10/22/14 Keiko - glucometer defective?

[KeikosHuman]

Sweet Keiko is in the hospital. Thankfully he was found negative for ketones. He is constipated and was mildly dehydrated. Frequent vomiting is what got him to the vet yesterday. He had an Alphatrak reading of 330 Monday night. Tuesday morning because of the vomiting I checked his BG and it registered 634. At the hospital my vet thought the readings made no sense so they took readings with their Alphatrak and mine and the meters were off by 110 points!(mine 399, theirs 511). I was there when they tested them. I've had the meter 5+ months and purchased it new from the vet hospital. I feel sick thinking about all this measuring that may not be accurate or useful. Keiko is still hospitalized and they are checking both glucometers against each other and a blood machine. Keiko still needs to defacate and eat before they release him.Please hold him in your thoughts.

What to do to prevent dehydration? He has 2 water bowls to use and eats only wet cat food.

I have a human meter on the way. I purchased it online before all this happened.

Thank you for your support.
Maria & Keiko

 

[rhiannon and shadow (GA)]

Aw....Prayers and healing vines for Keiko.
I'm glad he is already on the way to recovery.

It sounds like you might be learning a new trick.
You can give fluids at home. You might not have to do it long term.
How to give subcutaneous fluids


Have you had any bloodwork done? Got labs?


You can learn a lot about giving fluids from Blackie's recent condo.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Sending many healing vines for Keiko. I hope he gets cleared out soon. :YMHUG:

Meter manufacturers can be off by as much as 20%. At the higher numbers, that becomes a larger number. 20% of 511 is 102, so the meters may not be that far off. If you have to wait much longer for a human meter, you might want to make a stop at Walmart and pick of one of their cheap Relion confirm/micro meters.

Even though my kitties get raw food which has a high moisture content, I still add water to each meal to keep them hydrated. My boy cat never drinks water even though there are bowls around. One trick that has also helped him is to add a little babyfood squash (1/4 tsp) to his main meals. Plain unspiced pumpkin also works for constipation.

 

[Ann & Tess GA]

Many vines coming from CA for Keiko as well. If Keiko was vomiting a lot that can quickly cause dehydration. What are they doing for the constipation? The squash and pumpkin probably won't help in the current situation, but are great for keeping things moving in the future. http://www.felineconstipation.org/acutetreatment.html is a great site for understanding feline constipation.

Which meter did you order? If it was the Glucocard 01 from ADW it is the same meter and uses the same strips as the Relion Confirm or Mini. You could stop and pick one up, it's not a bad idea to have a backup meter. If you ordered the Agamatrix Presto the Up & Up from Target is the same meter.

 

[Ann & Tess GA]

To clarify on the 20% meter variance. Your meter was 399, so it could be reading 80 points higher or lower, your reading is actually in a range from 319 to 479. The vet's meter read 511, his variance is 102 point and that means Keiko's BG is in a range of 409 to 613. So Keiko's number was actually somewhere in that overlap, between 409 and 479.

And no, meters aren't always varied by the same amount every time you test.

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

i'm so sorry he's ended up there. poor little guy. i agree about the meter variances - we've had people do side by side, and even with their own 2 meters, the difference between them isn't consistent. I wouldn't worry about it - i'd switch to the human meter as soon as it comes and start saving money.

the critical numbers to have right are the low numbers, and meters tend to be more accurate in low numbers than in high numbers.

sending poo vines to Keiko (go buddy go!) and hoping he can get home soon. Home's the best for all of us!