Human glucometers vs Pet glucometers

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Heather.Post

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I've heard that human glucometers read lower for cats than the pet glucometers. Does anyone have a sense as to how much lower they read? My cat was on insulin for 6 years. She was on vetsulin for 4.5 years and Lantus for 1.5 years [well regulated on both]. In March, her numbers started to drop and she has now been completely off anything for a month. I am testing her with a One Touch Ultra Mini glucometer. Her numbers are typically in the 90s to low 100s, although I have had one reading of 132 and several in the 80s. My vet said not to worry unless they reach 200. However, I'm not sure how much lower my glucometer is reading compared to the animal ones. I think I'm still just nervous after her needing insulin for so long. Thank you!
 
This thread has some really good info on the comparisons...

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=66746&hilit=alphatrak

ETA - My Alpha has always tested higher than my Relion, but that's not the case for everyone. Most of the folks here use human meters. The general rule is that the Alpha tests 30 points higher. I chose to use the Alpha because that's what my vet uses. I want to be able to keep Ruby out of the office as much as possible (she gets huge stress spikes when she goes in) so I wanted to have numbers from the same kind of meter.
 
In general, in the lower numbers, it's roughly a difference of about 30. In fact, the Lantus dosing protocol has a version for each type of meter. The main thing to understand is the difference on normal range between the two, which I believe is 50-120 on a human meter and 80-150 on a pet meter. A number in the 50's on a human meter is great news, on a pet meter, it's a dangerous hypo situation. That's really the most important thing to understand, and if you are using the Tight Regulation protocol for Lantus (and I know the OP is OTJ, but in general), you need to make sure that you are using the correct version for the meter you're using.
 
I'm very interested in this myself. I've been researching this a lot. But last week at the vet, I brought my ReliOn. It read 306 and the AlphaTrak read 290! I know that's completely anecdotal, and maybe just a one-time thing, but just thought I'd throw it out there.

My vet told me not to inject insulin when my human meter is below 150, so I'm just worrying about that number.
 
I find it really interesting that the general rule of thumb is that the Alpha will register higher than a human meter but for some of you, it will register lower.

When Ruby goes really low, usually under 80 on my Alpha, I tend to test with both meters. It can't hurt to have those numbers handy if you need to ask for help here.
 
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