New to glucometers, not so new to the FD :)

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3Cats_1Studio

3Cats_1Studio

Member Since 2013
Hello FDMB! - I have a couple questions!

This morning I was doing an inventory of all of our kitty wares, and noticed Lance's Lantus is technically "expired" (The exp. Date is listed as 10/2012). The vial has been open since mid September of 2012. Lance gets such a small dosage that our vials can last for a very, very long time. He has been on "one unit" of Lantus since June 2009.
My question is, is this Lantus still safe to continue to give? - The fluid is still clear, no particulates or floaties. It has been kept in the back of the cat room fridge in a padded container since it came home.

My second question is;
I would like to start using a glucometer, and am pretty lost on how or where to start. Could someone give me a crash course, or provide me with links on how to start with BG testing?

My vet informed me in 2009 after horrific 5 days vet stay that Lance may never go into remission. Visit after visit, he has remained on one measly unit twice per day. I have not noticed any changes myself with him. He eats well, drinks well, uses his litter box without any worry (everything looks normal).
I guess my main interest and concern is providing him with optimum care. And now that my personal business is well on its way, we are no longer moving every 8 months, and I am working from home always - I want more than anything to learn how to use the gluecometer. I am both scared and excited at the prospect of doing this for Lance. But I feel like in the end, this will help put to rest a LOT of my "worst fears".

Any links or info are greatly appreciated. I have checked out the posting on "how to create a BG spreadsheet", and will be creating one as soon as I understand how to use the glucometer.
 
Glad you are going to start testing at home. No guarantees, but he is much more likely to get regulated or go into remission if you are able to monitor his numbers carefully and make adjustments as needed.

Here is a shopping list:
A human glucometer. Any one that sips and takes a tiny sample is fine. Some members stay away from any meter with True in the name and the Freestyle meters. Some people think they are unreliable and read lower than other meters. The meters are often free at drug stores; it’s the strips that are expensive. You can, however, buy them on ebay at less than half the price of stores. Lots of people here also like the ReliOn from Walmart. It is an inexpensive meter and its strips are the cheapest around. Try the meter out on yourself or someone else before you try it on your cat. You want to be familiar with it before you poke the cat.

Lancets and a lancet device. Usually, until the ears “learn” to bleed, a 26-28 gauge is good. Any brand will work as long as the lancets match your device.

Ketone strips. (Ketostix) Just like human diabetics use. You will sometimes need to test urine if the numbers are high.

Rice sack. Make this out of thinnish sock, filled with raw rice or oatmeal and then knotted. You heat this in the microwave until very warm but not hot. Then heat the ears before poking. You can also use a prescription bottle filled with very warm water. It provides a good surface to poke against.

Also nice to have. Flashlight: so you can look at the ears and find the little capillaries that come off the vein running down the ear. Vaseline: Put a tiny smear where you want to poke. It will help the blood bead up.

And some lo carb treats to give your kitty, successful test or not Lo carb treats

And how to get started:
First pick a place where you want to test. Some people use the kitchen counter, a blanket on the floor, between your legs while sitting – whatever works for you. Take the kitty there and give him/her lots of praise while you play with his/her ears. Give a treat and release. Next time, add the rice sack (thin sock filled with raw rice, heated in the microwave until very warm but not hot) or a prescription pill bottle filled with very warm water. Lots of praise, treat and release. Finally add the lancet so he/she will get used to the noise. The hope is that when you finally poke, they will be used to the process and know a treat is coming!

If you go over to the Lantus forum: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewforum.php?f=9

and look at the starred topics below the grey line, it gives you great information about how to dose, what the numbers mean, etc.
 
First Yep the insulin is fine to give as long as it is still clear with no floaties many of us use it up to 6 months.

Now for home testing...CONGRATS for wanting to start, and yes it will be the best thing in the world to take charge of Lance's diabetes, and may even help you get him into remission because you will be able to decide if he needs more or less insulin at home based on his numbers and a little help from us on what they mean.

There are lots and lots of videos and hints and tips here on how to test at home http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287 Of course the first thing you are going to need is a glucometer and the test strips to fit it, many of us use Walmart's housebrand meter the Relion...I personally have the Relion Micro and love it. The meter is about $16 and the strips are about $20 for 50 strips.

The other question many of us are going to ask is what is Lance's current diet?

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
Mel, just saw this info below the poster's sig:

"We eat: EVO 95% Venison, EVO 95% Beef, Wellness Core Turkey. Canned ONLY."

I know nowt about this food cos I'm in the UK....
 
Hello 'caregiver of Lance' (sorry, don't know your name yet!), and welcome to FDMB!

Your post really warmed my heart. I am thrilled that you want to learn to hometest. I was a very reluctant hometester intially :oops: , but once I started doing it I found that the difference between 'not testing' and 'testing' was like the difference between night and day in terms of understanding my cat's diabetes.

There is a lot of info on this forum about testing. But I found the following link hugely helpful when I was first learning how to do it: It's clear and concise and had really helpful info and pics:
http://www.sugarpet.net/bloodtst.html

Please ask ANY questions you want to. We're here to help!

Elizabeth
 
First of all, thank you all for your replies.
Im excited to see that remission -may- be something that is attainable for Lance. - My "kitty dream" for him, is to be out of our small apartment, and into a house (with a window just for him, again) as well as having him in remission. He has been diabetic basically the entire time I have known him, and his diabetes is the reason he was given to me in the first place. His old owner could not keep him well/ afford his medicine and food.

I have all he supplies needed to create my BG testing kit, minus the glucometer, Keytone strips, and lancets. All of these are available at walamart, and once it stops blizzarding I will be running out to grab these things.

The EVO & Wellness canned that I feed all 3 of my cats (2 not being diabetic). Was a tough choice for me. I am mostly feeding the Welleness Core right now, as feeding 3 cats the Evo is very expensive. It is also hard to regulate who eats what, as they all play musical bowls. :-D Switching Lance to wet food from dry was a battle all its own. He sure loved his "cheeto foods".

Again, thank you for the links. I'm going to check these out after I get a couple more canvases set up to paint. I really appreciate the prompt replies!
 
Not sure how to quote yet, but thank you Elizabeth and Bertie! My name is Alicia! :) I suppose I should put that in my Signature?!

Home testing has been something that I have always wanted to do. I have been a lurker on here for quite some time, and I am so envious of the people who test and understand their cats BG. - I would not simply be shooting myself with insulin if I were diabetic. It drives me crazy to be dosing him so blindly, it always has.
(diabetes runs strong in both sides of my family, I see what its like for people, and I cant image what its like for these animals, who can only communicate with their bodies).

I am really excited, and really scared to do this. My fiancee has offered to help set me up the spreadsheet as soon as we get the testing supplies. - I have a -lot- of reading to do! :lol:
 
Oh boy do I completely understand the expense of feeding everyone canned ...look down at my signature...Yep they are all mine, and they are all on canned food. And yes you counted right there are 14 (two of which are diabetics that I adopted as diabetics). When I switched everyone over to canned we started out like you on the EVO and Wellness only to have just about everyone turn their noses up at it...guess I just don't have high class cats. :lol: So what everyone here eat is just plain old Friskies Pate style canned food since I can get 13oz cans for less than a dollar per can. And on that diet one of mine has been in remission for 2+years and the other is trying her best to get there.

When starting to home test don't forget the lo carb treats, with so many mouths here I don't use store bought treats but instead I just boil plain chicken breasts or thighs without any spices, then cut up in bite size pieces. Autumn gets a couple of bites before we test and then a couple more after we get the test done, it took her about a week to figure out that she got a tasty treat for putting up with a tiny poke to the ear and will now beat me to her testing spot when it is time to test. (I have the alarm on my cell phone set to test times, when she hears it go off she runs to her spot).

If you want some hands on help learning to test then just give us a general location (city and state) and we will see if we can round up an experienced member that is willing to stop by and show you how it is done.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
Thank you MommaOfMuse! ;)

You have an impressive family there! A few years ago before we lost our home, My fiancee and I were living on a 13 acre farm, and I had quite a few special needs animals. I was the girl who got everyones "thats too hard for me to ___________" animals. Lance included. Mine are also very picky eaters. Both the babies (lint and taro) have been sick on everything else we tried, including the FF a friskies. The Wellness core and the Evo are the only thing that didnt make them vomit from every cat tree, couch and on every carpet in sight. it was horrible.
When I first brought them home as 5 week old bottle-feed-me-babies, they were on the GNC formula, and then the canned Blue, which became dangerous about 3 months later when they both developed a wicked allergy to an ingredient (still not sure). I have spent the past several months researching feverishly (as Im sure other cat moms are aware on here finding the right diet/ food can me a nightmare). I finally broke down and said "no more separate meals". Everyone got switched to Evo/ Wellenss Core. Since then there has been no barfing, butt dander, or weird cat activity. Lance even filled out in places, like his hips and spine, that for years had really allowed his age to show.

The boiled chicken is an awesome idea! I am a vegan, so I'll have to pick some up when I head to the store in a bit! I'm going to run out after I answer a few more emails and grab the rest of our testing supplies!

I live in Morton IL, which is between Bloomington and Peoria. I wish my old vet was not such a hike for us these days, Lance is very sensitive to changes and travel, so unless it is pertinent he go in for his checkups or something serious. We try to abstain from general visits. If I get terribly confused, I may have to have a visit! He is however an angel when it comes to bloodwork, shots, medicine and general poking. Years of my own fretting, and learning together what his diabetes care entails has made him a patient old man. As well as taught me how to be as gentile, slow and welcoming as I can be while efficiently doing what needs done. :lol:
 
Welcome!

ReliOn is the brand; models are Confirm, Vital, and Prime. They are branded versions of the Arkray meters available at ADW, our shopping partner (link above; purchase help fund this board).

See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for info on additional methods of assessment.
 
Hello again everyone!

I am happy to report that I went out, braved the snowstorm, and grabbed our new testing supplies. I am more thankful than ever that I did. I have made a curious, and sort of alarming discovery this evening.

After testing myself, just to see what its like. I then tried testing Lance. Who was actually very good humored about this! Our first reading was at 7:30pm. About one hour before he was due for his shot. Our reading was quite high, which was surprising, and alarming to me. A whopping "262 mg/dl". :-|
So, I set out his dinner, and then waited until 8:30 to give him his shot (1 unit). ..and waited.
I tested him again about 2 minutes ago (maybe I did it too soon - I was quite curious). And as of 10:00pm his reading on the glucometer was "296 mg/dl". :sad:

Whats up with that? - should I move this over to the Lantus boards? Any suggestions, ideas, or clues as to what this means would be spectacular. I am aware that number is awfully high. I also do NOT like that, and feel like his numbers should be drastically lower than that. Like I said, I'm glad I'm starting this journey. Eye opening and scary as it may be.
 
Lantus right? If so onset for Lantus is usually 2-3 hours after injection so what you may be seeing right now is a food spike. His lowest point should be right around 6 hours after injection with a slow rise after that to the next preshot.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
262 is not a bad number. High numbers are in the 400 - 500 range. Actually, we tell newbies not to shoot under 200. Test again in 5-7 hours to see how the insulin is working. (that should be the point when his numbers are at their lowest point = nadir)

Just for reference, we consider a cat regulated when they are in the 200s+ at preshot and below 100s at nadir. (but no lower than 40). They are considered in remission when they range from 40-120 for 2 weeks, off insulin. Something to "shoot" for.
 
Thanks, both of you! I'll be setting my phone alarm to do another testing at 4am (about 6 hours from now). - Perhaps I'm overly curious.
All of this information is incredibly re-assuring.
I spent all afternoon reading and watching videos on all of this, in between doing things around the home office and sending packages out.

I am -so- glad I work form home!

A million times thank you! - From both of us!
 
I had to update and thank you guys, all, again for your help. As well as the reassurance last night.

I am well on my way to understanding all of this, and how it works. our +6 ( I think its called, or halfway through our shot cycle) reading was 172 (am) and 168 (pm). I am so excited to keep on with moniorting him :-D . This is not only fascinating, but informative. I think this is setting me up for the opportunity to have a huge peace of mind, and give Lance a chance at remission.

My vet never offered to cover this sort of "treatment option" with me. I was given him back a few summers ago with 2 rounds of dialysis pills and told he might not make it another year. He has now lived 2 and a half more years since that date, much to the surprise with my vet. And now I'm starting to wonder if he is also wrong about "never going into remission" bit, too.

Lance continues to be a saint about all to do with the glucometer. I sometimes swear he listens when I tell him "this will help you feel better". - I'm getting a bit teary writing that. This cat is beyond being my very best friend. The prospect of helping him truly "feel ALL better" is very special to me.
 
Aww, it's so good to be able to help your best friend. Maybe the good that will come out of this is that your vet will learn about treating FD and the next patient will have the benefit of you and Lance going before.

If you can get a spreadsheet up, you can start posting in the Lantus forum: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewforum.php?f=9 Everyone there has experience with Lantus and can help you with dosing. Their posting protocol is a little different than Health; just read all the starred topics under the grey line at the top of the page.

Here are the directions for the spreadsheet: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207 It's a little tricky so if you need help, just ask.
 
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