Nico 2.0

[squeem3]

You can post on Health and ask for help on the Relion meter. Many people use that brand and can help you troubleshoot. Did you look in the instruction manual for what the error code means and how to correct it? The most common errors are not enough blood on the test strip and the meter timing out before you get blood onto the test strip.

Relion isn't the only brand out there. Any Human blood glucose meter works. I use the AccuChek Guide, previously the Aviva.

A meter that uses a 03 microliter drop size is ideal. Here's a chart:

 

[Tyleete]

You can post on Health and ask for help on the Relion meter. Many people use that brand and can help you troubleshoot. Did you look in the instruction manual for what the error code means and how to correct it? The most common errors are not enough blood on the test strip and the meter timing out before you get blood onto the test strip.

Relion isn't the only brand out there. Any Human blood glucose meter works. I use the AccuChek Guide, previously the Aviva.

A meter that uses a 03 microliter drop size is ideal. Here's a chart:

Aw man. I bought the Relion one as I'd heard it's used a lot and really accurate. I was trying to find something with least amount of blood to be used & thought I'd found it. But I think it requires 0.5. I'm pretty sure the error is due to the amount of blood. My pet meter is like yours. Only needing 0.3. So thanks for the info. I'm still going to wait until he's in the clear, if ever, to try the human one again. But the pet ones are supposed to be the most accurate, correct? So I know I'm doing the right thing with this for now?
Thanks!

 

[Tyleete]

551 at his +4 testing. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Got it. I'll go sit in there with him as soon as my husband wakes up to try and catch his pee again. Heck if I want another reason to stick him.
Is the +4 & +6 the right time I'm supposed to be doing the blood glucose testing? I was pretty sure that's what you'd said a while ago on the other thread.

Well there’s nothing magical about +4 and +6 except that we are trying to catch his nadir. You can vary it a little if you want to and get a +5 instead of a +4 on one day and a +3 and +5 on a different day.

Right now it seems like he is nadiring before +6 because he frequently has bounced back up by that time. Over time that should hopefully change… where his nadir comes a little later.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Aw man. I bought the Relion one as I'd heard it's used a lot and really accurate. I was trying to find something with least amount of blood to be used & thought I'd found it. But I think it requires 0.5. I'm pretty sure the error is due to the amount of blood. My pet meter is like yours. Only needing 0.3. So thanks for the info. I'm still going to wait until he's in the clear, if ever, to try the human one again. But the pet ones are supposed to be the most accurate, correct? So I know I'm doing the right thing with this for now?
Thanks!

Pet meters are not more “accurate” but they do measure differently (using a different algorithm) that’s all. And they tend to read a little higher. Our dosing protocols were designed, studied, and tested before pet meters were invented and all vets used human meters in their own practices— before someone figured out how to market expensive pet meters to pet owners with the ongoing costs of expensive strips that you have to buy constantly. We will buy anything we can afford for our fur babies as long as we think it’s the best! There’s nothing wrong with using a pet meter and nothing wrong with using a human meter. Most of our members like having the freedom to test frequently without worrying about the cost of test strips.

Having said that, if your meter is right now working for you then we are going with that!

And since Nico is skittish I believe we already talked about not using the clicky lancing device. I don’t think you are using it, right?

I know I already gave some tips about how to keep the ReliOn meter from “timing out.”

Anyway, we are going with your pet meters for the foreseeable future It’s perfectly adequate and you are able to make it work.

 

[Tyleete]

But at 551 around his nadir? That's awful! And thanks for talking about switching sometimes. I can try that tomorrow. That's just a horrible peak number.
Am I to still be getting the +4 after the pm shot?

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

551 at his +4 testing. What am I doing wrong?

You are not doing anything wrong! Test again at +5 or 6 and see if anything is happening. He could just be bouncing from the pink last night (which could have dipped a little lower into pink). His body is very comfortable in black. Anything as low as something in the 300s could definitely cause a bounce reaction.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Well, how late after his evening shot do you usually stay up? If you hadn’t taken that +4 test last night we never would have seen the pink! That pink probably explains what we are seeing today. He could surprise you though with a lower number later in the cycle. Or he could stay obstinately in black.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

And thanks for talking about switching sometimes

If you vary the times you test a little bit, then we will have a fuller picture over time by filling in the “checkerboard” of his spreadsheet. Hopefully, this will give you a little more flexibility as well.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

You can post on Health and ask for help on the Relion meter. Many people use that brand and can help you troubleshoot. Did you look in the instruction manual for what the error code means and how to correct it? The most common errors are not enough blood on the test strip and the meter timing out before you get blood onto the test strip.

Relion isn't the only brand out there. Any Human blood glucose meter works. I use the AccuChek Guide, previously the Aviva.

A meter that uses a 03 microliter drop size is ideal. Here's a chart:

I do like that blood droplet size graphic. I wonder if it looks smaller on my phone screen though? The .3 is a speck (way smaller than a pin head say.) Even on my worst day I could get more blood out of Darcy’s ear than that.

 

[Lara & Luciole (Lu)]

Two thoughts:

Regarding diet, fresh roast or raw chicken makes my cat go into the stratosphere. Chicken is a common protein that cats can be sensitive to. Can you try switching to a different protein, something without chicken? I feed my diabetic cat the Nulo pates that don't have chicken. Anything like chicken, as well, like duck, turkey and quail, makes my cat soar.

About getting enough blood, are you positioning the lancet at an angle, something around 45 degrees? It took me a while to figure this out. Going in straight from above gets less blood.

Best wishes for getting those #s down!

 

[Tyleete]

I've finally gotten getting his ear down. That 45° angle made a LOT of difference. I had been doing it straight up originally.
As for the food, he doesn't have any sensitivities luckily. Were you saying that yours is sensitive and that's why his numbers go up? Or that chicken in general causes spikes? He's currently eating pork. He doesn't seem to have any problems with chicken, but it's currently eating pork. Maybe I should try putting him back on the chicken and he'd do better? Guess it can't hurt to try just for the heck of it. He eats SO much though. I looked up at Viva Raw and it says a 9lb not very active cat should be eating 4oz a day? I weigh his food before cooking and he's eating 6oz of pork per day. And he's still been eating a little bit of dry (young again zero) on top of that! He's so starved all the time. I feed him 6x a day. Before shot, then at the +2 & +4. I take the BG test before the food of course.
Guess I'll take out his chicken & try?

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Two thoughts:

Regarding diet, fresh roast or raw chicken makes my cat go into the stratosphere. Chicken is a common protein that cats can be sensitive to. Can you try switching to a different protein, something without chicken? I feed my diabetic cat the Nulo pates that don't have chicken. Anything like chicken, as well, like duck, turkey and quail, makes my cat soar.

About getting enough blood, are you positioning the lancet at an angle, something around 45 degrees? It took me a while to figure this out. Going in straight from above gets less blood.

Best wishes for getting those #s down!

Hey … which Nulo pates don’t have chicken? This is for an IBD cat I am asking and not diabetic. Are they single protein? No turkey or duck in them either?

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

I've finally gotten getting his ear down. That 45° angle made a LOT of difference. I had been doing it straight up originally.
As for the food, he doesn't have any sensitivities luckily. Were you saying that yours is sensitive and that's why his numbers go up? Or that chicken in general causes spikes? He's currently eating pork. He doesn't seem to have any problems with chicken, but it's currently eating pork. Maybe I should try putting him back on the chicken and he'd do better? Guess it can't hurt to try just for the heck of it. He eats SO much though. I looked up at Viva Raw and it says a 9lb not very active cat should be eating 4oz a day? I weigh his food before cooking and he's eating 6oz of pork per day. And he's still been eating a little bit of dry (young again zero) on top of that! He's so starved all the time. I feed him 6x a day. Before shot, then at the +2 & +4. I take the BG test before the food of course.
Guess I'll take out his chicken & try?

You can always try different proteins and see if it makes a difference. I know quite a few people whose cats have higher numbers with beef, for example. Every cat is different.

Do I think what we are seeing with his high numbers is down to food. No. But it’s possible he may het slightly lower BG IF he’s sensitive to a particular protein.

I just don’t want you to be disappointed, but it’s worth trying different food combinations. You’re not going to see a 100 point drop from switching foods alone.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

You forgot to put 2 in the units cell for this morning.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Time to begin a new thread and link this one in the first post. This one is toooooo loooong.

 

[Lara & Luciole (Lu)]

Hey … which Nulo pates don’t have chicken? This is for an IBD cat I am asking and not diabetic. Are they single protein? No turkey or duck in them either?

For Nulo, Here's what has no chicken:
* Salmon & Mackerel Pate
* Beef & Lamb Pate
* Shredded Turkey & Halibut

the rest have either chicken, or chicken fat listed somewhere in the ingredients.

Something I've had luck with my cat liking, which does not containing chicken, are some of the B.F.F. pouches, which are tuna-heavy, specifically:
* Tuna & Beef Baby Cakes
* Tuna & Duck Devour Me
* Tuna & Lamb Luv Ya

I'm mentioning chicken because I found out, with my first diabetic cat, that chicken and beef are proteins that many cats can develop a sensitivity to. After making a raw beef diet for my cat for years, I now suspect that I caused him to have long-term pancreatitis that developed into diabetes, through my well-meaning ignorance. So now I pay a lot of attention to the protein source, and try elimination diets if I suspect something. (And all those gums aren't doing cats any favors, but that's another topic ...)

About turkey and duck, all the Nulo foods I see that don't have chicken, do have turkey or duck! Turkey's the 2nd ingredient in the Beef & Lamb pate.
But the B.F.F. pouches, although not single proteins, are explicit about which ones contain, turkey, duck or chicken.

There are foods like Canada Fresh - Red Meat that fit the bill, with just beef, beef liver, beef broth, lamb

 

[Tyleete]

Another here.

 

[Tyleete]

Time to begin a new thread and link this one in the first post. This one is toooooo loooong.

Also, I have had a lot of ibd kitties than I'd care to admit. One wet food I used had only rabbit as a protein and no gums in it. Instinct rabbit limited ingredient.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Also, I have had a lot of ibd kitties than I'd care to admit. One wet food I used had only rabbit as a protein and no gums in it. Instinct rabbit limited ingredient.

Is that raw? I won’t feed raw to an FIV+ cat. And they keep finding nasty organisms in the raw foods. My only qualms about rabbit is that it is naturally high in phosphorus.

 

[Tyleete]

Is that raw? I won’t feed raw to an FIV+ cat. And they keep finding nasty organisms in the raw foods. My only qualms about rabbit is that it is naturally high in phosphorus.

No it's not raw, just a regular cooked can food. I've had some tricky ibd cases over the years. One was so bad, the ONLY thing that helped him finally, was raw rabbit. He only lived for 3weeks after discovering and making this work. But I'd like to think we made it a little easier on him those last 3 weeks. NOTHING else worked, and we tried 8yrs to make him better.
We started with Viva Raw, but both their phos & iodine levels were too high. He was also an HT kitty, and it was knocking his numbers out of whack. Reason they're so high in phosphorous, is because it's hard to debone rabbits apparently. So I found the company Raw Feeding Miami & his thyroid numbers came back down.
And if you buy human grade, your don't run into a lot of the same problems. Not as much regulation by far. RFM sells boneless rabbit (for a premium price.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

No it's not raw, just a regular cooked can food. I've had some tricky ibd cases over the years. One was so bad, the ONLY thing that helped him finally, was raw rabbit. He only lived for 3weeks after discovering and making this work. But I'd like to think we made it a little easier on him those last 3 weeks. NOTHING else worked, and we tried 8yrs to make him better.
We started with Viva Raw, but both their phos & iodine levels were too high. He was also an HT kitty, and it was knocking his numbers out of whack. Reason they're so high in phosphorous, is because it's hard to debone rabbits apparently. So I found the company Raw Feeding Miami & his thyroid numbers came back down.
And if you buy human grade, your don't run into a lot of the same problems. Not as much regulation by far. RFM sells boneless rabbit (for a premium price.

I have an FIV+ boy who has IBD. We did surgical biopsies in September 2024. He’s been on Prednisolone ever since. At first I didn’t change his diet, he was just eating the same thing as before which was Weruva BFF pate (Chicken, Duck and Turkey Take a Chance for the most part) because I kept researching and trying to fond him food and thre was always something wrong with them that kept me from buying it (high phosphorus or high carbs or too many peas and lentils or chick peas, etc.) I would not buy the hydrolyzed protein foods because they were super high carb (like 40 percent). I was afraid he would become diabetic when combined with the Prednisolone. He kept eating and eating and losing weight. His appetite was good. I switched him over to an all beef diet and he liked it, at first he gained some weight but not a whole lot. We are now struggling to keep his weight up. He is becoming picky and he won’t eat more than small amounts of food at a time. Some days he looks unwell (his face looks pinched and he squints at me.) Recently we did a repeat ultrasound and the vet says his intestines are as inflamed as they were a year ago when we did the ultrasound and then the biopsies. It’s like the Prednisolone hasn’t helped his inflammation at all. He also had two cysts on his pancreas that were fluid filled. We had those removed and biopsied as well. Fortunately, they are benign. He has now been diagnosed with pancreatitis; we ran the GI panel last week. The ultrasound also showed that his gallbladder, while not having any sludge in it, appears “fuzzy” and inflamed. I feel like I am going to lose him just to weight loss. I asked about switching to Budesonide instead of Prednisolone, but I really have no idea if this is a good move for him or not. My vet doesn’t seem to have much experience using Budesonide at all. I need to do something or I am going to lose this boy.