glucose monitors

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terri1962

terri1962

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Hello

I am new to the board and I would like to know what everyone is using to test their cat at home. What is the closet to the one they use at the vets office? The vet says they use one just for cats, is this true?
What can be bought at the store that can be used on the cat at home for the best reading. I know nothing about this and any help would be appreciated.

Terri
 
You can use any brand human glucose meter for testing your cat, even store brands. Do not let your vet try to talk you into "pet' glucose meter. Tests have shown that it is no more accurate than human meters.

If cost is a factor, consider using a store brand such as Walmart's Relion brand meters. I suggest either the Relion Confirm or Micro since they require less blood to test. Your ongoing cost will be for the strips. The strips for these meters run around $39 for 100. It is a great meter and I have been using it for years.

There are two problems with using the pet meter. First is cost, it is very expensive and the strips are expensive. Second is the only place you can get the strips is at your vet's office and they may not always have them in stock. With a human meter, especially name brand meters, you can find the strips in almost any pharmacy and this is important if you have an emergency going on.
 
terri1962 said:
Hello

I am new to the board and I would like to know what everyone is using to test their cat at home. What is the closet to the one they use at the vets office? The vet says they use one just for cats, is this true?
What can be bought at the store that can be used on the cat at home for the best reading. I know nothing about this and any help would be appreciated.

Terri
Click to expand...


Any Human blod gluocose meter works :smile: Some popular brands used by FDMB members are Relion (Wal Mart brand), AccuChek, One Touch, FreeStyle, and TrueTrack. Test strips are the expensive ongoing cost so many people use a meter that has relatively inexpensive test strips.

I really like the AccuChek Aviva as do many others here. It's cat-friendly, only needs a teeny drop of blood, and very easy to use. But test strips are pricey. Shop around online and at the local stores for the best price. People here have gotten new test strips from eBay or Craigslist for cheap.

Some vets do use a pet-specific meter, yes. However, you do not need to use it. The pet meters are expensive and you cannot buy test strips at a pharmacy. You'd have to buy the test strips from the vet or directly from the company. You may be able to find pet test strips online like on eBay. Some people here do use a pet meter for their own reasons and may keep a Human meter on hand as a back up.

I know there are people here who have tested a Human meter against the vet's pet meter on the same drop of blood and have gotten nearly identical numbers, allowing for up to a +/- 10% difference.

Hope this helps :smile: Feel free to start a new post with info about your diabetic cat and any questions you may have.
 
Hi Terri, and welcome to the board!

What you may not be aware of is that if your kitty is tested at the vet with their meter, the BG readings they get are most likely higher than normal. That is due to the stress to kitty by being there in the first place. Unless they have done a fructosamine test (which would give them a 2 week average of his/her blood glucose), they aren't getting "accurate" readings either.

What I did to set my mind at ease was to bring my Relion Micro to the vets office a couple times, and did side by side readings comparing my meter to theirs. My reading was roughly 25-30 points lower than theirs both times. At that time, Bob's BG was in the 400 range, so that "error" was well within the margin of error of either meter.

You can get any brand meter at a pharmacy or wal-mart and test your sugarcat at home, where he won't be stressed out, and you won't be broke from paying your vet for an expensive meter and strips. My meter cost $9, and my strips run $20 for 50 strips. I have read on the board that if you go to buy a meter, stay away from anything that has "True" in it's brand title. Not sure why, but I guess those meters are not that accurate.

Welcome again, and please ask anything you need to ask. People are always here, and I have yet to see a question where everyone said "Huh? I have no clue". There will be somebody around that knows the answer to your question.

Carl in SC
 
Also, if you are not a fan of WalMart, the ReliOn is actually just a labelled version of the Glucocard 01, made by Arkray USA. You can find them for sale on the web (thus bypassing WalMart) at places such as AmericanDiabetes Wholesale - Glucocard 01

From time to time, ADW has specials on the glucocard 01 - for example, buy 4 packages of strips and get 5th free, or buy more than $75 of product and get free shipping.

Sometimes there will be coupon codes around too - ADW550 may get you $5 off any $50 purchase at ADW , if it hasn't expired and you haven't used it before. Do a web search and a number of places may show coupon codes you could use for cutting costs.
 
I'm a big fan of the Arkray meter... we use the strips in a relion confirm meter we got at Walmart. I get cheap strips online, but I know I can run to a 24hr Walmart store in the middle of the night if I happen to run out. The other nice thing is that they also sell a 20 pack for $12, so if money is tight and you need a few strips to get you through to payday, you have a cheaper option.

If you are ordering supplies from ADW, link through Mr. Rebates and you will get 8% back on every purchase.
 
;-) Welcome Terri!
Glad you found this place...You can ask anything about anything and you will get help! I also use the w.mart relion and the drop of blood is soo small. I guess if you have read some of the post, you will need to get those ears warm before you poke! I played a game with my Sugar Bean, before we did the sticking part, I held the lancet to her ear, clicked it for her to get used to the noise, rubbed the ears, loved, special treats and special place to perform the pokey poke.
I really feel that helped get her and me ready for the actually testing....One of her little ears bleeds better than the other tho??? I have seen many post of other kitties and beans that go thru the same thing.
I realized just the other day, I shook out a strip for our testing, omg...only 1 strip left???? what a bad bad mommy.....off to walmart I went, purchased my next container and away I went... If that would have been on a Sunday and I could only get from the vet, I would have been in deeep dooo dooo!
Good luck and welcome again!
 
Could some body make it clear to me that for which purpose this glucose monitors are used,
My cat is over weight and i want to make her slim. Where should i contact to make her slim?
 
Colinee,

A glucose meter is use to check the blood sugar levels in diabetic cats, just like it is for human diabetics. It lets us know if our cat's blood sugar is high enough to safely give insulin to, as well as lets us monitor how well the insulin is working for our cat, thus allowing us to know if they are getting too much or not enough insulin.

If you cat is overweight, just like with humans, feed less. Start by slowly removing a tablespoon of food at a time. Most cats need about 15 calories per pound of their ideal body weight. Which for an average sized house cat (7-10lbs) works out to be about 1-1/2 cans (5.5 oz) of most commerical canned catfood. Also if you are feeding dry food, see if you can switch her over from dry to canned. Since not only is dry high in calories it is also high in carbs which will pack on the pounds. Also again just like with humans that need to lose weight, try to get her to exercise more. Interactive toys are great for this, get her to jump and leap at a dangling string or feather wand, or chase a laser pointer around the floor etc.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Colinee said:
Could some body make it clear to me that for which purpose this glucose monitors are used,
My cat is over weight and i want to make her slim. Where should i contact to make her slim?
Click to expand...

As already said, a bood glucose meter is used to check an monitor blood glucose levels in a diabetic, whether it be a Human diabetic or a pet diabetic.

For safe weight loss tips, see http://catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity If your cat won't readily eat canned food, there are diet transitions tips on another section of Catinfo.org

Colinee, do you have a diabetic cat? I see that you are a new member. This message board is mainly for people who have diabetic cats and want to learn more about managing the diabetes and get help from others. We'd love to get to know you and your diabetic cat :smile: Non-diabetic cat owners are certainly welcome here on FDMB :smile: There's a Community forum for non-health related cat and non-cat talk :smile:
 
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