Marshmellow AMPS 278/229 meter ?

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Marshmellow & Steve

Marshmellow & Steve

Member Since 2015
My vet is a little upset I am using the Relion micro (still comparing #'s with the suggested AT), she states that they are inaccurate, and that if I am insistent on using a human meter, I should use an Accucheck. Though she does not like the idea of me using a human meter. She is very good though, because she texts me daily to check on Marshy ever since she was hospitalized a month ago. I was checking the boards, is there an article/post on why everyone uses the human meters?
Also Marshmellow is steadily putting weight back on I realize I had her weight in wrong at 9#, was supposed to be 8#. Now she is 8.25 approximately. I just ordered a baby scale so I can be more accurate. I would like to see 9-10#, but I don't want her to gain too quickly. When she was DKA, was down to 6# from 12#, so I am very happy , she is acting so much more herself. Though she still thinks I am starving her the poor baby:cat:. Thank you all, you are wonderful people
 
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I don't know if there is specifically an article about why most of us use human meters, but I can say the main reasons are because they are WAY more cost effective that pet meters, and because we can easily get test strips in a pinch if we need to. Pet meters are great, but just way too expensive for most of us to use, and if we end up in a strip-emergency situation (late night, early morning, etc), it is virtually impossible to rectify, whereas with human meters, we can run to our local Walmart, drugstore, Target for strips as we need them.

It does sound like your vetty is still better than many - there are lots of vets who object to us home-testing at all!!
 
Thanks, she is very good. She just doesn't like me using the human meter, but as you stated, it is much more cost effective and easier to get. As I explained to her, .38 a strip vs 1.28 per strip is a lot!
 
I think some vets just get hung up on using the pet meter. The vet I was using at the time Furball was diagnosed recommened a human meter. You might put meter ? in your subject line and others may know why. It's great your vet is so supportive in other ways. I weigh Furball once a week on a baby scale. I started doing it once a day, but the little changes in ounces about drove me crazy. As long as she's close to the same weight, I don't worry.
 
With all the cats that go OTJ using human meters and remain safe through the process I wish there was a way to convert more vets. You might mention that. We test to keep them safe and not to get precise numbers. Maybe tell her that and that we know the BG will read about 30% higher on a pet meter. With the number of strips that I use and the cost of everything else Max gets I would feel like using a pet meter is throwing money down the drain. My vet had never used a Relion Micro but I brought it to his office and we tested side by side several times and then he was more than fine with it.
 
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Could your vet's objection possibly be related to the fact that the Relion brand is from Walmart? (reflecting a commonly held belief that Walmart = inexpensive and therefore "not good quality")??
If so, perhaps purchase an Arkray Glucocard 01 meter (or Arkray Glucocard 01 mini) from American Diabetes Wholesale (ADW). These meters are the same as the Relion Confirm and Relion Micro, respectively (Walmart puts its own--Relion--brand on the Arkray meters). But there is one, new, important difference: Arkray has just introduced a new strip for these meters: Arkray Glucocard 01 Sensor Plus strip. These new strips are a great improvement over the previous model (without "Plus" in the name) and Arkray "says" that they are only to be used in the two Arkray meters named above. Many of us purchased the older Sensor strips for our Walmart Relion meters because buying strips from ADW is even less expensive than buying them at Walmart. I am unsure whether the new Plus strips will work well with the Relion meters, and, some on the board have reported that Walmart's Relion strips for their Confirm and Micro meters have not changed.

Anyway, here is a link to ADW, where you can get a good deal on Glucocard 01 Sensor Plus strips (buy 4 boxes, get one free: 5 boxes--250 strips--for $69.99. You can also buy a testing kit package inexpensively. Here's a sample, but you can look for other packages on their website:
http://www.adwdiabetes.com/product/arkray-glucocard-01-blood-glucose-monitoring-kit_4044_53.htm

Good luck.

Ella & Rusty
 
Thanks, I am already using the Relion and comparing it to the Alphatrack the vet told me to get. I am happy with it, the vet will have to accept my choice. She is very good to me, and I am going to bring Marshy in and have her test the blood and compare to the micro.
 
There's a table somewhere from the Rand study on the TR protocol that explains the "scale" for the use of human meters in cats. Maybe seeing it in an official veterinary study will help your doctor understand? I'll try to track it down. My doctor's only concern was that the human meter readings aren't in her "language," so when we discuss them, which is rare at this point, I just give her the reading x 1.35 to give her an approximate "Alphatrak" reading so she's more clear about the state of Noodle's BG.

Edit: Here you go! There not the exact guidelines we use here in the TR protocol, but it's a published study using human meters, it helped my vet.
http://www.uq.edu.au/vetschool/content/ccah/diabetesinfo/link4.pdf
 
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Yes, since Arkray makes ALL the meters (and strips) and have converted to the new "Plus" strips, the new Confirm and Micro strips are coming out with the "Plus" too...As WalMart's stocks of the older strips is sold, I'm sure they'll all be converted over to the "Plus" strips

What I really like about the new strips is that they have a tiny "sipping point" that makes it really easy to know where to put the strip...and it "sucks up" the sample really fast too
 
Chris & China said:
Yes, since Arkray makes ALL the meters (and strips) and have converted to the new "Plus" strips, the new Confirm and Micro strips are coming out with the "Plus" too...As WalMart's stocks of the older strips is sold, I'm sure they'll all be converted over to the "Plus" strips

What I really like about the new strips is that they have a tiny "sipping point" that makes it really easy to know where to put the strip...and it "sucks up" the sample really fast too
Click to expand...

Can the new strips be used with the a relion? Of course I have about 1300 of the old ones so won't be buying any time soon. Just curious. You can get Relion strips cheaper even than ADW by auction on eBay if you get lucky.
 
I don't know why not...I'm using the Glucocard meter right now, but I'll try with the Relion next time I test.

Since Arkray makes both meters I don't know why the strips wouldn't be interchangeable though. The pictures of the new "Confirm plus" strips look like they're the exact same as the new Glucocard 01 Sensor Plus strips
 
I love the new Plus strips. I use the Arkray Glucocard 01 Mini most of the time and I find that the difference between the new Plus strips and the old strips is like night and day. I do have a Relion Micro, but haven't used it in years. I should get it out and see how it does with the new strips (testing on myself, not Rusty).
 
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