New User - UK - Accu Chek Instant?

[CocoDB]

Hello,

I'm a new user to the forum and have already found the guides so helpful thank you! My cat was diagnosed with diabetes two months ago, she was initially on 1 international unit of Prozinc, but she started showing signs of high blood sugar again last week so I have upped (with vet approval) to 1.5 units and so far so good. We're going in for a blood curve next week.

I want to start monitoring glucose levels myself and I noticed the guide on the Prozinc forum said that users in the UK tend to use Accu Chek Aviva. That has now been discontinued and I wonder whether people knew if Accu Chek Instant, which is still available to buy, would work in the same way? As I don't want to accidentally get some equipment which wouldn't work.

Many thanks,
CocoDB

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Any human meter will work. Most of the time, we make a recommendation about a meter because the strips vary in price. The issue is finding a meter with affordable strips and that varies by country.

I'm tagging @Elizabeth and Bertie who's in the UK and can help with information that's specific to to our UK members.

 

[CocoDB]

Thank you so much for your swift reply, I'll give the Instant a go as it's relatively inexpensive.

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Hi @CocoDB , waving to you from Surrey!

I don't have any personal experience of the Accuchek Instant. (The Aviva was certainly popular, and the Accuchek meters generally have been quite popular).
Most human meters are fine. The most popular at the moment with UK folks seems to be the GlucoNavii. It's widely available, and it is 'probably' also the cheapest to use. The main cost of testing is the test strips...
But other meters are also fine. Things to think about are cost and availability of test strips, and also blood sample size (smaller is often easier...) ...I happen to like the One Touch Verio (have used One Touch meters for nearly 16 years so am probably a bit 'old school'), and I get all my test supplies more cheaply on Ebay. But many more favour the GlucoNavii and buy supplies on Amazon or elsewhere.

Just looked online and 'it seems' that the Accuchek instant uses 0.6ul blood sample size. That's only a smidge more than the GlucoNavii's 0.5ul. ...Chances are that the meter will work just fine. But, if you're not entirely happy with it then it's easy enough to 'fine tune' things a bit further down the line. The main thing is that you 'do' want to hometest. Yay!!! Well done, you. Your kitty is lucky to have you in their corner... ....And, once you can test, you may be able to do 'curves' and all other necessary blood glucose tests at home....

Eliz

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi Coco and welcome to you and your kitty.
HELP US HELP YOU has some useful Links for new members. Let us know if we can help in any way.

 

[CocoDB]

Hi @CocoDB , waving to you from Surrey!

I don't have any personal experience of the Accuchek Instant. (The Aviva was certainly popular, and the Accuchek meters generally have been quite popular).
Most human meters are fine. The most popular at the moment with UK folks seems to be the GlucoNavii. It's widely available, and it is 'probably' also the cheapest to use. The main cost of testing is the test strips...

Eliz

Hi Eliz,

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it. There are so many factors to consider. I hadn't even thought about sample size, so I'll give GlucoNavii a try in first instance.

Waving back from London!

CocoDB

 

[CocoDB]

Hi all,

I have ordered the GlucoNavii, should arrive on Monday. I have read the guides on the spreadsheet and testing but there is one detail which I'm not sure of...

For the 'pre shot' test is that after eating and before the insulin? Currently I feed her at 7am/7pm and then give her insulin 30 minutes later. So would I do the blood test about 25 minutes after eating?

Thanks,
D

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

For the 'pre shot' test is that after eating and before the insulin?

Hi,
Ideally, it's best to test before feeding. That is mainly just so that the test result isn't influenced by a recent meal. (...That said, my old girl won't settle if she's hungry, so sometimes I feed her and then test immediately afterwards.)
So, the sequence recommended here is usually Test, Feed, Shoot: Test first to check cat's BG is high enough for insulin. Feed, to ensure kitty's body has food on board for when the insulin starts to work. Then shoot.
Once you get testing going, and start to get some results, you may find out just how a meal does or doesn't affect your own kitty's blood glucose. Higher carb foods will typically cause more of a rise than low carb foods.

Eliz

 

[CocoDB]

Hi,
So, the sequence recommended here is usually Test, Feed, Shoot: Test first to check cat's BG is high enough for insulin. Feed, to ensure kitty's body has food on board for when the insulin starts to work. Then shoot.

Eliz

Oh ok, thank you! Do people generally not wait between feeding and injecting? If so, that will save us a lot of time in the morning!

I think the vet nurse advised us to wait to make sure she had kept her food down, but Coco has never had trouble keeping her food down

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Do people generally not wait between feeding and injecting?

If using Caninsulin (a faster acting insulin than Prozinc) it can be helpful to wait for 20 - 30 minutes between feeding and injecting.
And it can indeed be good to wait if the kitty is a puker and is inclined to 'scarf and barf', because it's important that food stays down.
But with Prozinc it shouldn't 'generally' be necessary to wait between feeding and giving the shot. And quite a few folks find it easier to give the shot while the cat is actually eating.