New member very confused, seeking advice

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Backyardtarpon

Member Since 2013
Hey All,
Im here just shaking my head and getting more confused as time goes by. Ive been looking up meters, on the spreadsheet titled CR BG Ratings, Ive been studying which are suitable for feline home testing. Is shows that the Relion Confirm and the Arkray Glucocard to be the best, BUT if I read the article from Consumers Report, it says that Accu-Check And FreeStyle are the best...IM SO CONFUSED! Help me, take pity on me....please ?

I wrote a post just a few days ago, and I pretty much know what I have to do first and foremost...
1) Get her off dry food and on a good wet food diet
2) change vets ASAP
3) start home testing

Im sure there a many other things that I need to do. Its been 7 weeks since she was diagnosed and I feel like Im doing everything wrong, like there are so many other things I could be doing to help her.

Ive got brand new meters here, unopened, sent to me by companies doing free sample stuff. 3 of them are Bayer Contour (1 USB), 2 are freestyle Lite, and 1 is Nova Maxx Plus. And I have a sinking feeling that not one of theses meters is doing me any good. I had all intentions of giving all but one away to whomever needed one, but again, are they any good?

I would appreciate any advice someone has to offer in regards to meters, Im all ears.

Thank you
 
Remember, the CR ratings on their website are for people, not cats. The info we have, has taken that data and added comments that show issues when used in cats.

People here have found that the Freestyle with the butterfly strips are not accurate for cats. Also, meters with True* in the name are not accurate for cats. The problem arises in higher numbers, over 300 I believe. You can get a false lower reading, when the actual Blood Glucose level is much higher, with these meters when used with cats. That is why the comments are on the spreadsheet of the BG meter readings being inacccurate for cats.

I think you will find there are people on this board who use the Bayer Contour models and perhaps the Nova Max. Pick the one with the lowest cost for test strips. That is where you will spend the money. It would not be unusual to go through 200 test strips in a month when starting out. 4x day * 31 days = 124. Hypo watch 20 strips. Weekly curve 6 * 4 = 24. Wasted strips due to error codes, too small blood drop, other reasons 10. Cat looks wonky so do an extra test 20 strips.

124 + 20 + 24 + 10 + 20 = 198 test strips per month
 
Thank you, I guess Im going to Walmart tomorrow and picking up the Relion. It will take all the guess work out of this. This vet has me all messed up. Is there a way to find out from a new vet if they are well versed in feline diagetes? I mean, are there questions I should be asking that would allow me to determine whether they know what they are doing or not? Unlike the current vet, who seems clueless.

Thank you again...
 
A few notes on meters:
1) They are not intended to be as exact as lab equipement, so no, they won't have the same values. In fact, when testing at low numbers, they generally read 30 points lower than a lab test. This is OK - we use reference values for cats identified using human glucometers.

Ex when on insulin, < 40 is HYPO territory; institute this Hypo protocol
normal cats range between 40 - 120.
Cats on insulin are very well regulated between 50-130, with the lowest number occurring at the nadir.
Glucose levels < 200 (or 240 or 270, depending on source of data) are below the renal threshold, the point where glucose starts spilling into the urine.

2) The FDA thinks reading within 20% or the true value is good enough for home monitoring of diabetes, so meters are allowed to read anywhere within that range and be sold. For a visual on that see this graph and the accompanying data on the 2nd page (you may need to shrink the page to see the tab for it). Notice how the higher the numbers, the wider the span where the true value would lie.

You can find your test number on the horizontal axis and go up to intersect both lines. Then go straight left to intersect the vertical axis to find the approximate lower and upper estimates around the test value. Or look at the 2nd page in the approximate test range and see the numeric upper and lower bounderies.
 
Most all vets, even "diabetes specialists" are limited in their information. They see maybe 10 to 20 diabetic cats a year, whereas we see at least that many newly diagnosed in a week. We live and breathe feline diabetes since we aren't focused on other animals, other species, or other diseases. Therefore, a "good vet" doesn't necessarily need to know about feline diabetes but should be open to learning more with you and is willing to empower you to do what is necessary to keep them safe.

In fact, for many of us here, our sugar kitties only go to the vet for regular check-ups and usually not anything diabetes-related. The last time Mikey was at the vet was for his one year check-up and the vet was like, "well, this was pointless because he's doing fantastic. But at least we have some data to reference back to for how he was at a year old." :lol:
 
Ok here is my take

-The relion confirm and micro and arkray brands are popular here because they are reliable and cheap. The relion prime is cheaper but it needs more blood so not ideal for newbies.

-Bayer contour and accucheck are also good but not as cheap, especially for strips.

- We have seen issues (including me) with the freestyle. I would not keep this.

I would go to Walmart and get a relion micro or confirm, and keep the bayer contour as a handy backup model. ESP if it came with free strips!!

. I would post the other two on the supplies closet as for those with limited funds, they are better than nothing. (Although I know nothing about the nova max)
 
The Nova Max can check blood ketones.
I would keep that one for situations of sustained high glucose over 300 + lack of appetite + illness, as that is a setup for diabetic ketoacidosis.
 
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