Re-Introducing Karie & Fefe

Karie & Fefe

Karie & Fefe

New Member
Hello! Im Karie (Fefe's mom) - we live in Raleigh, NC.

I heavily relied on the information in this community when my Fefe was dx in July 2025. I was in the "transitional" portal and found that my info was no longer in this forum so have re-registered and getting all set up again.

Background on Fefe - she is 9 years old, spayed female that I have had since she was my foster kitten at 4 weeks old. She has had a variety of health problems - mostly Feline Idiopathic Cystitis and one bout of urinary crystals. She has had trouble with constipation for the last 2-3 years. She was diagnosed with Asthma earlier this year and between the high-carb urinary food and prednisolone for the asthma, she developed diabetes. Her symptoms leading up to the diagnoses was increased thirst, increased urination, hiding from us, not sleeping in her normal spots, wobbly when she jumped up on her eating area, and Neuropathy. We have a very thorough and knowledgeable veterinarian who keeps up with the latest/greatest info. She and I are hoping for remission....which is what brings me back her. I feel like we are going too long in-between curve tests and I had though about a month ago we were close to remission. I would like to get back to testing more regularly and hoping to make insulin modifications more frequently as her numbers permit.

She is currently on 2 units of Lantus as of 11/4/25. We had worked her up to 2.5 units in September 2025 and numbers were doing really good. Dropped to 2 units...was doing great! Dropped to 1.5 units and numbers started going back up - a lot. So vet has returned us to 2 units.

For the curve tests my vet required the Alpha Trax 3 - which is fine with me. I also have a True Metrix BGM that I can use as well. My vet would only like curve tests every 10-14 days. Before we were doing every 7. I would love to get this girl into remission!

She eats only wet food - currently Purina DM pate, Tiki After dark (the chicken and pork shreds, chicken shreds, or rabbit pate), FF chicken feast. Lots of water added to her food to help with her constipation.

Current medications/supplements:
  • Prozac 5 mg per day.
  • 25mg of gabapentin (in the process of weaning her off).
  • 1/2 tsp psyllium husk (constipation)
  • probiotics
I would like to know how to set up my spreadsheet for the different blood glucose monitors?

Thanks for having us!
 
Actually - last nights shot I did more like 1.75 and did the same this morning so might hang out at this dose for a week or so and see where we are. Even tho vet said go back to 2.

I’ve been struggling getting blood out of her ear lately where I’ve had no problem in the past so working on that by warming her ear.

I guess my question about the spreadsheet is - can I record all my results on the same Spreadsheet Vs having 2 spreadsheets? I will continue to give the vet the curve test in Alpha Trax but would like to use the human meter on a more frequent basis.
 
Yes. If you use the pet meter spreadsheet and take some readings with the Human meter, just note it in the Comments section. Like if you tested at +4 with both meters, enter both numbers into the box (example 200 / 215) and in the Comments note which number is from the Human meter. You may need to manually add the color to the box.

Try a "rice sock": take a small cotton sock and fill with a spoonful or two of uncooked rice or dried beans. Tie close. Heat in microwave until barely warm enough for you to comfortably hold in your hand. Wrap the sock on the ear. Then poke to get blood. If the sock is too hot, your cat will let you know by flinching. Let the sock cool and try again a few minutes. Use less microwave time next time.
 
Regarding the spreadsheet, an alternative is to set up two tabs. One tab would be for the AlphaTrak numbers and the other for the results from the human meter. If your vet wants numbers from the AlphaTrak, you can always email the vet those numbers. (Some vets get very fussy about meters. They seem to have forgotten that there weren't pet specific meters for a long time, the differences are not worrisome, and many vets are suggesting the use of continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) which are human meters.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Regarding the spreadsheet, an alternative is to set up two tabs. One tab would be for the AlphaTrak numbers and the other for the results from the human meter. If your vet wants numbers from the AlphaTrak, you can always email the vet those numbers. (Some vets get very fussy about meters. They seem to have forgotten that there weren't pet specific meters for a long time, the differences are not worrisome, and many vets are suggesting the use of continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) which are human meters.
Click to expand...

I thought about suggesting that or having two separate spreadsheets but felt it would be too confusing for a newbie or a vet.
 
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