Relion glucometer readings on the low side?

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aghareeb

Member Since 2010
Hello! My cat Cleo is a newly diagnosed diabetic. Fortunately, her case is mild and we seem to have it under control with a high protein, very low carb diet.

I have been testing her bg at home to establish some baseline curves, before discussing insulin with my vet. She regularly tests in the 50's. Acts perfectly normal, but tests in the 50's often. The curve is visible, but very shallow. I know the glucometer isn't set funny because she stole a strawberry and spiked up to 216.

At the vet's office she was 206, then 286. I've read a few pages that say under 50 is normal, but others say it's an emergency. Is this just her, or does this glucometer perhaps trend low?

Thanks everyone!
 
I am new to all this and do not use the Relion meter, so I cannot answer that. Many people here do, so you will get an answer soon I am sure.
But...

I read that The normal blood glucose level in cats is usually between 60 and 120.
Also.....the blood glucose readings at the vet will many times be really high due to the cat being stressed.

Once you do some curve testing and test her before eating, then every 2 to 3 hours afterwards, you will have a better idea if your cat is diabetic or not.

Be sure you read on this site about how important wet food is and how bad the dry food is for a cat.
This site has alot of info for the canned foods.
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html
 
is the 50's in the middle of her cycle? which insulin are you using? it's not a bad midcycle # but for a newbie it is VERY important to post here and find out exactly what's going on.
a 50 two hours after you shoot is potentially a hypo on it's way. and i hope you know NEVER to shoot into a 50 right?
 
lori and tom said:
is the 50's in the middle of her cycle? which insulin are you using? it's not a bad midcycle # but for a newbie it is VERY important to post here and find out exactly what's going on.
a 50 two hours after you shoot is potentially a hypo on it's way. and i hope you know NEVER to shoot into a 50 right?
Click to expand...


Aghareeb said Cleo is not on insulin yet.
 
First, Cleo is NOT on any insulin yet. I wanted to have this data set before the Vet and I talked about dosing.

I have done two 24 hr. curves, with the vry low carb food ( she's on Wellness) she spends about 6 hours during both cycles in the 50's. She's eating fine, drinking normally, and is acting like herself (no lethargy, other than is normal for a cat!). The highest she got today was 80. From all references, these seem like the numbers of a non-diabetic cat. My thinking is either the low carb diet is controlling things or the meter gives chronically low readings. I am hoping people who use this meter can comment.
 
I use the Relion Confirm meter, and it does read on the low side with cats at low BG levels. The numbers you are seeing are normal for a cat, normal is 50-120. A reading in the 50s is NOT an emergency for a cat who is not on insulin. There is almost zero risk of hypo without insulin...there is a disorder that can produce hypo without insulin, but it's rare. If you are not seeing any hypo symptoms, I would not worry about it.

The elevated readings at the vet likely are due to stress. A better way for the vet to test for FD is to do a fructosamine test, which gives a longer term average of BG levels (a few weeks). I would keep a record of your testing and show it to the vet the next time you visit. Good for you for hometesting! :-D Keep doing some testing regularly. Some kitties are diet controlled for a while, and need insulin later....if you catch it early and start insulin right away, you have a much better chance of the cat going back into remission.
 
50 with NO insulin is a perfectly good NORMAL number.

Congratulations -- you have a Diet Controlled Diabetic kitty.

When at the vet's office, most kitties are stressed out and have higher blood sugar readings than when they are at home.

SO... take your BG test data from home and show your vet -- you do not need to start insulin as long as your kitty is below 200 at home.
 
50 is a BEAUTIFUL non-diabetic number for a kitty without insulin. My civies run between 50 and 60 all the time so I would say you have a diet controlled diabetic. But even my civie boy will jump into the high 90s and low 100s when at the Vet's and he even reasonably likes the Vet's office and will purr while there, but he does hate the car ride there so even though he likes the Vet he is still under stress when there, thus his BG skyrockets.

Keep up the good work and just take your data from home to show your vet.

Mel
 
yep love 50 and you don't have to worry about a hypo with no insulin on board...sorry i missed that about the 'no insulin'
 
I'm so happy to read of a similar story. I use the ReliOn and got a 47 bg tonight, first successful test, 5 days after the initial bg test of 212 at the vet after what I thought was possible neuropathy. She's now on an all wet diet (Wellness) and presents normal behavior. It's just the weird wobbliness on the left leg that was sudden onset last Thursday night.

She's on three feedings a day, a little over one 5.5 oz can, seems totally fine except the wobbly leg, which was HORRID looking when it first developed spontaneously Thursday night.I think she's just compensating now though, not truly better.

Going to get ketone strips and methyl b12 next and I suppose if the wobbly leg doesn't get better, vet trip.

Good to hear your kitty's bg is low and all is well :)
 
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