glucose meter disturbing discovery

[BJM]

There is no standard conversion between meter readings. In various samples of data, the relationships have been either linear or curvilinear, and different for each person's sample (different meters, and/ or strip combos).

On a human meter, normal, not on insulin, the numbers we use here are from 40 - 120 mg/dL.
From a veterinary lab, normal, not on insulin numbers are from is 75 - 120 mg/dL, per the Merck Veterinary Manual online.

And once the cat's glucose is over the renal threshold which is roughly 280 mg/dL for cats (Merck Veterinary Manual as of 6/26/2016), on the average, some cats higher, some lower, the number is too high and it really doesn't matter what the value is.

 

[ellebane]

As manxcat419 says, don't worry about the technicalities here. A lot of us here use a ReliOn Confirm or Micro glucometer. I prefer the ReliOn Micro because it is the easiest for me to set up and use. They are available for under $15 plus their test strips for around $35, lowest price around, and you can get them at Walmart.

Diet is very important too, whether you are giving insulin or not. It's very important to slowly transition your cat off dry and high carb food to a low carb canned diet.
There's a lot of excellent information on doing this on the Home page (see Diet and Home Glucose testing under Education).

Also see BJM's link to Glucometer Notes above. It's an excellent guide to determining what level your cat's at when you home test. Yes, it's a lot of information to absorb and it's overwhelming at first but it does get easier.

My cat's been in remission after only being on insulin for a few weeks, thanks to home testing with the ReliOn glucometer, a change in diet and excellent guidance from members in this forum. Remission wouldn't have happened had I stuck to what the vet told me, like don't worry about home testing, and had I kept giving my cat insulin while her BG #'s were low and then normal.

I was freaking out in the beginning too. We have all been in your shoes. You're in the right place with this forum. It will get easier.

That's encouraging about the remission. That was my goal the minute I found out, but my vet was like, Oh, no, That's not very likely. Refused to show me how to home test, etc. His first test was over 400 and five days later , after switching to canned food and 2 units 2/day insulin it was FIFTY. wth? I had asked the first day if I could just changed his diet for a week and then test, but she convinced me otherwise. And wanted to sell me dry diabetes diet.

i have an appt with a new vet on Monday.

 

[ellebane]

There is no standard conversion between meter readings. In various samples of data, the relationships have been either linear or curvilinear, and different for each person's sample (different meters, and/ or strip combos).

On a human meter, normal, not on insulin, the numbers we use here are from 40 - 120 mg/dL.
From a veterinary lab, normal, not on insulin numbers are from is 75 - 120 mg/dL, per the Merck Veterinary Manual online.

And once the cat's glucose is over the renal threshold which is roughly 280 mg/dL for cats (Merck Veterinary Manual as of 6/26/2016), on the average, some cats higher, some lower, the number is too high and it really doesn't matter what the value is.

Okay, thanks. I hope to get the hang of this...

 

[Carol & Murphy (GA)]

I was thinking of switching to a human meter but after reading this thread I changed my mind

 

[Jill & Alex (GA)]

I look at the pet-specific meter vs meters calibrated for humans discussion very simply:

• If one wants to obtain BG results closest to a lab value, using a pet-specific meter is *probably* best for you.

• If one wants to treat kitty's diabetes using the methods which have proven to be successful on this site for many years, using a meter calibrated for humans is *probably* best for you. The methods used on the FDMB were created for use with human meters.

FWIW, just my 2 cents...

 

[Carol & Murphy (GA)]

Thanks Jill - the decision of whether or not to switch is causing me much anxiety - I'm clearly over-reacting but I can't quite get there yet

 

[BJM]

You could just get both meters. The Confirm or Confirm Micro at Walmart is pretty inexpensive to use. You might use that regularly.
Then, if you wanted to double check low numbers on the Confirm or provide a curve to the vet, you could use the AT.
All our reference documents, plus most of our spreadsheet templates, are set up for human meters.

 

[Carol & Murphy (GA)]

thanks BJ I have 6-8 unopened vials of AT2 and Freestyle lite strips so maybe I'll get a freestyle lite meter and compare
I know it will bother me to know that I am getting a value that is quite a bit lower than what his sugar actually is

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

Carol, after a few comparisons you will get used to the human meter numbers. I have been dual testing since last July and can usually predict roughly what the human meter will read after seeing the AT2 meter reading. While I have not done any analysis of the numbers yet, it appears to me that the AT2 meter picks up on rising BG faster than the human meter and that the human meter picks up on drops faster. This is nothing more than perception and speculation on my part but an interesting phenomenon I want to explore further.

 

[Carol & Murphy (GA)]

Thanks Linda I'll go out and get a freestyle lite meter tomorrow

 

[greenbean]

I brought my Relion meter to the vet to see how it compared to the vet's pet meter. He tested at 455 on the vet's glucometer. The glucose tested at 348 on my Relion meter.- So there was a difference of roughly 100 points between my Relion and the vet's meter.

 

[Carol & Murphy (GA)]

That sounds about standard By the way, I found out that AT2 strips work in freestyle lite meter (they seem to be the identical strip)

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

That's pretty normal for a difference.....especially when you remember that ALL meters are allowed to have a 20% variance from what you'd get in a lab, so that 455 could be as low as 364 and the 348 could be as high as 418

What's important to remember is we're looking for patterns and understanding the "scale" for your meter...too high is too high, whether it's on a human meter or the AlphaTrak

As the numbers get higher, there's going to be more difference between the two numbers, but at lower numbers, they'll be much closer together (and that's where it really counts)

 

[jayla-n-Drevon]

OMG. I am new, and this baffles my mind! I was going to try diet, as Rusty isn't showing any signs of his illness yet. But a few of you have been so good to me, that I decided to go the insulin route.
But NOW, this is totally freaking me out! I haven't had my appt yet, for the educating of injections, which insulin, BG home testing, etc., and now I don't know if I want to! This is unreal. WTF?!!

I wish we had started insulin sooner. We tried diet first and I really believe out chance of remission has been affected by waiting.
Many cats have gone into remission using all kinds of meters.
This is just a heathy discussion

 

[BJM]

So there was a difference of roughly 100 points between my Relion and the vet's meter.

That is unlikely to be true for all ranges of glucose values. See my signature link Human Glucometer and Veterinary Lab Reference Numbers and Notes to understand more about the ranges.