Sue & Emma, new member joined today 9/11/2020

Hello Everyone,
Just wanted to introduce myself and Emma. She has a UTI 2 months ago, got a steroid shot and had a high BG reaction. Neither vet nor I knew she might be diabetic. Her BG's have been in the 280-305 range. Tried food diet change only and that didn't help. So today Emma is at the vet for her first insulin shots so they can figure out the dosage I will give her. I don't have any other info than that. Vet did say they usually prescribe the Prozinc so that's good.

Right now I'm trying to stop the "I'm overwhelmed!" feelings and going to go to store to buy stuff for a hypoglycemic tool box.
...I don't have a testing meter yet. Not sure which one to buy. I think vet mentioned AlphaTrak but I was hoping to use a "human" testing meter. What brand should I get?

Thanks to everyone for this great wonderful place!!

 

Hi Sue,

Just popping in to say a quick 'hello' to yourself and Emma.

If you're in the US, the meter with the best-priced strips is Walmart's Relion Prime. They also do lancets (28- or 29-gauge, but not higher) and ketone test strips.

If you're outside the US, if you let us know which country then members may be able to suggest alternatives.

Welcome!


Mogs
.

 

Welcome to FDMB So glad you found us! Many people here use the ReliOn meter (you can find it at Walmart) . The AT meter is a good meter but the strips are very expensive.
I see you already have your signature Well done!
Next will be your spreadsheet you can find that here:
FDMB SPREADSHEET INSTRUCTIONS

We are a caring loving community of kitty cat lovers who are ready willing and able to help you navigate all the information here.
Your first post made you part of this community.
WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY!
jeanne

 

Thank you so much for the warm welcomes! And I really appreciate the tips and directions to update my signature and such. I want to get up to speed and post like everyone else does, so fire away with any corrections!
I've managed to also add a link to Emma's spreadsheet. Does it work for you guys??

As to meters, yes, I see that one for Walmart. But I was hoping to get one from Publix or Walgreens. They are closer to me. Anyone have any suggestions for Walgreen's? I see they have like 5 different types. All very reasonably priced. And do I need a prescription to purchase one? I live in Florida.

Sue

 

Spreadsheet visible from here!

I'm in the UK so can't help with the other questions, but hopefully someone will be along soon with info.


Mogs
.

 

spread sheet ...check
signature...add your name, type of insulin, any other meds kitty takes, any other conditions kitty has...hmmm
Meter ...no need for a script

The signature is tricky it only allows a certain amt of characters so you have to get creative

WELL DONE

 

Stroll through as look at members signatures that should help!

 

Welcome to the most awesome group and the mist caring members
Don't know if you are feeding Emma wet food
If you can please add what food she is on in your signature

Most of us feed Fancy Feast Classics, most of them are 2 or 3 percent carbs
You should also pick up some Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers if she ever drops to low
Most of us gt the Relion Prime from Walmart but I'm sure any human meter will be fine

At least you can run to Publix or Walgreen's and pick up test strips when you need them

With the Alpha Trak you have to order them over the internet unless your vet sells them
I used to use the Alpha Trak but the test strips became to expensive
You will be doing a lot of testing in the beginning to see how the insulin is working for Emma.

Just tell your vet you can't afford the price for the test strips
The are about 58.00 for 50 strips
Unless you would rather use the pet meter

Good luck

 

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Beef Feast in Gravy 20% High Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Chicken Feast in Gravy. 15% Med Carbs


Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Turkey Feast in Gravy. 15% Med Carbs



Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken and Beef Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Good to have these on hand, it's really only the Gravy you would need to feed him, or just a teaspoon of the food.
Always good to have honey in hand

 

I wouldn’t buy a meter that had not been highly rated every year for accuracy. ReliOn has. The 3 top choices are Freestyle, ReliOn and Alphatrack. I would recommend you don’t just get any brand at your local pharmacy. Also, the price of the strips are an important consideration as you'll easily go through more than 100 a month. The ReliOn strips are 100 for about $17

 

Thank you so much for the great information! I'm feeling so much better. I kinda broke down crying today -my own fault, just too much stress with so much to learn. But you guys helped so much. I have an update, or maybe this is just the start? Anyway, picked up Emma and talked with vet. Vet gave me free AlphaTrak complete setup for free! I have the meter, strips syringes and sharps box. Prozinc is in the fridge. Emma was at 361 8:30am. Vet gave 2 units, +4 at 75, +5 at 90, at 5pm when I picked her up 103. Vet felt 2 units was too much and I should give her 1 unit tonight at 8pm. But Nope!! I learned from you guys! I told her I would rather test her first and see. Vet completely agreed and we both thought that if she was around 200 to skip tonight's shot and see what her numbers are in the morning. She was 182 at 8pm! Wow! So seeee. I learned from you guys! Low and slow and for heaven's sake test! If she is over 250 in the morning I will give her 1 unit like vet said and test.
And I actually was able to test! Whoopie! She didn't like me messing with her ear but hubby and I got it done! I'm actually feeling hopeful.

I will add numbers to my SS. Should I put her numbers in my topic line? Do I still keep posting here to say how we are doing or should I move my thread somewhere else now that I've said hello?

Sue

 

Hi Sue!
Welcome to the most supportive group ever! I just wanted to chime in and let you know that while I loved the Alphatrak, the test strips are around $50 on Amazon, unless your vet is going to keep hooking you up for free, you're going to run up a big bill pretty quickly testing as much as you need to.

I've switched to the Accu-check, only because my father gave me his old one and 100 strips for free, and will shortly be switching to the Reli-on Prime myself. If you take a look at any of our spreadsheets here, we all test A LOT to make sure our sugar kitties are staying in excellent ranges. You're at least going to be testing twice a day, and should be testing around 4 times in a 24hr period minimum to find the nadir. (I'll let someone else explain that better)

To put it in perspective, my dad gave me 100 stripes about 2 weeks ago, and I'm just about through them. Mouse was diagnosed at the end of August, and I blew through 3 orders of AlphaTrak strips. I might have tested more than other people though (I was super paranoid, I've calmed down now).
If money is tight, Reli-on is the most cost effective one there is, I definitely checked on that one.

 

Thank you so much for sharing your meter information. I can see how the strips really add up. Hubby and I discussed and we are going to order more AT strips and stick with it for now, but buy another different type of meter for a back up. Then we can try the 2nd one out and see if we like it better. I think in the Hypoglycemic Tool Box it said to have a 2nd meter anyway. Since we didn't pay for the AT we aren't spending any extra right now.

Thank you!
Sue

 

Welcome to FDMB!

In response to your question about meters, this is a link to a post on the ratings of glucometers from 2018 from Consumer Reports. There are lots of good options. Meters typically run in the $20 range. You may want to check online to see if there are any offers for free meters. The meters are the cheap part of the deal because your always buying strips. I used a Bayer Contour for all of Gabby's diabetes treatment. I would strongly encourage you to buy strips online. The price for the same number of strips at Walgreens was double what it would cost on Amazon or ADW (American Diabetes Warehouse).

I'm also linking this post on helping us to help you. It will give you some guidance on how to structure your signature.

I'm also including the link to the Prozinc forum. There's information on dosing guidelines there. The Prozinc board is fairly busy so it's a good place to post.It can be helpful to post both on Prozinc and Health if you need a quick answer.

 

It's good to have triple antibiotic ointment with pain relief to rub small amount on ear after testing.

Freeze dried treat to offer after test.

If staying with alpha trac Google strips on line, usually can find them cheaper. Just beware it make take longer to receive them, ask seller what expiration date is. I liked it for small blood size drop. Ollie didn't bleed well.

Other meters that take same size drop is Nova Max plus (both glucose & ketone) (tempermental), Freestyle Lite (never use it).