Of course after I wrote this the Libre is acting like it did right before the last one stopped working, getting sensor errors. At the worst possible time. So that's something to keep in mind
 
StarburstMom said:
Hi Zach! I have used two Libre sensors so far on my newly diagnosed diabetic/ckd gal, Starburst. There are pros and cons, but if you have any questions on it I'd be happy to help if I can.
My vet had to place a prescription for the Freestyle Libre 14 sensors (sold in a 2 pack) and a Libre reader (size of a small cell phone, it's a scanner, but if you have a newer major model cell phone an app can scan it too). A local pharmacy filled the prescription, the reader was ~$100 and the 2 sensors were around ~$130. Ideally the 2 sensors would last a month but they won't on a cat. The sensors are only "approved" for use on humans so if you have a problem there really is no recourse. They are typically place on the back of human upper arms where there is no real movement in that spot. Unfortunately there isn't a perfect spot in cats. My vet has a tech that "places" them, she has used two different spots so far. She uses tissue glue to help keep the sensor from falling off and I wrapped vet wrap around it (and my cats abdomen) to try and further minimize movement (which lead to her having to wear a dog shirt so she leaves the wrap alone).
The first sensor lasted 4 days, the second one we are on day 8 so far (knock on wood). If you look at my spreadsheet you will see that the initial insulin dose barely had any affect on her numbers. Starburst also tested as anemic and with kidney disease and my vet was adamant that we get her glucose under control before we start tackling those issues so I was desperate for some way to get her numbers down quickly. The main pro with the Libre is you can scan (literally scan) to get a reading, and as long as you scan once every 8 hours you will see the measurement "trend" every 5 to 15 minutes. This is helpful to see how low she is getting as well as her peaks. This has allowed us to make adjustments in her dose more comfortably as I can see her entire curve and won't miss the nadir. The main downside (besides cost) is I have no idea when it will stop working, and if it does I may have to do a lot of ear BG sampling, which my gal hates.
Also trends and graphs are shown with the app and scanner so you can compare different days to really see trends. If you think it is something you're interested in talk to your vet. My vet was the one who brought it up, because doing curves are more accurate if done at home rather than at the vet, and due to her other medical issues we need to tackle. Sorry for writing a novel, but wanted to put it all out there that I could think of.
Click to expand...
Thanks so much for all of this information!
 
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