Feeding Question

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Mags920

Member Since 2018
Houston has been off insulin 3 weeks now - yeah! As long as I keep away from the carbs his #'s are good. His # has been under 100 8 of the last 9 testings. My problem is he is always hungry. I feed him 3-4 times a day & he's still hungry. Any suggestions?
 
Truffles is always hungry! He always pretends he’s starved - he’s really not! I just tell him he has to wait. He’s fed three times a day but would never turn down food!
 
Houston's # has been 58 the last 2x today & that concerns me a little. I called the ER but no one was available to talk to me - what a surprise. Think I'll email my vet back home & see what she says.
 
My vet back home replied & recommends I get an Alphatrak to get more accurate #'s so I'm going to check my gift card balance on amazon & order one. Sad that I hear from my former vet right away & don't hear from my current one for a week.
 
Mags920 said:
My vet back home replied & recommends I get an Alphatrak to get more accurate #'s so I'm going to check my gift card balance on amazon & order one. Sad that I hear from my former vet right away & don't hear from my current one for a week.
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Be sure to check the price of strips for the AlphaTrak meter while you are at Amazon. We got the same meter because the vet said to, and we couldn't keep affording the strips, especially to have enough on hand in case of needing to test more often. But if Houston is in remission you sure aren't going to have to test as often. Hooray!!
 
Mags920 said:
y vet back home replied & recommends I get an Alphatrak to get more accurate #'s
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You really don't need to spend that much money with the Alphatrax. A human meter is more than enough and the strips are much much more affordable, especially when you can go through so many in just a month. Were talking 100s. With the Alphatrak the strips are going to cost you around $1 per test, with a human meter (which most of us use) it's going to cost you around .18-.33cents per test.
 
I know the strips are expensive but all the vets keep saying that the AlphaTrak gives more accurate readings because it is calibrated for dogs & cats. My 1st reading w/the ReliOn at the er was 167 & the AlphaTrak read 255. That's a big difference. I earn amazon gift cards every so often & can use my credit card points towards purchases as well so I think I will go for it. I will feel better especially w/the lack of response I get from the vets around here. Will feel much better when I return to MA & get my previous vet back.
 
Hello. I use a human meter: Free Style Freedom Lite. I have tested my 3 non diabetic cats for comparison and they all registered in the 50's. This may help with choice of meters.
 
Mags920 said:
I know the strips are expensive but all the vets keep saying that the AlphaTrak gives more accurate readings because it is calibrated for dogs & cats. My 1st reading w/the ReliOn at the er was 167 & the AlphaTrak read 255. That's a big difference. I earn amazon gift cards every so often & can use my credit card points towards purchases as well so I think I will go for it. I will feel better especially w/the lack of response I get from the vets around here. Will feel much better when I return to MA & get my previous vet back.
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I like my alpha because I'm ocd about having the same readings as my vet. It is pricy though. But now that your cat is in remission it won't be that expensive as you won't be testing as often. A cat not in insulin can't hypo. No need to worry.
 
JanetNJ said:
I like my alpha because I'm ocd about having the same readings as my vet. It is pricy though. But now that your cat is in remission it won't be that expensive as you won't be testing as often. A cat not in insulin can't hypo. No need to worry.
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I feel the same about having the same readings as the vets do.
 
I like the Alpha Trak - even though the strips are more expensive I think it's totally worth it.
 
When my cat wasn't eating the canned food very well and was wandering around crying all the time, I figured he was hungry, so I started giving him a few Orijen freeze dried cat treats before each meal. I switched to the dog treats (Regional Red or Beef) when Pet Supplies Plus stopped carrying the cat treats... bigger pieces, but cheaper per ounce. Hunger/crying problem solved :joyful: He gets fed 9 Lives chicken pate in the morning, 9 Lives turkey pate in the afternoon, and 9 Lives liver/bacon pate at night, and he eats more of the canned food because of the treats. The cans are left out in between (free feeding), but he doesn't finish any of them. Sometimes he catches and eats a mouse, too :D

:otj: since September 2016 :joyful:
 
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Sophie was diagnosed August 2 and we've been using the Reli-on meter and strips from Wal-Mart. First check with the vet this week showed her glucose at 118 per the vet's equipment, 59 per the Reli-on meter (this was at her Prozinc peak insulin time 6 hours between shots). Vet was thrilled with the 118 and so was I. My only concern is that I have read here on this forum that the higher the glucose, the more out of whack the readings get. If I assume that lower readings are about 60 higher than the Reli-on meter actually reads, I can live with that, but I'd sure like to know how "off" the readings get when her glucose tests higher on the Reli-on meter. I'm also considering purchasing an Alpha Trak.
 
fourcatmom said:
Sophie was diagnosed August 2 and we've been using the Reli-on meter and strips from Wal-Mart. First check with the vet this week showed her glucose at 118 per the vet's equipment, 59 per the Reli-on meter (this was at her Prozinc peak insulin time 6 hours between shots). Vet was thrilled with the 118 and so was I. My only concern is that I have read here on this forum that the higher the glucose, the more out of whack the readings get. If I assume that lower readings are about 60 higher than the Reli-on meter actually reads, I can live with that, but I'd sure like to know how "off" the readings get when her glucose tests higher on the Reli-on meter. I'm also considering purchasing an Alpha Trak.
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On a human meter normal is 50-120 and on a pet meter it's 68-150. So both you and your vet got a reading in that range. It's not a set "60" off. At a human reading of 300 it might be 400+ on a pet meter. The numbers are closer at low levels and further apart at high numbers.

That said I personally like having the same readings as my vet with the Alphatrak, but be aware the strips are expensive.
 
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