BG Monitoring with Human Meter

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

DragonFly

Member Since 2015
Hi all,

Newbie here. My cat Delsey (between 16 to 17 years old, female) just got diagnosed with diabetes a few days before. I have no experience with diabetic cats (or people) before and I am trying to learn as much as possible and quickly. Sorry if I ask any stupid question or my question has been asked a gazillion times before.

I am going to buy the Relion meter to monitor her BG at home. I read that human meter read about lower than cat specific meters. Does it mean human meter when used on cats is not accurate? Do I add to the reading I get from Relion? If so, how much. If not, how should I interpret the numbers — like what is consider low, mid or high?

Thank you all in advance!
 
Many of us here use the WalMart ReliOn Confirm or Confirm Micro, aka Glucocard 01 or 01 Mini from American Diabetes Warehouse without problems. Yes, it does read a little lower but what were are really looking for is a trend, not an absolute value. The accuracy or both human and pet hand held meters is +/- 20%
 
Take a look at my signature link Glucometer Notes for feline-specific reference ranges and what they might mean.
 
Thank you for the info. My main concern is the risk hypo. So, just to confirm, the number to look out for is less than 50 — i.e., NOT to give insulin if lower than 50 (with the human meter) and execute hypo protocol — correct?
 
Not quite.
Starting out, your no shot limit is 200 mg/dL - until you have data to show it is safe, you do not give a shot below that.
The lowest it is safe to go is 50 mg/dL on a human glucometer.
 
BJM said:
Not quite.
Starting out, your no shot limit is 200 mg/dL - until you have data to show it is safe, you do not give a shot below that.
The lowest it is safe to go is 50 mg/dL on a human glucometer.
Click to expand...
Sorry for being so thick but I am confused now. You say the "no shot limit is 200". I interpret this as saying DON'T give insulin if the number is as high as 200. But then, you say the "lowest it is safe to go is 50". I interpret this as saying, it is still safe to give the shot as low as 50. I am confused. I am sure I misunderstand what you are saying here. may you be so kind to clarify?
 
When you don't have test data, you do not shoot when your pre-test glucose pre-shot glucose is below 200 mg/dL.
- post here for help and stall without feeding for 30 minutes and re-test. If now above 200 mg/dL, shoot.
- Until you have test data to show it is safe, we want to be careful!
- Insulin causes the glucose to enter cells, taking it out of the bloodstream, thus lowering the blood glucose.

Between shots, the lowest to go is 50 mg/dL. This is called the nadir.

What insulin are you using.
 
Last edited:
I don't understand what "pre-test glucose" means — how would I know what the number is before (pre-) testing?
 
I think BJM means pre-shot glucose. When you get ready to give a shot and test to make sure it is safe, anything below 200 is too low to give insulin until you have tested and watched for a little bit and learned the patterns of your cat. As you get a better understanding, that number can be lowered under 200. With Lantus we eventually get down to giving insulin ("shooting") as low as 50.
 
You always test before giving insulin...At first, if the "pre-shot" test is under 200, you post here and ask for help. You "stall", don't feed and have someone with experience to guide you or you don't give insulin

You then need to test somewhere between 5-7 hours after the shot in the morning and at least a "before bed" test at night to find out how low the dose is taking them. Most cats go lower at night, so it's important to get that test in before you go to bed to make sure you don't need to set an alarm to get more tests in

As you get more tests in, you'll learn how your cat reacts to both insulin and food, and gradually you'll learn to shoot lower pre-shot numbers
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top