? Need advice for what to do next

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He'll get over it even if he does have a stubborn streak. I did mess up his little ears last night. Lots of vein-hitting with boo-boos today.

Is the ReliOn Premier better than the Prime? I bought 200 strips and noticed that I'd have to buy Premier strips if I switch so I'm kind of reluctant, but maybe after I exhaust these strips I can switch if it's better. Very frustrating trying to get the strips pushed into the Prime right now.
 
I couldnt tell ya which is better. When Leo buys something he sticks with it like its made with glue. He's never complained though so...thats something. Yeah I would use out those strips then decide whether to switch or not.

I'm surprised you havent more responses from people that use the meter.
 
Thanks for keeping up with Oliver and me. I'm practicing on him this morning because he's sleeping. Using the bigger (28-gauge) lancets. I load the meter, activating it. Poke and if it quickly bleeds a lot I can hold the activated strip up to be bead of blood and get a reading. I just need to make sure I get a good drop on the first poke or it will time out quickly. I'm learning. ReliOn simply requires a different technique than the AlphaTrak2. Make it bleed, big and fast!

Good news: the vet office called back and I have a phone consultation November 3. I will tell her the following and see what she says.
  • Changed to wet, low carbohydrate (<5%) diet; eating 300-400 kcal/day (i.e., 3-4 three-oz. cans Fancy Feast)
  • Added exercise to his daily routine
  • Gained 1 pound over last month
  • Demeanor is much improved: no more hiding, grooming again, runs and jumps sometimes.
  • Still peeing too much, about 600 ml/day
  • No ketones (tested urine every day)
  • Vetsulin not lasting more than 1/2 cycle and over-all blood glucose levels not normalized
This morning's (10/31) BG Curve for 1.25 U Vetsulin/ReliOn is looking a lot like the 1.5 U Vetsulin/AlphaTrak on 10/26. Weird. Different insulin doses, different meters/scales. If Alpha gives higher #'s than ReliOn, then does that mean Oliver was better off at 1.5 U? He did finally get into BLUE on 1.5U.
 
Hey @Cat Caregiver! I am wondering how you measure Oliver's pee output in mL each day? I would like to do something similar for Dixie :cat:. I have been tracking her water intake since diagnosis and it has been really nice to see how the water intake trendline goes down as time goes on, but is seems like she still pees so much!
 
Originally I wanted to track water intake but I have another cat who likes to drink from the same water bowl. And switching over to wet food made tracking water intake seem not too accurate.

I use a Breeze litter box with the pee pad removed. Everyday at 8 p.m. I measure the urine for the last time and tally up all the totals for that day. I measure the urine when I pour it out, once in the morning and then again at 8 in the evening . I have never had the tray overflow with my pouring it out only twice a day.

I guess I'm lucky. Oliver took to the breeze box instantly. And the other cat never has even looked at it. I was running out of money paying for all of the scoopable litter without knowing that Oliver had diabetes. Now with the breeze litter box it's cost-free.

I use a homemade graduated cylinder measuring device. I'm too cheap to buy one haha! I drew the calibration lines myself using a medicine syringe.

The Breeze pellets last forever if you scoop out the wet ones into an old aluminum pie pan so they can dry better. If you leave the wet spot in the litter box it tends to get moldy.

Oliver recently had a bout of bad diarrhea. And actually the breeze box wasn't too bad with it.
 
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Also: He started with the box back in the end of September and I still haven't had to add any pellets, even tho I've had to throw out a bunch with diarrhea and what little stick to his poop everyday. Some people say they wash the pellets but I see no reason to do so as long as you scoop out the wet ones for a good drying before throwing them back in. They are designed to not absorb the urine and they don't. The little bit of wetness where he pees dries away cleanly as long as you scoop it out in a pan to dry.

I've had no problem with smell. The urine is so water-down because of the diabetes that I'm guessing that's maybe why I don't smell it.
 
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