HELP - can testing errors cause low numbers?

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Wendy&Neko

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I just got a new ReliOn meter yesterday to replace the suspect Freestyle so I've had less than 30 hours with the new meter. I did a mini curve today to try to get an idea of what the real numbers are. Everything was higher that the Freestyle as I expected after reading posts here. I also tested side by side on the same blood sample this morning and what was 24.6 on the Reli-On was 16.2 on the Freestyle. Since Neko had been aggressively hungry (her only clinical sign) and the numbers were high, I think we were still low on dosage and increased from 2.25 to 2.5 this morning. However, PMPS was a 2.5 (45 US) which caused a panic. I did feed her dinner (raw, about 2/3) and a couple of treats - Meditreats that have some rice in them. A test 1/2 hour after the first test and 20 minutes after dinner shows 20.1 (362). I gave her 2.25 units of insulin after that test, so just 15 minutes late.

I've had a couple of unexpected low numbers before even with the Freestyle and wonder if it's something I'm doing. I have been putting either Vaseline or Polysporin Heal Fast formula (also jell like) on her ears before hand to try to well up the blood. Could this dilute the blood and give a low reading? Little miss Neko has nice long fuzzy haired ears so I have to so something or the blood disappears. She also isn't the calmest kitty for blood test before dinner time so retesting is a bit of a wrestling match.

Any other ideas of what else could cause these wild fluctuations in numbers? I'm grateful for any advice at this point.
 
Hi -

I have a ReliOn meter as well, mine is the dark blue Ultima. I'm pet-sitting for someone with a ReliOn Confirm.

Today I had one of those tests where I started sipping the blood, Grayson shook, and suddenly I was left without enough blood. I quickly poked and sipped up enough for the meter to "sing", but on a couple of previous occasions when this happened, I questioned the accuracy of the reading. This was preshot time, his reading #1 was 119 - which I haven't been anywhere near lately. I took test #2, which showed 412 (more of what I was expecting to see). So, while I have the other meter here, I decided to see what it said. #3 on the Confirm registered 443.

The only time I've noticed these funky results seems to be when I've had to "double dip" for blood. Not sure if anyone else has had this issue. I'm actually toying with picking up another meter for when I don't have access to someone elses.

And, although Grayson is a short-haired boy, he's got long hairs INSIDE his ear. I've trimmed them back some so they don't mess w/ my efforts to get adequate blood.

I'll be looking forward to seeing other responses, since I've had a few of these low-reading incidents.
 
My new meter is the ReliOn Confirm.

And yes, I think I had to "double-dip" on this one. For some reason this time was a tough one to get blood and I had another poke that got an meter error message meaning too little blood. Sigh, I wish meter developers could put an image or short message saying "low" instead of E-7 or whatever that made me have to run for the user manual before I had a result.

I never had to double dip with the Freestyle. It was really great at sipping up the blood so it's reason for being low was something else.
 
Yes, a test with too little, or too much blood can cause a wonky reading. If you leave strips out of the bottle or the bottle open, it can also cause bad readings if too much humidity gets to the strips.

If I get a reading that looks like it just doesn't belong in Mikey's normal patterns, I wait 3-5 minutes for the meter to reset and yest again. If that one is more what I was expecting, I do a third one to confirm; if it is within 20% of the first reading, I figure it's one of those times when Mikey is doing whatever the heck he wants and to heck with his usual patterns!
 
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