Libre sensors

nancydenison

nancydenison

Member Since 2025
I have been using the Libre sensors off and on for a few months now and like the app to help me see Boney James' cycles. The other day he registered high all night which was odd, but the shot was administered by my nurse friend. there was no movement which leads me to believe she must have "missed". So when it came time to give him his morning shot, I gave him his standard 4 units of Prozinc. I watched during the day and it fell all the way to 53, which scared me, so I gave him a little honey and it went back up to 69-70. It went down again and so I gave him a little more honey. Then he leveled out and stayed in the "normalish" range all day. By the time the night time shot came due, his numbers were in the low normal range. I was not inclined to give him the full dose so I gave him 2 units instead of 4. The next morning (Monday) it was low normal, too close to the bottom line and I felt it was not smart to give him any shot. The Libre sensor was meant to end by noon that day. I had a vet's appointment to install another Libre sensor and to take a glucose test there. They took the test and it was high, over 425. I asked if they felt that the Libre sensors were trust worthy and they said they generally very good but that maybe it was loosing its effectiveness near the end of the term. They also said, going to the vets and all that activity, getting a new Libre can make there glucose rise. His numbers prior to the vet visit that morning, per the Libre sensor were in the 150+ range. Has anyone noticed this big of a swing? I was hoping it was a sign of heading toward remission and reduction of insulin. He is on strictly wet cat food, high protein, high fat and 1 to 2% carbohydrates (Tiki and Smalls, and beef and liver pate from Purina). I have seen the big swings from High 400+/- down as low as 53 in the same day. The big swings have occurred a total of 4 days. This morning (7:30 am) 375, (11:30 am) 70.
Any insight is appreciated.
 
Hello there. I am sorry for the delay in replying. How are things going? I can’t advise on the dose without being able to see a spreadsheet showing his preshot numbers and nadirs.

Are you able to test his blood glucose with a handheld meter? The Libre sensors can be handy, but they will give you false low readings when the cat is in the lower numbers. This can be very alarming. This is why we always recommend that you have a way of checking the Libre numbers with a handheld meter when you see the Libre os reading very low. Let me show you some comparisons of the Libre and a handheld meter.
 
Take a look at Buster’s spreadsheet. Buster’s mom used a Libre for a long time, but she has a handheld meter to check the Libre low numbers. See how the Libre reads way lower than the actual blood glucose when the numbers are low. I have circled some examples, but her spreadsheet is full of them.
1763775107197.jpeg
 
Notice how the Libre tracks a lot closer when the numbers are in the 100s but when below 100 it starts to read a lot lower.
Here’s another one— Libre 53/ handheld meter 114.
1763775404642.jpeg
 
With regard to steep drops in BG, are you feeding some small meals of about a tablespoon or two of food at +2 and +4? Are you seeing a drop at +2 (two hours after the shot?) ProZinc will onset at about +2 in most cats and it’s very beneficial to feed a snack of low carb wet food at +2 and +4 to help stabilize BG and let the drop proceed more smoothly. Steep drops of over 100 in an hour, for example, can cause bouncing where you will see a period of sustained high numbers (it can last as long as six cycles but it may also be a shorter period— every cat is different.)

So if you’re seeing high numbers that persist it doesn’t necessarily mean that you should increase the dose. It’s important to know the nadirs.
 
I could be a lot more helpful if you had a spreadsheet and I could really see what’s been happening, but hopefully some of this is still helpful to you.

Again, sorry for the delay in responding. It’s been a crazy week and I am trying to catch up some tonight.
 
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