Newbie Gorilla Gal

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Gorilla Gal

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hi everyone!
my fat cat Max has just been diagnosed with diabetes in November. we tried dietary changes, and his numbers came down nicely, but he continuew to lose weight and drink water like crazy, and i think it is time to do the insulin thing.
i live in New York, and spend the day shopping around for the best price on insulin and syringes.
now i need a glucose meter for pets, and lancets. this is really confusing.
wondering if anyone can help me by suggesting which one to go with and the best place to get it?

HELP!
Gorilla Gal (GG)
 
Gorilla Gal posted up on one of the information threads so I have pasted her thread down here.

hi everyone!
my fat cat Max has just been diagnosed with diabetes in November. we tried dietary changes, and his numbers came down nicely, but he continuew to lose weight and drink water like crazy, and i think it is time to do the insulin thing.
i live in New York, and spend the day shopping around for the best price on insulin and syringes.
now i need a glucose meter for pets, and lancets. this is really confusing.
wondering if anyone can help me by suggesting which one to go with and the best place to get it?

HELP!
Gorilla Gal (GG)
 
Hope you can find your thread down here. Wonderful that you started the wet lo carb diet and are now ready to tackle testing. Have you seen the video? Video for hometesting

Here are the supplies you need:


A human glucometer. Any one that sips and takes a tiny sample is fine. 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.

Lancets and a lancet device. Usually, until the ears “learn” to bleed, a 25-26 gauge is good. Any brand will work.

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.

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

Very few of us got it the first time so don't get discouraged. We all have tips that helped us so just ask. We love to help!
 
Hello fellow Newbie... :)

The folks here told me to get the ReliOn Micro from Walmart and it has worked great for me so far and you only need a small amount of blood for the strip. I have never used any other one but I think this is a great one because i've heard of people having problems getting enough blood for other ones...

The people here are great, btw and have helped me through everything I have needed so far. This is a great place to get help with info and support for our little sugar kitties!

So, welcome!
 
Hi and welcome to FDMB.

It is great that you also want to learn to hometest as you start insulin. You can use any brand human glucose meter, even store brands. The store brand meters work just as well as the name brand meters, most of them are made by the same manufacturers just branded differently. Plus the strips are cheaper.

Walmart's Relion meters are very inexpensive to use and are very good meters. I have been using them for years and have been very happy with it.
 
Hi fellow New Yorker Gorilla Gal! Welcome. So glad you are going to be hometesting---it's the best and safest thing for your cat. To give insulin without knowing the BG level can be dangerous.
I used the Free Style Lite which I bought from my local pharmacy. I checked around for info on this board, and wanted to go with one the used the smallest amount of blood. I believe the Walmart relion may also be in this category, but I never checked it out. I got my testing strips from Hocks on-line. That was considerably cheaper than the local places (and it you go through the ad on this site, it gives back some revenue). Costco has been carrying diabetic supplies of late, but I don't know the specifics.
Sue gave you a lot of good info. Looking forward to your posting with more questions! By the way, what insulin are you using?
 
She posted in the Newbies informational announcement at the top of the Health forum. I did tell her I had reposted for her, but it's a good idea to give her the link. I'll go do that. I have been watching for her, but haven't seen her since last night.
 
Sue and Oliver said:
She posted in the Newbies informational announcement at the top of the Health forum. I did tell her I had reposted for her, but it's a good idea to give her the link. I'll go do that. I have been watching for her, but haven't seen her since last night.
Click to expand...

Why aren't such announcements locked from posting ?
 
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