Worried about Libre accuracy amongst other things

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LibreEnquiry

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Hi,

my cat was diagnosed with diabetes 2/3 weeks back. She has chronic pancreatitis and since the diagnosis she eats wet Royal Canin Diabetic food. Exactly 13 days ago, she was fitted with freestyle libre 2. So the sensor is coming to an end in 18 hours as I write this.

She was started on two units twice a day of caninsulin(as its known in Europe)/vetsulin. After about ten days, her blood glucose(BC) would peak around 8mmol and would reach as low as 2.9(roughly 5 housr after her insulin dose). We reduced the dose to 1 unit twice a day and the pattern roughly continued. Yesterday my vet asked me to cut the insulin for a day as it seemed my cat may be in remission.

This all sounds great but my worry is the Libre accuracy - does it dramatically worsen in time? I gave my cat no insulin last night, and it seemed to be reflected in her BC afterwards, which was steady around 6-7mmol for about 7 hours. I gave her no insulin this morning - however, according to libre, today her BC has been 3-4mmol for about six hours(as of now, 7pm). I fed her as normal this morning and have given her supplementary meals in response to the low BC during the day. So to me this makes no sense

I don't necessarily have a specific question - but can anyone rationalize/explain this? Essentially if anyone has any general thoughts I would like to hear them. Am I missing something major? Is the libre liable to be dying? Do I need to go get a glucometer? This is my first cat, I have never dealt with feline/human diabetes before so it is all overwhelming

Thank you
 
Last edited:
LibreEnquiry said:
Hi,

my cat was diagnosed with diabetes 2/3 weeks back. She has chronic pancreatitis and since the diagnosis she eats wet Royal Canin Diabetic food. Exactly 13 days ago, she was fitted with freestyle libre 2. So the sensor is coming to an end in 18 hours as I write this.

She was started on one two units twice a day of caninsulin(as its known in Europe)/vetsulin. After about ten days, her blood glucose(BC) would peak around 8mmol and would reach as low as 2.9(roughly 5 housr after her insulin dose). We reduced the dose to 1 unit twice a day and the pattern roughly continued. Yesterday my vet asked me to cut the insulin for a day as it seemed my cat may be in remission.

This all sounds great but my worry is the Libre accuracy - does it dramatically worsen in time? I gave my cat no insulin last night, and it seemed to be reflected in her BC afterwards, which was steady around 6-7mmol for about 7 hours. I gave her no insulin this morning - however, according to libre, today her BC has been 3-4mmol for about six hours(as of now, 7pm). I fed her as normal this morning and have given her supplementary meals in response to the low BC during the day. So to me this makes no sense

I don't necessarily have a specific question - but can anyone rationalize/explain this? Essentially if anyone has any general thoughts I would like to hear them. Am I missing something major? Is the libre liable to be dying? Do I need to go get a glucometer? This is my first cat, I have never dealt with feline/human diabetes before so it is all overwhelming

Thank you
Click to expand...
LibreEnquiry said:
my cat was diagnosed with diabetes 2/3 weeks back. She has chronic pancreatitis and since the diagnosis she eats wet Royal Canin Diabetic food. Exactly 13 days ago, she was fitted with freestyle libre 2. So the sensor is coming to an end in 18 hours as I write this.

She was started on one two units twice a day of caninsulin(as its known in Europe)/vetsulin. After about ten days, her blood glucose(BC) would peak around 8mmol and would reach as low as 2.9(roughly 5 housr after her insulin dose). We reduced the dose to 1 unit twice a day and the pattern roughly continued. Yesterday my vet asked me to cut the insulin for a day as it seemed my cat may be in remission.

This all sounds great but my worry is the Libre accuracy - does it dramatically worsen in time? I gave my cat no insulin last night, and it seemed to be reflected in her BC afterwards, which was steady around 6-7mmol for about 7 hours. I gave her no insulin this morning - however, according to libre, today her BC has been 3-4mmol for about six hours(as of now, 7pm). I fed her as normal this morning and have given her supplementary meals in response to the low BC during the day. So to me this makes no sense

I don't necessarily have a specific question - but can anyone rationalize/explain this? Essentially if anyone has any general thoughts I would like to hear them. Am I missing something major? Is the libre liable to be dying? Do I need to go get a glucometer? This is my first cat, I have never dealt with feline/human diabetes before so it is all overwhelmingThank you
Click to expand...

It is unfortunately to say that as comfortable for us as well as our cats, the Libre, it is a nightmare as well, the sensors tend to fall off unless glues on, and that irritates the cats skin, although they should work for 14 days, they also stop working before that sometimes after 5-8 days after placed, the cats remove them, and yes, they are not accurate, on High glucose the monitor will only read as far as 365-390 at most then you will only see a HI in your screen and on low numbers in two digits, is were it can get scary they will always read much low numbers than actuality, and sensor expensive, most of us member use the human monitors, such as the ReliOn Premier and strips, I will also tag for you one our members knowledgeable, on the insulin you use in the meantime in order for us to help you, you might want to create your signature and create a spreadsheet, so we can see his progress when you test and we can guide you better, below you have 3 links, Don't worry we have all been there, it is overwhelming but manageable, just take a step back, breath in and breath out, read the sticky notes in the Main Forum, it is also important for diabetic cats to have a diet of 0-10 % carbs wet food (no Kibbles) they contain between 25-35% carbs cats cannot digest, and their pancreas can never heal. You should have a HYPO KIT as well this should contain Karo syrup or Honey, some medium carb foods between 11-15% carbs and some High carbs between 16-24% in case his glucose lowers 50 or less
:bighug::cat::cat:
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-chart.174147/
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/spreadsheets-tech-support-testing-area.6/
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.
If I were you I would go out and buy a human meter. Corky has suggested the ReliOn premier meter which I agree with.
Then if you can set up a spreadsheet with some data from the last couple of weeks, we can help you with dosing.
It is not really a good idea to abruptly stop insulin. We recommend reducing it slowly down to a drop, letting the blood glucose guide us in this.
If you are going to stop the insulin you need to be testing for ketones in the urine, which can develop if the cat still needs insulin and is not getting it. This can lead to a serious condition. To test you will need a bottle of Ketostix which you can buy at Walmart improve a pharmacy. Follow the directions on the bottle. There should be no ketones.
It is overwhelming in the beginning…keep asking questions. :)
 
3-4 mmol/L is in the normal blood sugar range for non diabetics, so a very nice result. Libres should last close to 2 weeks. But it may be time to get a new one if you don't want to get a glucometer.

If you want to test with a hand held blood glucose meter to compare (sometimes the Libre shows lower at the low end), then I'm afraid the Relion is only available in the US. In your country, look for a human meter that needs only a small drop or blood. And preferably cheap test strips.
 
Hi,

I don't have as much experience as the members above, however, I am in the same boat w/ my cat wearing the Libre 2 (I've also had 3 on him). I have to get them applied 10 days MAX otherwise the reads are all over the place and the sensor errors out (tells me to wait 10 minutes) more than it should. I am on probably my 10th sensor by now and it's been very frustrating thus far after about day 3-4, I just don't have faith in it.

I recently purchased the AlphaTrak3 kit off of Amazon, it's a manual blood testing system like the ReliOn items discussed above, but specifically for pets. I have no knowledge of the difference, the members above may, but I chose that kit because the vet tech/friend who came over to help walk me through the process uses it at her vet's office. Tonight was my first time successfully getting a reading (I wasn't able to the last few days because I didn't have the lancing device set at the right depth to get enough blood and I was scared!!) and it came in at 193 whereas the Libre was 167 at the same time. It's definitely heightened my concerns about the Libre even more than before. My biggest scare has been the (possibly false) lows that the Libre could have given.

At this point, and again I'm new too, but definitely consider a manual testing system. I wish I would have before now. I adjusted/stopped giving my cat insulin w/ the assumption his numbers were too low to shoot going off of the Libre reads, but, maybe I should have been this entire time. :( I will start my own glucose curve and adjust accordingly.

Also, this forum has literally been a lifesaver for me. The members who have helped me so far have literally saved my cat's life. This thing is a God send! Good luck, don't ever feel alone and don't forget to take deep breaths.
 
We usually suggest buying a human glucose meter, primarily because of the cost of the test strips, and how easy it is to get refills when you need them. Back in the day, when I started here, the AT's were just starting to come out and no one used them due to the cost. Even my vet used a human meter. It works just fine. Our dosing methods were developed with human meters in mind.

If you compare a human meter (the Libre is one such) against the AT, usually the human meter reads lower, though not always. They are much closer in low numbers. But it is strongly recommended that all Libre lows be double checked with a hand held blood glucose meter as the Libre can indicate lower numbers than the hand held blood meters will.
 
Kristin Boel said:
Hi,

I don't have as much experience as the members above, however, I am in the same boat w/ my cat wearing the Libre 2 (I've also had 3 on him). I have to get them applied 10 days MAX otherwise the reads are all over the place and the sensor errors out (tells me to wait 10 minutes) more than it should. I am on probably my 10th sensor by now and it's been very frustrating thus far after about day 3-4, I just don't have faith in it.


I recently purchased the AlphaTrak3 kit off of Amazon, it's a manual blood testing system like the ReliOn items discussed above, but specifically for pets. I have no knowledge of the difference, the members above may, but I chose that kit because the vet tech/friend who came over to help walk me through the process uses it at her vet's office. Tonight was my first time successfully getting a reading (I wasn't able to the last few days because I didn't have the lancing device set at the right depth to get enough blood and I was scared!!) and it came in at 193 whereas the Libre was 167 at the same time. It's definitely heightened my concerns about the Libre even more than before. My biggest scare has been the (possibly false) lows that the Libre could have given.

At this point, and again I'm new too, but definitely consider a manual testing system. I wish I would have before now. I adjusted/stopped giving my cat insulin w/ the assumption his numbers were too low to shoot going off of the Libre reads, but, maybe I should have been this entire time. :( I will start my own glucose curve and adjust accordingly.

Also, this forum has literally been a lifesaver for me. The members who have helped me so far have literally saved my cat's life. This thing is a God send! Good luck, don't ever feel alone and don't forget to take deep breaths.
Click to expand...

I feel just like you do about this Forum it has saved my Corky, and I can rely on every member that gives advise because it is good advice, all of us see our posts so they can comment or correct and definitely help in every way, I trust them blindly, my Corky has flourished to the point of almost remission, but like Bron said it is important the diet (no dry food) even the "supposed prescribed by the Vet" have a content between 25-35% carbs, and our diabetic babies do not need but 0-10% carb wet foods, We are here to help you in every way possible, someone will always return to you with an answer:bighug::bighug::cat::cat:
 
CORKY said:
It is unfortunately to say that as comfortable for us as well as our cats, the Libre, it is a nightmare as well, the sensors tend to fall off unless glues on, and that irritates the cats skin, although they should work for 14 days, they also stop working before that sometimes after 5-8 days after placed, the cats remove them, and yes, they are not accurate, on High glucose the monitor will only read as far as 365-390 at most then you will only see a HI in your screen and on low numbers in two digits, is were it can get scary they will always read much low numbers than actuality, and sensor expensive, most of us member use the human monitors, such as the ReliOn Premier and strips, I will also tag for you one our members knowledgeable, on the insulin you use in the meantime in order for us to help you, you might want to create your signature and create a spreadsheet, so we can see his progress when you test and we can guide you better, below you have 3 links, Don't worry we have all been there, it is overwhelming but manageable, just take a step back, breath in and breath out, read the sticky notes in the Main Forum, it is also important for diabetic cats to have a diet of 0-10 % carbs wet food (no Kibbles) they contain between 25-35% carbs cats cannot digest, and their pancreas can never heal. You should have a HYPO KIT as well this should contain Karo syrup or Honey, some medium carb foods between 11-15% carbs and some High carbs between 16-24% in case his glucose lowers 50 or less
:bighug::cat::cat:
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-chart.174147/
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/spreadsheets-tech-support-testing-area.6/
Click to expand...
Mine wears a Libre 3. They do not need glue to stay on. Glue actually will shorten the lifespan of the sensor. Yes, she wears a shirt to keep her from scratching it off but she doesn’t mind. And I’ve only had 3 fail early and they were replaced by Abbott. I clip her hair short, clean w/alcohol, use skin tac and cover with mefix tape with a bit of paper over the actual sensor, since the tape falls off before the sensor ends. I love them because she does sometimes go hypo when she just doesn’t eat and I know before it’s severe so I can treat and prevent the extreeme lows. Oh, I do have a glucometer in case I want to double check, but I can get a curve using the libre with less stress to my little old lady.
 
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