Home Testing

[lgunn23]

Our first Vet visit after Bears diagnosis was yesterday, I feel optimistic that I can do this. I asked about home testing, and the vet told me it really was up to me if I felt the need. She said that her diabetic patients are kind of split 50/50 in the fact that half home test, half don't. The only advice she gave me was do not use a human meter. She said that they do not give the proper readings for what cats need. I was a little surprised about her advice though, especially after reading about home testing on the site. Any advice or clarification on this comment?

 

[MalsGiGi]

Our first Vet visit after Bears diagnosis was yesterday, I feel optimistic that I can do this. I asked about home testing, and the vet told me it really was up to me if I felt the need. She said that her diabetic patients are kind of split 50/50 in the fact that half home test, half don't. The only advice she gave me was do not use a human meter. She said that they do not give the proper readings for what cats need. I was a little surprised about her advice though, especially after reading about home testing on the site. Any advice or clarification on this comment?

My vet told me the same thing, but after reading everything on here and considering that meters designed for pets have not been out near as long as human meters and those were the only choice for years, I went with the human one. He had said that the read high, usually 100 or more above an accurate reading. The pet meter is crazy expensive, so the human one was the only option for me. I look forward to following this thread.

 

[Jan Radar (GA)]

The problem with the pet specific meter is that the test strips are super expensive. Some people here use the pet meter to report to their vet and some just prefer the pet meter. When my cat was on Vetsulin and I was just starting out I used a pet meter. I decided to switch to the human meter recently and have been very happy about the switch. Not only is it cheaper but it doesn't need as much blood for the test to work. Another thing to consider is that most people here use human meters so the discussions and references here are according to a human meters numbers instead of the pet meter which does read higher. I read recently somewhere on this board that there is an article about a study that was done on the use of a human meter to test cat blood. Not sure if I can find it again. .. Maybe someone else can help find it??? You will need to use what you feel most comfortable with.

 

[Critter Mom]

He had said that the read high, usually 100 or more above an accurate reading.

Your vet got that completely wrong; human meters read lower than pet meters.


Mogs
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[MalsGiGi]

If that's the case, his is terribly high

 

[Jamye and Fred]

Puh-lease! The vet must be getting a kick back! The human meters are fine! I used Relion Prime (Wal Mart) primarily because it was cheap to purchase testing strips. It works great. I home tested Fred for 4 months , several times a day, plus a curve once a week or so, before he went in remission. He's been OTJ (off the juice) / in remission 7 months. I still test him once a month. If you haven't started already...theres tons of helpful info here, especially on the home page....and on Facebook.... oh and I highly recommend hi protein low carb canned food, such as Friskies pates or Fancy Feast classics. See the diet link on the home page. The cat is gorgeous! You can do this mama!

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

The only advice she gave me was do not use a human meter. She said that they do not give the proper readings for what cats need. I was a little surprised about her advice though, especially after reading about home testing on the site. Any advice or clarification on this comment?

Human meters read a bit lower than pet meters do, but they read consistently lower, so they are perfectly fine to use. You just adjust the ranges that you use to determine the dose, which is already done in most of the dosing guidelines. It's far more important that you own a meter where you can afford enough strips to test multiple times a day than your meter match exactly the one that your vet has. It is very important that you pick one meter and stick to it...using multiple meters will make your data confusing and problematic.

Bandit's been diabetic for 7 years, and I've always used a human meter (I think I bought the one we currently use in 2010). When he was diagnosed in 2009, my vet told me that a human meter was fine, and his current also vet has no problem with the human meter. We use Lantus, and all of the dosing guidelines are written for use with both human meters and pet meters.

 

[lgunn23]

Good to know. It sounded to me like a human meter worked just fine, and at this point it would be nice to save a little bit of money. Hopefully I can start home testing soon, it would be nice to know how he's doing other that just watching for signs.