Glucose Monitor, Which One?

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COFFEE_1966

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We have a Glucose Monitor for humans, but the Vet said it's not accurate for cats. I just wanted to hear from people on this forum which Glucose Monitor do you use, do you have one for cats or one for humans? And can you list the brand you use?
 
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greenpeach56 said:
We have a Glucose Monitor for humans, but the Vet said it's not accurate for cats. I just wanted to hear from people on this forum which Glucose Monitor do you use, do you have one for cats or one for humans? And can you list the brand you use?
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Hi Greenpeach56, Most of us in this Forum use ReliOn Premier monitor and strips, you may purchase at Walmart for $19.99 and the strips are $9.00 for 50 or $ 17.99 for 100, I always keep extras, this monitor works just perfect for cats, stay away from the Libre2 Monitor and sensors, this could be where your Vet may want you to use, I am not sure but it could be, that means visits to the Vet every 14 days to change the sensors and prescriptions, I really recommend the ReliOn Premier extreme accuracy, I started with the Libre2, and I personally almost had a breakdown, the sensors stopped working before the 1 days , Corky would remove it or it would fall off, and they do not read low Glucose accurately. It is your preference which monitor you feel comfortable using, I used my neighbor's monitor once when I realized I had ran out of batteries, she's diabetic, blood is blood and that is what the monitor reads.
I hope I was able to answer your concern, on the main Forum page, you will have different Forums you might want to read, here are some important links

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/health-links-faqs-about-feline-diabetes.
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-welcome-main-forum.28/4/
:bighug:;):cat::cat:
 
@CORKY thank you for your response. This diabetes is all new to my wife and I. We borrowed a Accuchek Guide Me glucose monitor. But we are struggling with pricking the cats ear. We have been successful a few times, but he has caught on to what we are doing and wont sit still as of lately. We tried earlier today to get a reading but failed. After we try a few times in a sitting and if we fail, we give it a break and try again later. We don't want the cat to associate this process as something bad so he should run and hide. I'm having much better success at doing the insulin injection, but realize we also need to get a daily Glucose reading since he was just diagnosed as diabetic.

What are you using for the Lancet? Do you use the Lancet by itself or do you use the ReliOn Lancet Tool?
 
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As Maria (that's Corky's caregiver) noted, many people here use the Walmart Relion meter. Any meter is fine. In the last few years, vets have been persuaded by the animal glucometer sales people to recommend pet specific meters. If you were to ask your vet what they used 15 years ago, they would probably tell you a human meter. The calibration on a pet meter is a bit different than a human meter but not so much to be problematic especially given the difference in cost for test strips. What makes this even more perplexing is that many vets suggest that you use a Freestyle Libre on your cat. These are continuous glucose monitors that stick to your cat's skin and you can get a reading on your phone. It doesn't require poking your cat. These are human glucose monitors. It makes no sense to tell you to get a pet specific meter and in the next breath tell you that you can use a Libre.

I always freehanded rather than use the lancing device. I felt like I had more control with the lancet in my hand.
 
greenpeach56 said:
@CORKY thank you for your response. This diabetes is all new to my wife and I. We borrowed a Accuchek Guide Me glucose monitor. But we are struggling with pricking the cats ear. We have been successful a few times, but he has caught on to what we are doing and wont sit still as of lately. We tried earlier today to get a reading but failed. After we try a few times in a sitting and if we fail, we give it a break and try again later. We don't want the cat to associate this process as something bad so he should run and hide. I'm having much better success at doing the insulin injection, but realize we also need to get a daily Glucose reading since he was just diagnosed as diabetic.

What are you using for the Lancet? Do you use the Lancet by itself or do you use the ReliOn Lancet Tool?
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Me too I have never been ill or had any illnesses, Corky got me by surprise, at first I almost had a nervous breakdown, my Vet refused to treat him or even see him because he did not know much about cat diabetes, most Vets do not, they know about dogs but not cats, if it wasn't for this Forum my Corky would not be here today and back to his health, asides, I financially, could've never been able to handle the inconsistences of Vets, and no knowledge what to do, raise/decrease insulin, Vet's testing not enough times, crazy, I learned here to take a step back and breath in and breath out, stick close to this Forum, personally, and I mean personally, have not taken Corky after his hospitalization January 2023 to a Vet, This Forum is complete, long time members, and experts, I follow their input to the letter
and answering your question about lancets, every monitor has their own strips, for ReliOn Premium/Premium strips, the lancets, I use the extra thin, I test Corky just before AMPS/PMPS this is the scenario; while he's lying on the sofa I always have in a piece of toilet paper 2 strips the and the lancet folded place the monitor in front of him I use a small flashlight I place in my mouth to see where I pinch and the blood, place the strip in the monitor while holding his head softly between the ears cuddle his body with mine, and pinch away, also take a small sock fill it with rice make a knot, to hold the tip of the ear for a precision pinch. you might want to give him a treat right after, he will associate. Be careful with any dry treat, too many carbs, I treat my kiddos, with Frick's Gourmet Ham 1% carb, you can use any whole ham less expensive as long as they are not hickory or sweet ham, the label should have 1-2 % carbs, below there is links to learn how to home test, no question or concern is small or stupid, so ask your heart out, before you know it, you'll amaze yourself:bighug::bighug:;):cat::cat:

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/health-links-faqs-about-feline-diabetes.14/
 
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Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
As Maria (that's Corky's caregiver) noted, many people here use the Walmart Relion meter. Any meter is fine. In the last few years, vets have been persuaded by the animal glucometer sales people to recommend pet specific meters. If you were to ask your vet what they used 15 years ago, they would probably tell you a human meter. The calibration on a pet meter is a bit different than a human meter but not so much to be problematic especially given the difference in cost for test strips. What makes this even more perplexing is that many vets suggest that you use a Freestyle Libre on your cat. These are continuous glucose monitors that stick to your cat's skin and you can get a reading on your phone. It doesn't require poking your cat. These are human glucose monitors. It makes no sense to tell you to get a pet specific meter and in the next breath tell you that you can use a Libre.

I always freehanded rather than use the lancing device. I felt like I had more control with the lancet in my hand.
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Thank you for your support, Sienne, I am trying to give back what was given so freely to my Corky, I only refer about concerns that are knowledgeable to me, and experiences I have learned from this Forum the rest I leave up to all you experts and refer them to you as experts
 
I have had 6 diabetic cats and used the Relion meters for all except my first one. I don't remember the brand for him, but my vet gave me the meter and also showed me how to test.

I am sure someone decided to rebrand a human meter and just changed the calibration scale so they could sell it for more as a "pet" meter.
 
Lisa and Witn (GA) said:
I have had 6 diabetic cats and used the Relion meters for all except my first one. I don't remember the brand for him, but my vet gave me the meter and also showed me how to test.

I am sure someone decided to rebrand a human meter and just changed the calibration scale so they could sell it for more as a "pet" meter.
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Love this:bighug::cat::cat:
 
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I tried the ReliOn compact from Wal-Mart and got nothing, but errors. I then got a Contour from CVS or Walgreens and it works fine almost every time. Not sure why the ReliOn would not work for me. It was very frustrating.
 
the libre can be a powerful tool if you are just starting out - it can also be extremely frustrating as Maria mentioned. It is not a guarantee that it will last the 14 days, it is not cheap (I was paying almost $50 per), and the vets will apply it by default using skin glue (which will tear up kitty's skin) but there are other options than skin glue and you can probably even apply it yourself without having to pay the vet another $50+ if you have someone to help you (check out this site here, they also have a facebook page https://360.articulate.com/review/content/2c3d778d-2d3c-4fc7-918a-d155f8538964/review ) and honestly the libre was amazing for me because it gives a continuous monitoring of BG, instead of only having snapshots in time with a normal meter, so you will always know exactly how low the dose is taking him.

I eventually got a ReliOn (because I am unemployed currently, and the price tag of the libre plus it being able to just quit on me whenever it wants was too much), but at the beginning, I never would have survived having to use it. It was stressful enough to get her to cooperate with the insulin shots, and then when she started dropping into the blues and greens (under 200) I would panic and I would have been pricking her ear constantly compared to how many times I scanned the libre. Definitely have the ReliOn (or other glucometer) as a backup/primary, but if it is too much all at once as you get started and you can afford the Libre, there are a lot of great tips in that link above to making sure it stays on and is not too annoying to kitty. The most important thing is knowing that he is safe when giving the insulin shots and throughout the cycle.

Another option is using the libre as you work to get him into the routine of ear pricks and shots and all that, just so you know he is safe (and definitely make sure he is getting a low-carb post-prick and post-shot treat! it took a little while, but after a couple of months, my girl started coming to me when I pulled out the insulin because she knew it meant more food).

It all can be wildly overwhelming at first, take it one day at a time, one shot and poke at a time, know that it WILL get easier once you and kitty get into the routine of it.
 
I thought I’d replied to this…maybe deleted for length?at any rate:. I have three meters I use, transitioning to 2. Initially I used the human Precision Xtra because I needed to check ketones and was minimally interested in glucose. Set up was super easy, compared to most human meters it was faster and used less blood. Glucose strips weren’t horribly expensive. Ketone strip cost took my breath away but it is what it is. Accuracy and precision were to FDA standards (IIRC 15% accuracy 15% precision…accuracy is essentially how it compares to a lab result on same sample, precision is how close results are on the meter when testing the same sample several times). Tech support was terrible. I ended up throwing away a full box of strips and a meter bc I got such a significant error but since control testing was ok there was no way to know what the cause was, and Abbott wouldn’t investigate because it was a cat that I’d tested.

when he switched from bexacat to insulin I got an alphatrak3 because glucose is stored differently in cells and fluids depending on the species. I understand that’s not standard practice in this boards and don’t argue with your reasons, I’m just stating mine. There are no conversion formulas for cat glucose on a human meter, and for the one week overlap I did with the meters there was no pattern other than the human meter read lower. But not a percentage lower. Sometimes it was just a few points off. Sometimes a lot, regardless of the value. Ymmv. As long as you’re using one meter I doubt it matters much but since I knew my cat’s tumor would make regulation difficult I tried to remove as many variables as possible. Rather than FDA Zoetis uses ISO standards (slightly more stringent, accuracy 15% unless under 100mg/dl then it’s +/- 15mg/dl, precision 10%). For someone like me getting high numbers with small drops, precision and accuracy helps me gauge if it’s really dropping or if it’s just variation in precision.

the Alphatrak 3 uses WAY LESS blood and is faster. Set up was a bit difficult because they left out a pretty crucial step in the quick guide but it’s in the full manual. Strips are expensive. The app is great except when it glitches (but it clears up everytime). Tech support is phenomenal. NB: by the time you buy a vial of strips and a bottle of test solution it’s almost as much as buying a kit that contains those plus the meter and some lancets. When it’s time for more test solution I’ll probably just buy another starter kit and have a meter as backup. Several sites have discounts on strips if buying multiple vials or a recurring order

I now have a centrivet monitor for ketones but I’m waiting on set up clarification from company about their chip. Set up looks like it will be similar to Alphatrak. Strips about the same, maybe less.
 
cajunflix said:
I tried the ReliOn compact from Wal-Mart and got nothing, but errors. I then got a Contour from CVS or Walgreens and it works fine almost every time. Not sure why the ReliOn would not work for me. It was very frustrating.
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From this rather old article I have a few theories as to why (and I am NOT saying the ReliOn is inaccurate…I know many here use it happily):
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5505415/

Some take always from the article for me:
1. Newer meters/newer generations of meters performed better, possibly due to a learning curve by the FDA and improved standards for approval plus improved industry innovations. Btw Contour did best of these they studied in 2016. Today results could be different. Also out of the ones tested they all met FDA standards but only two met ISO standards (which are more stringent).
2. How old the strips are/conditions stored (temp/humidity) matters. Perhaps strips were old or stored incorrectly at the store/warehouse.
3. The Relion appears to use the glucose oxidase enzyme system while the Contour uses the glucose dehydrogenase system. In the (admittedly old with small n ) study I linked the authors preferred the glucose dehydrogenase system.

as a side note, both the alphatrak3 and centrivet animal glucometers use the glucose dehydrogenase system but I don’t know if that’s for a particular reason related to testing feline blood or perhaps just what they decided to use. It can’t be that significant since so many people here use the Walmart meter.
 
We bought the ReliOn Premier CLASSIC Monitor and Strips from Walmart and have been very happy with it. Also at the time of this post our cat is no longer on insulin. He has not been on insulin in several weeks. We have gone to checking his glucose once a week and the numbers have been normal. We have concluded that a medication given to him by the Vet caused the spike in his glucose levels.
 
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