Human Glucose Meter on a cat?

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

catlover78205

Member Since 2010
Hello everyone. I was told by the feline diabetes website that a human Relion Micro meter would work to test my cats blood glucose level. So I went and bought one and my Vet now says that it wont work. And that I will have to buy a meter made for pets. But they are too expensive. Is anyone using a human meter on their cat? And how does it work. Please help. I cant afford to keep bringing my cat to the vet. :?:
 
yes, if you can imagine...the meter is reliable enough for humans but not for cats? hmmm.
we all use them, you did well.
 
again, a vet who is apparently in the dark or just chasing the $$$$
 
your vet is misinformed.

My cats-only vet uses a human glucometer in her practice. 99.9% of us here use human glucometers for our dear cats.

Pretty much the only people that use the "pet" meter were talked into it by their vet before they came here.

And because of the COST, most switch to human meters anyway.

My personal preference is for Maxima AST purchased online from http://www.hocks.com
(I don't shop at Walmart)
 
You don't need a different meter - you need a different vet!

Of course the meter works!

I can't get Relion here in Canada, but I sure would if I could as it's lots cheaper apparently.
I use the OneTouch monitors, but also have a Bayer Contour that I like alot.

Get a pet meter? Is that like getting a pet thermometer? LOL
 
What's up with these vets that tell people "don't home test" or "only use this product". Almost everyone here tests with human glucose meter. My vet showed me the one they use and said it only needs a small sample. But there are human meters that only need a small sample also. If you buy their meter, you will have to buy the strips from them....$$$$$$$$. The strips are where the money is. Go to Walmart and get a Relion.

Linda
Nutter and Boo's Mom
 
Abbot did a good job of selling their AT meter to vets! At least it enlightened some vets to home testing but also convinced them that only AT would work. $$$$$$..for Abbot and vets. Your Reli-On is just fine........as others have said, almost all of us use human meters.
 
I use the Relion meter all the time. I trust the numbers that I get. I wonder if your vet wants $$. My vet says the meter is just fine for checking Harley's BG.

Pattie
 
Gayle and Shadoe said:
....Get a pet meter? Is that like getting a pet thermometer? LOL
Click to expand...



lol!
sorry to giggle, but yes, it's true.
Any human meter is fine.
One of my vets used a human meter too. Just some vets still in the dark.
But soon - we may all change that right?!

Oh and I gotta add the meter review link - have a look where the Relion brand sits. Good meter.
Consumer Reports Meter Reviews

If you need help with home testing, check these links plus post here - lots of people to help you out with that.
Home Testing Links

.
 
I have been using the Relion meter for several years and on three diabetic cats. Seems to work for me.

Your vet is just trying to sell you and expensive meter that does the same thing as the Relion. I also believe that the Alpha Track is also made by Abbot and just repackaged version of their other meters.
 
I use the Relion Micro and love it.

The meter measures the amount of sugar in the blood. The little plastic meter doesn't know if the blood is human, feline, canine, ferret or monkey. It just measures the amount of sugar in the blood.

Good job getting the Relion.

Let us know when you start testing.

Welcome to the club.
 
It MAY have been true that human meters and strips didn't work for cats 10 years ago. But today's meters are good enough to test your cat. I use a Wavesense Presto, and have compared it to my vet's Alphatrak. The first number from the alphatrak that he got was 394, which seemed high since I was home testing. But he was barely able to scrape enough blood to get a test. So, I showed him the side of the ear lancing (he was using center of the ear on the inside), and I got enough blood for both of us to test. This time the Alphatrak got 203 and my meter got 205.

Now my meter's test strips have a little window past where the sample is taken, and as long as that window gets filled, then the reading I get seems to be accurate. I don't know if other meter's strips have this feature as well as this is the only one I've used.
 
Human meters will monitor our diabetics fine as it is mostly the trends that we are wanting to watch.
We must keep in mind though that they will show the readings in a lower range than they actually are.

As someone who used various human meters for years on my diabetic dog and in the beginning with my cat I must admit that once I switched to the Alpha Trak I saw more reliable and consistant readings.

Special calibration takes place within the Alpha Trak meter, calibrated to animal blood. This is why the Alpha Trak shows more reliable readings than when a human meter is used on a dog or cat.
The Alpha Trak meter is NOT made the same as a human meter.

Over the span of 6 years I have done many human to lab meter comparisons with some being up to 230 points difference.

The very best thing everyone should do no matter which meter is used is to do meter to lab comparisons in various ranges so you know just how 'off' the readings that you are seeing actually are to the lab values.
You can then develop a chart of sorts to know approx how many points to add to the readings you see so to be in a more 'true' bg range.

Here is a meter comparison that U C Davis did a few years ago. It is a study on diabetic dogs but it shows the percentage of variance that a human meter has over the Alpha Trak.

~quote~

ACVIM 2008 Abstract

Evaluation of Six Portable Blood Glucose Meters in Dogs.
T. Cohen, R. Nelson, P. Kass, E. Feldman
School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis


The purpose of this study was to evaluate six portable blood glucose meters (PBGMs) - AlphaTrak, OneTouch, Elite XL, AccuChek, Precision, Contour - for use in dogs. One hundred fifty-eight venous blood samples were asayed for glucose using all PBGMs in randomized order and by a reference hexokinase method. Results from the PBGMs and reference hexokinase method (HM) were compared.


HM blood glucose concentrations ranged from 41 to 639 mg/dl. There was excellent correlation between PBGMs and HM results (table). Results were consistently low for 4 PBGMs compared with HM results. High and low results were common with the AlphaTrak. The difference in results between PBGMs and HM increased as blood glucose concentrations increased. Difference in results between PBGM and HM were significantly (p<0.0001) less for the AlphaTrak and OneTouch and significantly (p<0.01) higher for the Contour compared with other PBGMs. Problems with correct identification of hypoglycemia (<70 mg/dl), normoglycemia (70-120 mg/dl), and hyperglycemia (>200 mg/dl) varied between PBGMs (table).


Percent Incorrect from Reference Range
AlphaTrak -- 18
OneTouch -- 21
EliteXL -- 45
AccuChek -- 45
Precision -- 49
Contour -- 73


Results of this study support use of the AlphaTrak and OneTouch glucose meters based on significantly closer results with HM.

~end of quote~
 
dozens of people here have done side by side comparisons with their "human" meters IN the vet's office with the vet's pet marketed meter and were within mere points of being the same numbers. "human" meters are perfectly fine as the thousands of people who have cycled thru fdmb can attest to.

the decision doesn't have to be pet vs. human meter. the decision is just treat the diabetic pet appropriately or not. appropriately involves home testing and however that is affordably done is acceptable. if one wants to use the alpha trak and can afford it, then so be it. if one can't afford the alpha trak or lives in BFE and can't get supplies for it easily, then using a "human" meter is perfectly fine too. either way is accurate, and appropriate :smile:
 
Cindy + Mousie said:
dozens of people here have done side by side comparisons with their "human" meters IN the vet's office with the vet's pet marketed meter and were within mere points of being the same numbers. "human" meters are perfectly fine as the thousands of people who have cycled thru fdmb can attest to.

the decision doesn't have to be pet vs. human meter. the decision is just treat the diabetic pet appropriately or not. appropriately involves home testing and however that is affordably done is acceptable. if one wants to use the alpha trak and can afford it, then so be it. if one can't afford the alpha trak or lives in BFE and can't get supplies for it easily, then using a "human" meter is perfectly fine too. either way is accurate, and appropriate :smile:
Click to expand...

You are absolutely right. Any sort of blood monitoring is so much better than none at all.

My point was not to say that human meters can not be used as I used them successfully for years but now see the difference once going to the Alpha Trak.
My point was that IF using a human meter it is important to know how 'off' that meter is within all ranges, from high, medium and low.
My dog uses NPH as well as Humalog, I must have the most precise and reliable monitor possible.
My cat is enjoying remission.

It is now being found that because the calibration for animal blood is within the meter and not the test strip that since Abbott manufacturers both the Freestyle Lite and the Alpha Trak meters the Freestyle Lite strips will work with the Alpha Trak meter.
This is what I do in order for this to be affordable for me as the ongoing cost is in the test strip.
Again, lab to my Alpha Trak with the Freestyle Lite strip concur.

Meter to lab comparison is much more reliable than meter to 'vet's' meter as with all hand held meters the percentage of variances can be 20% either direction.
With meter to lab you know that what you are comparing your meter to is right on without any variance on the part of the 'result' you are comparing to.

I've been a part of various canine and feline diabetic groups for many years, the topic of human verses animal validated meter will always be a controversial subject with each group favoring one over the other.
 
The distribution of glucose in blood is significantly different in humans, felines and canines as follows:

Species Glucose Concentration in
........................RBCs ...............Plasma
Human ---------------42% ------------------58%
Canine ---------------12.5% ---------------7.5%
Feline ----------------7% -------------------93%
(from AlphaTrac site)

That is why the pet meters have different feline and canine codes. When the vet sends out a blood sample for analysis, the chemical analysis is done with the liquid portion of the blood. The cellular portions (blood cells) are separated out before the chemical analysis.

Rob & Harley said:
I use the Relion Micro and love it.

The meter measures the amount of sugar in the blood. The little plastic meter doesn't know if the blood is human, feline, canine, ferret or monkey. It just measures the amount of sugar in the blood.

Good job getting the Relion.

Let us know when you start testing.

Welcome to the club.
Click to expand...
 
I do agree that the components of feline, canine, and human blood do differ. And I also agree that the Alpha Track is designed for cats, and for feline bgc testing. And if I could afford it, I'd probably use it.

However, that being said...I have used both of my meters at the same time in a side to side comparison at the vet's office. She was quite surprised to find that the differences were minimal - the OTU was within 15 points (lower) at two different test times, and the Nova Max was 10 points lower both times, too.

For me, I've been able to cut costs by using the Nova Max, buying the strips online (just paid $130 for 450 strips...quite the deal), and since I test often, that's where my costs mostly are -in the meter's test strips.

The most important part, though, is to actually use the meter and get enough data to make decisions about your cat, the food, and insulin efficacy. While my vet does agree that my meter is a good one, and understands the expense, and has stopped pushing for me to buy the feline specific one...she would rather see me use it. But since we've been able to see good results for both cats with the meter, she's all right with it, as long as I home test.

Best-
Michele
 
Very interesting discussion. I'm new to this and my cat is OTJ after only about three weeks. I'm confortable with using the Relion. I'm still testing once a day to see where he is and that's he's maintaining his good numbers.

However, that said, we know that ECID (every cat is different). I'd equate this situation to human Brand Name Drugs vs. Generic. Some people do great on generic but others need the brand name. Why? Because there can be a +/- 20% variation and still be approved by the FDA as equivalent to the brand name. I take three medications. 2 out of 3 work fine on the generic, but not so on the third one. I need the brand name and pay $50.00 a month for that.

If your cat needs very tight monitoring (slipping under your low point to shoot, for example), then maybe the feline meter would be worth the expense. But for cats who just need to be monitored for trends, I would think the human meters would work fine.

Just a newbie opinion.

Linda
Nutter and Boo's Mom
 
Excellent information, there IS a huge difference between blood samples from different species.
As you point out, this is why animal validated meters have different codes for a cat or dog.

Human meters are designed to measure human blood.


Thanks for sharing!


Larry and Kitties said:
The distribution of glucose in blood is significantly different in humans, felines and canines as follows:

Species Glucose Concentration in
........................RBCs ...............Plasma
Human ---------------42% ------------------58%
Canine ---------------12.5% ---------------7.5%
Feline ----------------7% -------------------93%
(from AlphaTrac site)

That is why the pet meters have different feline and canine codes. When the vet sends out a blood sample for analysis, the chemical analysis is done with the liquid portion of the blood. The cellular portions (blood cells) are separated out before the chemical analysis.

Rob & Harley said:
I use the Relion Micro and love it.

The meter measures the amount of sugar in the blood. The little plastic meter doesn't know if the blood is human, feline, canine, ferret or monkey. It just measures the amount of sugar in the blood.

Good job getting the Relion.

Let us know when you start testing.

Welcome to the club.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
well i would just say to the original OP, you opened an interesting conversation. :-D
if the human glucometers are accurate enough or not the fact remains that literally thousands of cats have come and gone (or come and stayed with us) and have done very well, most are regulated, a proud amount are now in remission and diet controlled.
it is almost exclusively a human gluc. used board and we seem to do extrodinarily well on that. and i don't think there is a count, if any of us, that have seen death by hypo when on this board with the exception of a brand newbie doing something completely scary and even then....we don't know them or much about the situation.
 
This is a good discussion. A few thoughts occur to me. It is pretty clear that the human meters do read differently than the pet meters. I have seen references to that many times on this board, and even in the protocol on the Lantus board. If you are using a pet meter, you need to make that clear when you post here, because most people use human meters and the ranges that are considered "good" are based on human meter readings. Does that mean that human meters are not accurate? No, I don't think so, I think it just means that we have adapted what we think of as good BG readings to what the human meters read instead of the readings that the pet meters get. For instance, for a pet meter, 70 is considered low, while we usually consider 40 low with a human meter. With high numbers, I think there is less of a concern that you have as much accuracy. Lower numbers are where the biggest concern about accuracy comes in. Human meters are working just fine for the vast majority of us, because we have adapted the range.

I take issue with the % accuracy comparison, because it is misleading. Just because the human meters don't read in the same range, that doesn't make them inaccurate. You just have to adapt the expected range. I would consider a meter Inaccurate if it doesn't consistently give the same (or close) reading on the same blood sample.

If you look at my signature, you will see that I use a Relion Confirm, which is considered to be an excellent meter for accuracy. I've checked mine for accuracy, with results within a few points. It works great for me! It's also one of the cheapest meters out there to use.

Phoebe_Rusty_Tiggy_Norton said:
Sounds like Jenny works for the Alpha Trak company.
Click to expand...
Hmmmmm....you think so? If she doesn't, she ought to be contacting them for a marketing job! ;-)
 
Interesting discussion. One way I think is a good way to see if your meter is fairly accurate is to test a civie cat (a.k.a. a healthy non-diabetic cat). For the sake of this discussion, I just tested my healthy two-year-old girl...And I got a 68! Pretty good number for a healthy cat. Yes, that number may not be purrfectly accurate, and it could vary somewhat more and less. But, I have to think it is a pretty good reading. I don't know all the science behind the differences in blood and meters. But, it just seems like meters are getting better and more accurate.

Last Spring Gump had full blood work done, and I was surprised how close the lab reading was to the numbers I had been getting for a while - and what I had gotten when I tested him just before the vet appointment. Gump had been pushing remission numbers for a while and I kept getting number in the low 100's (and sometimes mid 100's+). Well, the lab blood glucose number came back at 125. And he had been without any insulin for about 10 days +...So I feel my meter is generally accurate or in a fairly good range. At that time I was using the ReliOn. I have switched to a store brand meter made by WaveSense (it's the Kroger brand meter - prices are better and I like it more than the RO); both meters have almost always been within about 10 points of each other when I have compared. SeattleBrian has posted that his WaveSense Presto has tested within 2 points of the Alpha Trak.

There are probably meters that are more accurate than others. I had some weird reading when I used the FreeStyle when I first started, and you can get a bad batch of strips, too. But, all the people here and evidence points to many of the human meters being generally accurate - for trends, and just pretty accurate overall. Making a big deal about meters not being exact seems like it just gives vets another convoluted reason to dissuade people from hometesting.

BTW, Gump is now pretty much OTJ, after having been diagnosed nearly 4 years ago. :-D I used to post here a while ago, but haven't in a while.
 
Just to add - I checked my Accu-chek Aviva at the vets office the other day. Zoe had blood drawn and I tested a drop with the Accu-chek and it read 110. The vet sent Zoe's blood work out and the lab tested her BG at a 133. Which is exactly the difference my Vet told to be expect.....she said there will be a 20 point difference between yours and the lab. :mrgreen: I am happy with using a human glucometer.
 
Sherry, if you used a drop of blood from the sample drawn by the vet that is venous blood. The human meters are calibrated for capillary blood. There is a 3% or so difference in glucose reading between capillary and venous blood.
 
My Wavesense manual says it works with both whole blood and capillary. I have no idea how it knows the difference.
 
Phoebe_Rusty_Tiggy_Norton said:
Sounds like Jenny works for the Alpha Trak company.
Click to expand...

Ha Ha, I wish....more like I am just very passionate about the careful care that I must give my 2 diabetic pets and know what is the very best meter on the market and why.

If this were the case I would have been using the Alpha Trak the day my dog was dx with diabetes 6 1/2 years ago and not struggled through the first 4 years using a human meter.
Then not also when my cat was diagnosed.

It was only through needing to carefully dose with Humalog as well as NPH that I needed the very best, most accurate and reliable meter on the market which by very extensive and careful research was determined to be the Alpha Trak.

If I am spreading the word it is because of the facts, not just by my use of the meter but by countless others on many other forums that find this to be true.

I'm not needing everyone or anyone here to be in agreement with me but for those that are curious and are understanding the difference between human and animal validated meters to be enlightened.

I know that all human meters are NOT the same, some are much better with our pets for those that do want to use these for their means to monitor.

I've used both, I've done years of meter to lab comparisons...I know the Alpha Trak to be the best.
 
I've used the AlphaTrak and the iPet, both animal glucometers and a whole slew of human glucometers. They were all good. And, of course, what you really want is consistency in testing to follow trends.
I use only a human glucometer now on my dog. The test strips for the animal meters are inconvenient to obtain and very expensive. If they were cheaper and more available, I would certainly consider using one of the animal meters all the time. But, as you all know, diabetic care can really deflate your wallet and I feel that I can get consistent and reliable results for much cheaper using a human glucometer. I've never had a vet disagree with using a human glucometer.

_Rebecca
 
Just my 2cents worth:

This was posted earlier and apparently was taken from the Alpha Trak site:

Species Glucose Concentration in
........................RBCs ...............Plasma
Human ---------------42% ------------------58%
Canine ---------------12.5% ---------------7.5%
Feline ----------------7% -------------------93%
(from AlphaTrac site)

I think Alpha Trak is posting some self-serving information here. While those percentages MAY be true SOME of the time, there is no way they will ALWAYS be true for EVERY human/canine/feline ALL of the time. Too many things affect the red blood cells - such as anemia, sickness, disease, race and gender, even what people eat and drink. These variables are true for all mammals. And as well, you can take a sample of blood (whether capillary or veinous, your choice) from each of two different locations on the same person/animal at the same time, and I guarantee your numbers will be different - even using the same meter. The quantity of sugar in our blood varies from second to second, from location to location.

In addition, the meter is not measuring the RBCs, the plasma, the platelets, or anything else EXCEPT the glucose in the blood. So the percentages of those other "ingredients" are irrelevant - they have no impact on how much glucose is in the blood.

Choose ANY meter, but stick with that one meter. There is not one that's "right" or "wrong," they simply take a measurement of that animal/person, at that location, for that time, under those conditions (age of strip, age of meter, battery power in meter, what was on your hands when you touched the strip, etc. etc. etc.). The variables go on ad nauseum.

And the very BEST advice is --- TEST YOUR PET before dosing with insulin! :-D
 
The BG readings from your vet's/human doctor'd laboratory machines is based on only measuring the glucose in the liquid portion of the blood, not the RBC. that is why human meters are calibrated/adjusted to plasma values to allow comparison with your doctor's BG values. The hand-held mets use whole blood and how they measure the glucose can vary with the method used. Thus, the different distribution of glucose in the different specie's blood will have an effect of the hand held BG meter results.

You discussion the distribution of glucose is not really fixed is not relevant but does account for the poor accuracy of really no better than +/- 20%.

BouncersMom said:
Just my 2cents worth:

This was posted earlier and apparently was taken from the Alpha Trak site:

Species Glucose Concentration in
........................RBCs ...............Plasma
Human ---------------42% ------------------58%
Canine ---------------12.5% ---------------7.5%
Feline ----------------7% -------------------93%
(from AlphaTrac site)

I think Alpha Trak is posting some self-serving information here. While those percentages MAY be true SOME of the time, there is no way they will ALWAYS be true for EVERY human/canine/feline ALL of the time. Too many things affect the red blood cells - such as anemia, sickness, disease, race and gender, even what people eat and drink. These variables are true for all mammals. And as well, you can take a sample of blood (whether capillary or veinous, your choice) from each of two different locations on the same person/animal at the same time, and I guarantee your numbers will be different - even using the same meter. The quantity of sugar in our blood varies from second to second, from location to location.

In addition, the meter is not measuring the RBCs, the plasma, the platelets, or anything else EXCEPT the glucose in the blood. So the percentages of those other "ingredients" are irrelevant - they have no impact on how much glucose is in the blood.

Choose ANY meter, but stick with that one meter. There is not one that's "right" or "wrong," they simply take a measurement of that animal/person, at that location, for that time, under those conditions (age of strip, age of meter, battery power in meter, what was on your hands when you touched the strip, etc. etc. etc.). The variables go on ad nauseum.

And the very BEST advice is --- TEST YOUR PET before dosing with insulin! :-D
Click to expand...
 
I just called Relion and was flat out told none of their meters are calibrated or approved for cats.
Click to expand...
That is no doubt true, and probably every "human meter" company will tell you the same thing.
But they are good enough to manage feline diabetes, and nearly everyone here uses a human meter and not a "pet meter".
I'm just happy my Relion Micro worked well enough to get Bob off the juice.

Carl
 
RandNotAyn said:
I just called Relion and was flat out told none of their meters are calibrated or approved for cats.
Click to expand...


No Human blood glucose meter is approved for use in animals. But they can all be used "off label" for animals. There are many published veterinary studies done on the use of Human meters for pets. Human meters are a lot cheaper than a pet specific meter and test strips for most brands are widely available at any pharmacy and online.

To get help from the Human meter's customer service phone number, members here recommend referring to the cat as a "family member" if asked.
 
The statement "A meter can't tell the difference between human blood or animal blood" is wrong. As I keep pointing out, the distribution of glucose among the blood constituents if very different between cats, dogs and humans. When your vet sends in a blood sample for analysis, the blood chemistry is based on analyzing the plasma, not the whole blood (plasma plus the blood cell).
(In vertebrates, it is composed of blood cells suspended in a liquid called blood plasma.)
If you look at the the manual for human meters is says that the reading are plasma calibrated so the meter reading can be directly compared with lab tests.
 
I've used a 'One Touch ultra 2' on Bert for nearly 6 years. But he's having much lower BG numbers these days (since changing his food 5 weeks ago), and after reading this thread I'm seriously considering getting an Alphatrack for occasional use - to check Bert's numbers when they seem quite low according to the One Touch meter. But I couldn't afford to use an Alphatrack all the time. Bert has a lot of tests..... :roll:
 
Wow...I'm glad I found this forum. My 16 year old furry baby is diabetic. I bought the IPet meter but it only uses the Ipet strips. I've run out of strips but need to test my baby today so I'll be buying a human meter immediately to serve as a substitute until my strips arrive.
 
I use the AlphaTrak meter with Freestyle Lite strips. They're made by the same company and work perfectly. I cross checked the numbers twice a day for 2 weeks, always very close. The strips I buy from eBay, I pay about 50 bucks for 100 strips.
 
This discussion is really helpful. My vet gave me a Henry Schein vet gluco gauge, and test strips were supposed to be in today, but did not arrive. I'm kicking myself now for using up all the strips, counting on this shipment. The Henry Schein people say they cannot tell either me or my veterinarian who else in the area carries their products because of confidentiality. Java was low at 10 a.m., and is behaving normally so far, so as long as I don't give him insulin, I'm guessing he can get through the night okay. I don't know, maybe I should go get a human guage? All of my data has been from this one guage. Thoughts? Thanks.
 
Does anyone currently use the AlphaTrak 2 meter with Freestyle Lite strips? I'm just wondering if there will be a difference in the BG readings from using those compared to AT2 test strips only.
 
Lots of opinions, just wanted to say that before there were pet meters vet used human meters and there are places like where I live where we do not have pet meters, so both me and my vet we use human meters, on the bright side I think test strips are cheaper here for what I've seen

I think human meters are as accurate (all meters have a % of deviation) as pet ones and as long as people using human meters are aware of the difference and account for it ej. low being below 40 it should be ok
 
Since I have already spent the money buying a pet meter (AT2) when my furbaby was diagnosed 3 weeks ago, I just wanted to know if anyone uses the Freestyle Lite strips with an AT2 meter. After purchasing this meter I found out that the AT2 test strips are ridiculously expensive. I don't want to throw this meter away and spend more money buying a new meter.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top