Switching Meters (Alpha Trak to Relion) Foster Cat

[NyCatMom]

Hello All,

I was a previous member and had two sugar cats. I had used my handy dandy Alpha Trak 2 until my 19 yr old cat passed away last year. The animal shelter that I volunteer at had a cat who was not diabetic on intake but after a round of prednisolone for IBD and Asthma , now has a reading of 350. I agreed to foster him thinking I could use my old meter but now I see the test strips are discontinued (GRRRRR). I have Lantus in the fridge and half unit syringes at home. He's off the steroids and I immediately moved him to fancy feast classic pate and already he's stop drinking a gallon of water. I was told not to start insulin until next Monday and a discussion with their vet because they want to see how much he normalizes on low carb food. He is not my cat and so I cannot override their medical decisions.

I ordered a Relion meter from Walmart and it should be here tomorrow. Should I expect the readings to be any different from the Alpha Trak. Are the blood glucose readings approximately the same values?

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[CORKY]

Hello All,

I was a previous member and had two sugar cats. I had used my handy dandy Alpha Trak 2 until my 19 yr old cat passed away last year. The animal shelter that I volunteer at had a cat who was not diabetic on intake but after a round of prednisolone for IBD and Asthma , now has a reading of 350. I agreed to foster him thinking I could use my old meter but now I see the test strips are discontinued (GRRRRR). I have Lantus in the fridge and half unit syringes at home. He's off the steroids and I immediately moved him to fancy feast classic pate and already he's stop drinking a gallon of water. I was told not to start insulin until next Monday and a discussion with their vet because they want to see how much he normalizes on low carb food. He is not my cat and so I cannot override their medical decisions.

I ordered a Relion meter from Walmart and it should be here tomorrow. Should I expect the readings to be any different from the Alpha Trak. Are the blood glucose readings approximately the same values?

Thank you in advance for your help.

ReliOn Meter. the best and the strips at Walmart are super cheap, I love it, I started with the Libre2 monitor and sensors, I almost had a nervous breakdown. You are in the right place as you know. Best to you and your furrrr baby

 

[Christie & Maverick]

That’s wonderful you are fostering! With the switch to LC wet food, and now that the kitty is finished with the pred, it would be wise to hold off insulin, since the steroids could most definitely have impacted his BG. Generally you’ll find the human meter readings will be lower than the AT2. For the most part, you’d see that the variance is greater at higher numbers, and readings would typically get closer together at lower numbers.

 

[NyCatMom]

That’s wonderful you are fostering! With the switch to LC wet food, and now that the kitty is finished with the pred, it would be wise to hold off insulin, since the steroids could most definitely have impacted his BG. Generally you’ll find the human meter readings will be lower than the AT2. For the most part, you’d see that the variance is greater at higher numbers, and readings would typically get closer together at lower numbers.

We have a really great local.shelter that provides supplies to adopters who can't afford the ongoing costs associated with diabetic cats who are adopted from them. I've had sugar cats before and as most of the people here would agree, its no big deal once you get the routine down. Fostering was a no brainer and being in a shelter environment wasn't going to help him stabilize. The downside is I need to check with them before making any changes.

Thank you for your feedback on holding off on insulin. I think we're all holding out hope that he can normalize without the prednisolone and low carb diet. It does mean I'm learning to use a Aero Kat inhaler when his asthma gets bad but I guess that means I can foster another asthmatic cat in the future!

 

[NyCatMom]

ReliOn Meter. the best and the strips at Walmart are super cheap, I love it, I started with the Libre2 monitor and sensors, I almost had a nervous breakdown. You are in the right place as you know. Best to you and your furrrr baby

Thank you for telling me you've had a good experience with the meter. I saw such bad reviews on Wal-Mart.com that I was getting nervous. Funny, our experiences are reversed. I started with the Alpha Trak and moved to the Libre before my old cat had acromegaly. This guy is a foster and I'm trying to just him normalized in a home environment.