? Glucose Meter and DKA

[kcat24]

Hi Everyone,
My kitty is recovering from DKA. I didn't have a problem prior to this instance (nearly 5 years diabetic, went into remission 2x) as I would always go to the vet's office for testing. Now, I really need to watch costs plus as I am reading this forum I realize I have made some mistakes as well as the vet. My Vet's office is saying I must buy a Accu-check meter to monitor my kitty at home. They say it must match their meter. I don't understand why? If a glucose meter is suppose to measure glucose then why can't I buy one that I want? I am confused and scared. Any advice or direction would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Pati]

Hello. Your vet probably wants to compare apples to apples in their mind. If they are unmoving on that then you have several choices. Get that meter. Or get that meter plus a "cheaper" meter and only use the Accu-check when you want to share the information with your vet. Or third choice, get the meter you want and have the experienced people on the forum help you with dosing decisions.

That said, check the cost of the Accu-check vs Relion strips and see if there is a difference. Also see what size blood drop the Accu-check requires. Smaller is better (.3).

 

[kcat24]

Thank you for your advice. I am curious about the spreadsheet. Looks helpful. Is there a place on this forum that I can get my own?

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

So sorry about the DKA, and glad that your kitty is recovering! And good for you for wanting to home test-- it really is the best way to keep your kitty safe, not only from DKA but also from hypoglycemia.

A lot of vets offices want you to use a meter that "matches" their own meters. Problem is, the meters they use often take very expensive supplies (test strips)-- I just checked the Accu-chek strips price, and sure enough they seem to run about $1 or more per strip . Maybe if you search more than I did you can find cheaper, but yikes!

As Pati says, one way to keep everyone happy is to have two meters-- one for everyday use for yourself (many here use Relion brand from Walmart-- cheap and convenient for strips), and one for occasional numbers to communicate with your vet. Keep in mind that the two meters will give very different numbers-- they won't be interchangeable-- but for the purposes of managing diabetes at home, you could do it with either (we'll give you tips and pointers for interpretation).

Spreadsheet instructions are here. Just holler if you need help setting it up!

 

[Yong & Maury GA]

I'm very new to testing but I am glad I started . Hope your kitty is making a good recovery from DKA as I have read it can be rough on them.

 

[Squeaky and KT (GA)]

There is a difference in using human meters and meters specifically for animals. To compensate for that, we use 2 different ranges for 'normal'. If you're using a human meter, the 'normal' range is 50-120, a pet meter is 68-140. It's kind of like reading the temp in celsius and fahrenheit - they're telling you the same thing, it's just a different scale.

Our preferred meter here at our house is the Relion brand, Micro model from Walmart. It takes a very small drop of blood, sips fast and strips aren't overly expensive. They do also have the 'Prime' model but that one takes a bigger blood drop and sips slow. Strips are cheaper but it's not a good 'beginner' model...

HUGS!