Home testing numbers vs. vet numbers

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granadilla

granadilla

Member Since 2015
Hi everyone. I'm new to the site. :cat: My cat Marshmallow is in remission. I bought a human glucose meter so I can test her periodically and make sure she's not getting hyperglycemic again.

I did my first test today (with the Bayer Contour Next EZ meter if that's relevant). I used the control solution and tested it on myself before I tested her to make sure it was calibrated properly.

Marshmallow's bg was 83. That seems low to me. Is it? When she was at the vet last week for a glucose curve she tested between 115 to 163 for all 4 tests.

How do I convert the readings from a human glucose meter to match a vet's meter? Maybe 83 isn't actually low once it's converted to vet numbers. Thanks for any help!
 
You don't ever convert the numbers, you use feline-specific reference numbers for the human glucometer.
See my signature link Glucometer Notes for more details.
 
Thanks BJM, that link helps a lot!

Any idea how frequently I should test her to make sure she stays in remission? I was thinking maybe once a week if she continues to act normal.
 
Weekly is OK or any time you observe unusual behavior - lack of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, meat loafing, etc. Check my signature links Secondary Monitoring Tools for some non-invasive ways to monitor - they're things a vet may ask - appetite, thirst, urination, defecation, etc.
 
That in your link helped me too - did the math and saw 47 could still be normal based on the 1.2 to 0.8 of the score range. Wish I had seen that before I called the vet and got basically chewed out for even testing using a human meter. Would not have called her.
 
granadilla said:
Hi everyone. I'm new to the site. :cat: My cat Marshmallow is in remission. I bought a human glucose meter so I can test her periodically and make sure she's not getting hyperglycemic again.

I did my first test today (with the Bayer Contour Next EZ meter if that's relevant). I used the control solution and tested it on myself before I tested her to make sure it was calibrated properly.

Marshmallow's bg was 83. That seems low to me. Is it? When she was at the vet last week for a glucose curve she tested between 115 to 163 for all 4 tests.

How do I convert the readings from a human glucose meter to match a vet's meter? Maybe 83 isn't actually low once it's converted to vet numbers. Thanks for any help!
Click to expand...
Also remember that in addition to meter differences, cats can run higher at the vet due to stress.
 
BJM said:
You don't ever convert the numbers, you use feline-specific reference numbers for the human glucometer.
See my signature link Glucometer Notes for more details.
Click to expand...

My vet claims that she has found a lot of variety between human meters and cat readouts. She also claims that blood from the ear can result in lower BG levels than blood elsewhere. She said she thought it would be wise to calibrate the meter I am using with a lab. In her practice they actually use human meters and calibrate them and she claims some meter that starts with an A (I will find out the name) has been more accurate than the other brands she has used.

Now I am thinking that part of what we are looking at here are trends so it shouldn't matter if they are dead accurate or not and if they are low and the cat is not acting right or consistently high by our meter calling the vet would be part of what we'd do anyway; when they then would draw blood I could just see how close their meter and mine were... And $60 to get a glucose checked at a lab against my meter??? Really? It costs $20 less to get a T4 done or a blood panel (both things I have done recently with 2 of my cats). Sigh.
 
Hi @Cat Ma. I'm testing every other day to give her poor ears a break. The first couple of days I tried testing I was able to stab her ears but the blood got absorbed by the fur. I read that a thin coating of polysporin would help and it made a huge difference! But she doesn't like having her ears handled and I feel like I mangled them the first few days, poor thing. So unless the numbers go up too much, I'll stick with every other day.
 
I worry about my cat's "mangled" ears too but the more we poke, it actually creates more capillaries, thus making the ear easier to bleed. I test when my cat and I am relaxed.

Do you warm up your cat's ears? I use a damp wash cloth, microwave it briefly and put it in a ziplock bag, warm up the ear and then apply a tiny amount of polysporin. Yes, the polysporin does help make a difference.

BTW, my cat's OTJ for a week so I know how it feels! I probably could test every other day but get worried if I skip a day.
 
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I breathe on her ears to warm them up. I tried putting warm water in a pill bottle but she flattens her ears whenever I tried using the pill bottle or rubbing them. So I just breathe on them. It looks like her left ear is bruised or scabbed so I don't know if I was too aggressive on that ear... I'll stick to her other ear for now. :) Good luck with your kitty staying OTJ, Cat Ma!
 
Have you read my signature link Glucometer Notes?

ALL retail meters are allowed to read +/- 20% from what a lab would get
A test of 50 means the glucose is somewhere in the 40-60 range
A test of 100 means the glucose is somewhere in the 80-120 range

The higher the test, the wider the band where the true value lies. Once you get over about 300 mg/dL, all you really need to know is that the glucose is too high and you'll want to figure out what steps to take, such as a change in dose, or a change in diet, or maybe a change in insulin.

Noted international feline diabetes expert Dr Rand, of the University of Queensland has written or co-written a number of research articles where folks used human glucometers to effectively manage their cat's diabetes.
 
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