Newbie- Tubz

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chuchunga

chuchunga

Member Since 2014
Hey Everyone,
I have a newly diagnosed 9 year old male baby boy named Tubz. His original weight at last years exam was 23lbs. These past few months we have seen a major decline in his health including all the diabetic symptoms of drinking constantly, flooding litter box, back hock neuropathy & a lost of 5lbs very quickly despite his continuous eating. His first blood test was March 4th 2014 and his BG results were 497. We immediately switched him over to all canned wet food. He is eating Friskies classic pate (about 1 1/2 cans a day divided into 2 large meals and 2 small snacks). After a week of being on just wet food he was retested and his BG was 333 after eating. On day two of the of starting the canned food diet the continuous drinking and flooding the litter box stopped and he is now going once to twice daily normal size pees.

So one week after his canned food diet started with his BG at 333 we started him on .5units of insulin (Lantus) twice daily 12 hours apart. Things have been going well with the shots. He has been eating well.

Two days ago I bought an over the counter human glucose testing meter (Relion micro) and started monitoring his BG before shots at home and testing at peak hours. Here is where things get a little tricky. My vet is not thrilled that I am not willing to use the "vet cat specific" testing meter. But I live in the real world and cant afford long term strip replacements for those things when I am already buying insulin, syringes & having constant trips to the vet for blood curve tests. (which by the way our first blood curve test is on the 25th, so he will have been on insulin for 2 weeks at that point).

So I was advised to bring in my human glucose meter to calibrate it to the one they have in the office. My meter is about 85 points lower than the one my vet uses and he said that was about 60% difference and explained what number I should go by on my home meter. My question is.....for those of you using a human meter to test your cats at home did you have to also calibrate your human meter to the "cat meter" and if so have you been successful with at home testing? Has anyone been given accuracy with a home meter without having to calibrate it? Please share any info you can b/c my biggest fear is A) not getting him regulated b) having him to into a hypoglycemic state.

Thanks in advance for any advise.
 
Hi and WELCOME!

I don't believe a human meter can be calibrated like they are assuming....we already know human meters read lower than the ATrak the vet wants you to buy. That's why we have different 'normal' ranges for human meters vs pet meters. 'Normal' for human meters would be 50-120(ish) while pet meters 'normal' is 80-150. What you're actually watching is trends of the actual numbers, human meters work just fine! It will also show you low numbers that you need to feed - human meters work just fine there too!

BIG HUGS!!
 
Thanks KT, but I am still a little confused. I only used the word calibrate because that is what the vet said.

For example when we were at the vet this morning Blood was drawn and placed on both the "vet meter" and my meter. My meter said his BG was 108, the vets said 185. So he says there is about an 58% difference in the reading and that I should not give insulin if my meter reads less than 145, in fact that 185 reading on his machine was after a large meal and no insulin with in 12 hours so he did not want me to give insulin this morning. Does this sound similar to what everyone else does? He has never been below 100 on my human home reader. Are you saying if your "home reader" shows between 50 and 120ish that you do not give insulin? I am sorry, this is all just so confusing to me.
 
We ALL arrived here totally confused so don't feel bad at all! The only dumb question is one that's never asked!

For a cat new to diabetes, yes I agree with your vet. Until you have enough data gathered on Tubz, it's a REALLY GOOD IDEA to not shoot under 200. We recommend at least 3 tests during a cycle - one prior to giving the 'morning' shot (AMPS-AM Pre-shot), one about 6 hours after the shot (+6) and one prior to the evening shot (PMPS - PM Pre-shot). If possible, at least one during the night. This is what we use our spreadsheets to track - you'll see both KT's and Dakota's spreadsheet links in my signature. NEITHER of them stay in that 'normal' range, KT is battling other medical conditions causing his drastic swings. We're still working with Dakota's doses trying to find his key - he was already diabetic when we adopted him months ago.

Vets don't usually have 'patients' who's humans actually WANT to test. Another issue some vets have - the only way THEY know to do test/curves is to draw blood from a vein and use that. They don't KNOW about testing using their ears. My vet was one of those...he claimed I was 'torturing' my cats - until he watched me test a lady's cat out in the waiting room...a cat that didn't know me from Eve. Bless that lady's and sweet cats hearts - they'll never realize how big an impact that action will have on so many fuzzy feetz going forward!

The range I referenced (50-120) is what we strive to stay within but most of us aren't lucky enough for our cats to stay in that 'normal' range. Your numbers are really VERY good - I'm really curious as to how they'll play out, you may have a kitty that will be just 'diet controlled'! Wouldn't that be wonderful???

BIG HUGS! You're already doing things right - GOOD JOB!!!!
 
Welcome extra sweet Tubz and his mama bean! Can we get your name too?

Basically, readings will be different for different meters. I've seen it compared to Celsius vs Fahrenheit for thermometers. They are both right, you just have to know how to read them!

We recommend not shooting below 200 when you're new. Once you get more data that number can change. Considering the numbers you got (at the vet no less where they tend to be higher!) I wouldn't shoot now. We always test before morning and evening shot and mid cycle too if we can. Wait and see what the number is tonight before making a decision on that shot.

I'm going to hunt down the number reference chart for you. It'll give you a better idea of what numbers mean on different meters.
 
Hello Heather! I meant to get this earlier but got distracted when my Tigress decided to jump on the mantle...and didn't anticipate the problem that the pictures on the mantle would cause. She's ok but I think she'll avoid the mantle!

I borrowed this from BJ:

Comparing a human glucometer to a pet-specific glucometer is like reading temperature in Celsius vs Fahrenheit. Both are correct. You just need to know the reference ranges to interpret what the numbers mean.

[Glucose reference ranges are unsubstantiated and have been removed by Moderator]


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Examples of using the chart:

Ex. You are a new insulin user and you test your cat before giving insulin. The test is 300. It probably is safe to give insulin.

Ex. You are an established user of Lantus, following the Tight Regulation protocol. You've tested around +5 to +7 to spot the nadir. It is 200 mg/dL. You probably need to increase the dose, following the instructions for the protocol.

Ex. Your cat is acting funny. The eyes are a bit dilated. You are concerned and test the glucose. The number is 35 mg/dL. ACK! The cat may be in a hypoglycemic state. You quickly follow the HYPO protocol linked in the glucose reference values chart. (which we really, really, suggest you print out and post on your refrigerator.)
 
Thanks Rachel,
I think I am getting the hang of this. Now I need to figure out how the postings on this forum work. lol
 
Be sure to share that list with your vet. The lower numbers, in particular, for human meters, are derived from the Roomp and Rand article on Lantus, the tight regulation protocoal, and the experience of Lantus Tight Regulation members.
 
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