Jax & Radar
Member Since 2023
I am Blessed to be able to adopt elders that have been surrendered or abandoned.
I adopted my first diabetic cat mid-August of 2023. I have cared for them before, and have a lot of experience in critter care.
Radar came to me weighing in at 16.5 pounds. He is a big cat, but he was fat. I immediately put him on a diet.
I had my vet do a complete exam with a senior wellness panel. Diabetes was his only problem.
I had him slowly lose weight from August to mid-November. I have a variety of fountains around the house as well as regular water bowls. Yes, he's starving but now down below 15 pounds.
The Freestyle Libre 3 Continuous Glucose Monitor is a pain in the neck but great for a snapshot. Radar hates it but I have learned to put a "walking vest" on him to cover it. He still gets it off but not for a few days.
The Libre 3 is a human device and they will tell you it's not for cats. Yeah, yeah. Expect the readings from the Libre 3 to be about 20 mg/dL lower than the AlphaTRAK. The Libre 3 is about the size of a US nickle. You can get these daily reports from it. I pay nearly $90 for two sensors and tax.
I would - if not at 3am - take an AlphaTRAK reading when the Libre 3 values were high or low. The Libre3 app will sound an alarm when the values were high or low, so it made it easy. The Libre 3 also allows you to add a note, such as feeding or behavior is out of normal. In my case, I would annotate the feedings and the AlphaTRAK reading.
As you can tell from Radar's expression, he is thrilled about blood tests. The AlphaTRAK is expensive - $87 for a start kit with 50 test strips, control solution, and lancet device +30 lancets. The test strips are not cheap, either. As I mentioned, I am blessed to have the means.
The Libra 3 at the start of this journey showed me I could reduce Radar's insulin. Now it is showing me I can stop insulin as Radar is in remission. $90 is cheaper than a vet visit. I am, of course, in constant communication with my vet. I will continue to spot-check.
Thanks for a site full of information. I really appreciate you.
Oh -- you'd better have a tight-fitting shirt or jacket or vest as it's easy for the cats to remove the Libre.
I adopted my first diabetic cat mid-August of 2023. I have cared for them before, and have a lot of experience in critter care.
Radar came to me weighing in at 16.5 pounds. He is a big cat, but he was fat. I immediately put him on a diet.
I had my vet do a complete exam with a senior wellness panel. Diabetes was his only problem.
I had him slowly lose weight from August to mid-November. I have a variety of fountains around the house as well as regular water bowls. Yes, he's starving but now down below 15 pounds.
The Freestyle Libre 3 Continuous Glucose Monitor is a pain in the neck but great for a snapshot. Radar hates it but I have learned to put a "walking vest" on him to cover it. He still gets it off but not for a few days.
The Libre 3 is a human device and they will tell you it's not for cats. Yeah, yeah. Expect the readings from the Libre 3 to be about 20 mg/dL lower than the AlphaTRAK. The Libre 3 is about the size of a US nickle. You can get these daily reports from it. I pay nearly $90 for two sensors and tax.
I would - if not at 3am - take an AlphaTRAK reading when the Libre 3 values were high or low. The Libre3 app will sound an alarm when the values were high or low, so it made it easy. The Libre 3 also allows you to add a note, such as feeding or behavior is out of normal. In my case, I would annotate the feedings and the AlphaTRAK reading.
As you can tell from Radar's expression, he is thrilled about blood tests. The AlphaTRAK is expensive - $87 for a start kit with 50 test strips, control solution, and lancet device +30 lancets. The test strips are not cheap, either. As I mentioned, I am blessed to have the means.
The Libra 3 at the start of this journey showed me I could reduce Radar's insulin. Now it is showing me I can stop insulin as Radar is in remission. $90 is cheaper than a vet visit. I am, of course, in constant communication with my vet. I will continue to spot-check.
Thanks for a site full of information. I really appreciate you.
Oh -- you'd better have a tight-fitting shirt or jacket or vest as it's easy for the cats to remove the Libre.
