Differences between Contour Next meters

Lara & Luciole (Lu)

Lara & Luciole (Lu)

Member
I'm curious if anyone's noticed any differences when switching between the same brand of meters. Specifically, I decided that it was time to upgrade from the Contour Next EZ from 2013, to the Contour Next Gen, because of the "second chance" sampling that gives you up to 60 seconds to get the blood glucose result from a single test strip. Strips ain't cheap!

I just tested Lu and got a reading of 14.3/257 from the new Next Gen, and 15.7/283 from the old Next EZ.

Is this enough of a difference to be worried about? I'm concerned about when Lu hits the low numbers, in particular.
 
The difference between 257 and 283 is very minor. If the difference was greater, say 257 and 300 then I would question that. Just use whatever meter you feel comfortable with and has affordable test strip

Tip: insert the test strip only partially into the meter, far enough so that it holds in place but not far enough to turn the meter on. Warm up the cat's ear. Poke to get blood. Once you have the blood drop and a good sized one, push the test strip into the meter to turn it on and wait for the icon that tells you the meter is ready for blood. Takes a second or two. Then touch the test strip to the blood drop.
 
I'm going to offer a couple of suggestions.

Please look over the Lantus dosing methods. You want to pick a method -- either Start Low Go Slow (SLGS) or Tight Regulation (TR). Your signature indicates you're using TR but it doesn't look like it from your spreadsheet. One thing that leaps out with Lu's spreadsheet is that you aren't reducing the dose in response to low numbers (e.g., a 34 on 9/3).

It's important to get at least one test during every PM cycle. Many cats drop into lower numbers at night. If you aren't testing during the PM cycle, you're missing half of your data. You also risk Lu becoming hypoglycemic and you wouldn't know that numbers have dropped.

Please do not give insulin if your cat is in truly low numbers. Shooting with an AMPS of 41 is dangerous. With TR you can shoot low numbers but not that low. I would routinely shoot anything above 50 but you need to be testing at least every 30 min to make sure your cat's numbers aren't crashing. You tested at +2 but that's around the time that Lantus onset occurs. You didn't test again until +10. With low numbers, you have no idea what happened and if your cat was in even lower numbers.
 
Thanks very much for your replies, @squeem3 and @Sienne and Gabby (GA).
I haven't had anybody look at how Lu's doing for about two years, so I appreciate your help, insights and recommendations!

It looks like on 9/3 she earned the reduction and I went from 1u to .75.

I didn't know that I shouldn't shoot at 41 - or rather I should have remembered that the options are that I can shoot, but must test more (which is what I should have done), or stall or skip.

Many thanks for checking in on her!

And squeem, thanks to you too! Lu's a champ, and very used to being poked. Very much appreciate that you confirmed that there isn't that much difference between what the meters registered.
 
Just a reminder regarding the basics....

Since Lu is more than a year past her diagnosis, with TR, your reductions occur if she drops below 40. Numbers below 40 always warrant a dose reduction.

I would not give insulin if her pre-shot number is below 50. With a pre-shot that is like the 41, stalling or skipping is in order. However, it's shot time with a blood glucose result that requires you intervene. You need to be sure that Lu is in safe numbers in order to shoot. It's a balance because you need to give some food to get the numbers out of the basement but you don't want to influence the pre-shot numbers too much. If you were to load Lu up with high carb, it could easily be misleading because you've propped up the numbers with food and there's a good chance the numbers will drop once the insulin kicks in.

Also, remember there's usually someone on the board 24/7 if you need to brainstorm.

You might also consider posting on the Lantus board.
 
Thank very much, Sienne! I appreciate you going over this information with me. Very appreciated. I always have some MC for when Lu dips, because I want to keep her surfing in the healing zone of blues/greens for as long as possible without shooting upwards because of too many carbs. She already seems to be a bouncy cat.

Because Lu has some IBD complications, which are well-managed with a minimal dose of Budesonide, my vet said she might have higher numbers. I don't know if this is the case with her, but she does seem to be very bouncy, and rarely stays in blue/greens for long. So far, anyway.

Because of my experience with Lu starting with her diagnosis in early 2024, and, previous to that, with my cat River from 2013 - 16, I post extremely rarely, because I don't want to take up time & attention that is much more important & better spent with people who are getting started, or have cats close to remission. I've hoped I'd be able to return here if Lu shows she might be headed to remission, to get help with that, but so far she shows no signs of going OTJ. If I do return, I'll post in the Lantus forum.

Today I just wanted to get some help with switching meters, so thanks to you and squeem3 for that and a check-in! Merci beaucoup !
 
Joanne & Isis (& Ilia) said:
Could there be a difference in calibration? Did you ever calibrate the old meter with calibration solution?
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This is a great question, and I would have, had I had any. But I ended up switching back to my old meter, simply because of ease of use.

Probably there are people who are very comfortable using the Gen, but I find the EZ was, well, easy. I was getting a lot of error messages with the Gen, so my "style" works better with the EZ, or I'm just that acclimated to it.

Thanks for asking, and best wishes to you & Isis.
 
Lara & Luciole (Lu) said:
This is a great question, and I would have, had I had any. But I ended up switching back to my old meter, simply because of ease of use.

Probably there are people who are very comfortable using the Gen, but I find the EZ was, well, easy. I was getting a lot of error messages with the Gen, so my "style" works better with the EZ, or I'm just that acclimated to it.

Thanks for asking, and best wishes to you & Isis.
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Amazon.com
 
Some kitties have a minimal response in terms of their blood glucose numbers with budesonide. Others, not so much. It depends on what you see with your cat.

Please don't restrict yourself from posting. Your experience is valued and can be especially important to new members. Without those of us who have been around for a long time, we would have only a handful of people offering insight and support and have a lot of new people who are floundering.
 
That means a lot, Sienne. Your kind guidance helped my cat River live for many years after his diagnosis. Huge gratitude to you and the others here who are still helping. What amazing people you are.

And your words are timely, as well, because Luciole seems to be going through a puzzling time for me, and I was thinking of starting to post her condo again! So see everybody in the Lantus forum...
 
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