? Freestyle Libre Success?

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Violet&Pippin

Violet&Pippin

Member Since 2022
Hi everyone, Pippin's old testing data got corrupted in his glucometer. My partner and I have been considering swapping to the Libre to make both testing easier on Pippin and recording data easier on us. The vet said they have about a 50% success rate of just successfully attaching the meter. I feel like once it's on we'll be able to keep the Libre on easily, since Pippin is a pretty chill kitty, but the attachment success rate alone makes me nervous.
TLDR: Can anyone else let me know what their success rate with their vet attaching the Libre is, and if I should have my vet do it or myself?
 
My vet's success rate at attaching the Libre was 100%. She did seem to use a lot of adhesive. The rate of the Libre staying on for the full 14 days was about 75%. Many people attach the Libre themselves, and have a good success rate. I did not use it for that long, or else I would have tried my hand at doing it myself too.
 
I did not experience success with the Libre. I believe my vet attached it well so I would say the attachment was a success (I would not be comfortable or able to do it myself as they need to shave a spot to attach and my Herman is most certainly not what one would call "chill") but....successful attachment or not.... it drove Herman nuts. He HATED it. It made him very upset and he managed to rip it off after 4 days... That said - I have seen cats who don't seem to mind it all and I have had cats in the past who I can imagine it not bothering as much as it bothered my opinionated Herm! So it's a bit of a ECID thing and might be worth a shot for you! I wonder if the success rate your vet refer to is how many last and work the full 14 days and quality/accuracy of readings? When we had it applied it was when his numbers were VERY out of control so many of my reading were "Hi" or an error message so I had to test with ear prick anyway - so not a success in that respect either.
 
Violet&Pippin said:
Hi everyone, Pippin's old testing data got corrupted in his glucometer. My partner and I have been considering swapping to the Libre to make both testing easier on Pippin and recording data easier on us. The vet said they have about a 50% success rate of just successfully attaching the meter. I feel like once it's on we'll be able to keep the Libre on easily, since Pippin is a pretty chill kitty, but the attachment success rate alone makes me nervous.
TLDR: Can anyone else let me know what their success rate with their vet attaching the Libre is, and if I should have my vet do it or myself?
Click to expand...

I only had the Libre on my Pixie for a couple of weeks. Vet applied it as I knew she would not cooperate with me doing it solo. Her first one was on for 9 days but only operational for 7. Sensor failed (company sent me a replacement). 2nd was on for only 4 days and had to be removed when she took a down turn (not related to diabetes) and needed xray for her chest.
We were struggling to regulate Pixie's glucose (it was still high after 2+ months from diagnosis). I truly believe that in my situation the Libre was a great choice. In that first week the clear numbers (hourly) from the graphs that I sent to the vet helped ensure that we could adjust dosage 2 different times.
If you have more than one person and a cooperative pet, I think you can easily apply it yourself. I read up here and on a different specific Facebook group a lot of tips. First was to NOT use vetbond glue to help it stay on. They recommended skin tac which is a sticky wipe.
My vet had never applied before but said it was easy and I likely could do it myself.

If my Pixie was still here, I would use the Libre during stabilizing times and then for future sporadic spot checks. I would however go with the Libre 3 as it is much smaller (size of two pennies stacked on top of each other) and if you pair with a phone that can stay in the house with Pippin it will automatically send the bluetooth readings every 5 minutes without need for scans. You can then pair the program to your personal phone to get readings when you are away from home including alerts for too low glucose.

As I only worked with it for a limited time I am certainly not an expert. Just wanted to share what I could.
 
Thank you all so much for your insight and references, we really appreciate it so much! So grateful for this group.
 
This is from a new Clinicians Brief Article: https://www.cliniciansbrief.com/article/continuous-glucose-monitoring-cats
"Sensor application was generally straightforward; 19 out of 20 applications were successful. Sensors were well tolerated in 17 cats, whereas 3 cats removed the sensors within 48 hours. The median wearing period was 5.5 days, with no significant difference for sensors secured with additional tissue glue."
I have always gotten longer times. Also, I stopped using tissue glue since it does not seem to improve life and it messes u the skin when the sensor is removed. Join the FB already cited. If one fails prematurely and you call Abbott do NOT say it is for an animal. I just say I am a caretaker for a child. I just help someone attach one last Saturday.
 
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