Intro and BG monitor question

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Ezzie

Member Since 2014
My name is Samantha, my 14 year old torti, Ezmerelda just got diagnosed last week. She is on 2u ProZinc BID. I borrowed an Alpha Trax 2 from the vet and just purchased a ReliOn Confirm.

I took a pre-injection reading and the AT said 482 while the ReliOn said 382. I know the end result is the same, but I was surprised at such a variance. I think it will be hard to monitor if results are that different. DO I need a different monitor?
 
Nope.

We suggest using an inexpensive human glucometer with pet-specific reference numbers. One many of us use is the WalMart Relion Confirm, or Confirm Micro, which is also sold at American Diabetes Wholesale as as the Arkray USA Glucocard 01 or 01 Mini (same manufacturer - Arkray USA). It uses a tiny blood droplet and the cost is significantly lower for test strips (like $0.36 each).

Comparing a human glucometer to a pet-specific glucometer is like reading temperature in Celsius vs Fahrenheit. Both are correct. You just need to know the reference ranges to interpret what the numbers mean.

[Glucose reference ranges are unsubstantiated and have been removed by Moderator]


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Examples of using the chart:

Ex. You are a new insulin user and you test your cat before giving insulin. The test is 300. It probably is safe to give insulin.

Ex. You are an established user of Lantus, following the Tight Regulation protocol. You've tested around +5 to +7 to spot the nadir. It is 200 mg/dL. You probably need to increase the dose, following the instructions for the protocol.

Ex. Your cat is acting funny. The eyes are a bit dilated. You are concerned and test the glucose. The number is 35 mg/dL. ACK! The cat may be in a hypoglycemic state. You quickly follow the HYPO protocol linked in the glucose reference values chart. (which we really, really, suggest you print out and post on your refrigerator.)
 
Thanks!

I am hopeful she will easy to regulate, but must admit those high numbers are scary!
 
Welcome Samantha and Ezzie,

How wonderful you are hometesting! Have you seen the general protocol we use for ProZinc?

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=109077

As you see, the mid cycle or nadir number (5-7 hours after the shot) is important also. It will tell you how low the insulin is taking Ezzie.

So, good insulin, hometesting - fantastic. The other important part is diet. What is Ezzie eating? Have you seen this website on diet by a vet: www.catinfo.org. We suggest wet low carb food, in the 8-10% carb range.
 
I have read it and plan to get a better curve when I am home all day. Her nadir yesterday was 289 and 235 the day before that. We are a multi cat free fed household, so currently everyone is EVO dry and Ezzie is being offered wet food, but is resisting it, as she has the previous occasions I tried to transition to wet food.
 
The Evo numbers went up to around 17% due to a change in forumula.

Other lower carb options include:
Young Again 0 Carb (actually 5% calories from carbohydrates as we calculate it)
Stella and Chewey's freeze dried
 
Hi and welcome. My cat was diagnosed 11/15/13. He really likes Stella & Chewy's but only gets it on top of his canned food. I just got a sample of Young Again and he likes it. I prefer that he eats canned food to stay well hydrated so the Young Again is given as a treat after ear pricks.
 
Hi Samantha and extra sweet girl Ezmerelda (Ezzie) and welcome to the message board!

I love torti's and hope you can get a picture of Ezzie up for us to see. Directions here. The 3rd reply down has step by step instructions on shrinking a picture down to avatar size and getting it linked into your user control panel.

I started using an Alphatrak 2 when I first started fostering Wink. The strips are really expensive and I wanted to test more, so I went out and bought a Relion Confirm. Yes, the numbers read differently between a pet specific and human glucometer, but BJM gave you those BG ranges for interpretation. After all, high is high and you still want to give Ezzie insulin at those high numbers, be it from a pet or human meter.

I did parallel testing for a couple of weeks with the 2 meters. You can look at Wink's SS (spreadsheet) by clicking on my signature on the Wink's SS words. Go to the 2013 SS at the beginning to see the differences I got. I did switch to the Relion Confirm and never looked back. It takes the same nice small 3 microliter blood drop as the Alphatrak but best of all, the strips are one third of the price for the Confirm.
 
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