New Member and not sure if this is normal

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Fuzzwuzz

Member Since 2023
Hello everyone!

My 18 yo male cat Magic was diagnosed with diabetes at the beginning of June this year after losing weight for about a month. He was put on ProZinc. I have been working with the vet in trying to find the right dose for Magic doing glucose curves with the FreeStyle Libre 2. He started on 1 unit twice a day, with 0.5 unit adjustments up to the 2.5 units he is on now.

Here's the question. Up until this point, the FreeStyle has mostly only given "Hi" readings (so above the max of 22.3 the FreeStyle can read). When doing the glucose curve, I do additional testing with a Contour Next One as I have the strips at home. I understand the Contour reads lower, and this was the case with my readings, but at least it showed some values and not just a sugar curve with only Hi readings. Magic started 2.5 units of Prozinc this past Friday. The FreeStyle finally started to show some actual numbers on Friday. Then Saturday the values were again mostly high. Yesterday we had a beautiful set of values over about 6 hours. Today again all values are high. Is it normal to have variability in blood glucose levels like this day to day. He's eating the same, I follow the same procedure with mixing and drawing up the insulin, and inject the same way. What's going on?

Seems like a great board. I look forward to learning from everyone here.
 
I’m not used to the libre so I’ll defer to others who are.

can I ask you if there’s any reason since you’re already home testing, which is great btw, to not just stick with a meter? I hear a lot of complaints here about how glitchy the libre can be.

prozinc is a great insulin for cats. Are you feeding low carb foods as well?
 
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He is on an early CKF food. He is also taking telmisartan for that. When they found they diabetes, his renal values were normal, so the vet didn't want to change his food at this point and potentially make those numbers worse again. The thought is diabetes first and then we will circle back and look at his food and kidney disease.

I'm using the glucometer for my own use just to see how thise numbers compare to the Libre. My vet said she wasn't aware of the accuracy of the Contour meter and that I would need to use the AlphaTrak for a cat. I'm going to keep using both to see what the variance is like. The vet strictly goes by the Libre for her determinations of dosages. She would use the AlphaTrak numbers if I had one, but since I don't at this point, my options were to have them do the curves at the office or have me do them at home with the Libre (cheaper and less stressful).
 
Does the vet realise that the Contour is a human meter like the libre?
The libre’s low BG (under 100) can be a bit inaccurate and it’s a good idea to test with a human meter to double check.
Don’t let the vet talk you into getting an alphatrak meter as it is far more expensive to run. The human meters are absolutely fine to use with cats. They just have a bit lower reading than the alphatrak meter. Until the pet meters came into being, all vets used human meters with no issues.
I would continue to do the curves at home. They will give far more accurate BGs than the ones at the vet office which will have stress added to them.
If you are testing before every dose, which you should for the safety of your kitty and then getting some tests in during the cycles so you can see how low the dose is taking Magic, you should not need to be doing curves as you have all the information before you to decide dosing.
I would recommend you set up a spreadsheet and start adding the data you have. We can help you with dosing and our dosing methods are based on the human meters.
 
As @Bron and Sheba (GA) says, I would like to be able to look at your spreadsheet to see how Magic evolves. I also corroborate that Libre usually gives lower numbers than normal when the numbers are less than 100, so if there is a hypoglycemia alarm, it is always better to check it with a manual meter. As for the high numbers, it doesn't usually fail too much, so it is reliable. Libre is very good to know the curve constantly without losing any value at any time, to shot insulin without danger and to regulate the dosage acordinly. At first Sharess showed "Hi" numbers for long periods of time, until we gradually adjusted them to her, but it took us months, so don't despair. You will see how Magic improves gradually :)
 
Bron took the words out of my mouth. The Libre is a human meter so it makes no sense the vet would object to a regular human meter that is not the Libre. But we see it here all the time. I’m starting to wonder if they get some sort of kickback from alphatrack!
 
Thanks for all the responses. I will definitely keep up with the human glucometer. I myself don't see the problem, especially as I can see a comparison of it vs the Libre. I'll start making a spreadsheet and attach to my profile. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to respond.
 
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