Need help from this group

Hello everyone. My cat Baxter was diagnosed about five weeks ago . He is on the Lantus pen and we started him at 2 units twice a day. He is now on 3 units twice a day and I am doing my second glucose curve today which is still horrible . Blood sugars are 5 to 600 and I'm questioning whether Lantus is doing anything at all . I've wondered if the insulin was bad, but it is only about a month old and I have kept it in the refrigerator as per my vet's instructions . Baxter is 15 years old and 13.5 lbs. he weighed 15lbs before he was diagnosed . Should I be switching to a different insulin? Also, my vet told me I needed to use a meter calibrated for animals as there blood sugar is measured differently than humans, so I cannot use a human glucometer and am using AlphaTrax2 . Yet I read that people are using a human glucometer???? So confused about this. I certainly need to know I am getting accurate glucose readings . Thanking everyone in advance for their feedback .

 

Hi Cindy, and welcome! I would recommend that you post this in the Lantus forum so you can get some specific advice for your insulin. There are some incredibly helpful and wise people over there who I'm sure can help you start to figure out how to help Baxter.

And yes, many of us use human glucometers because we test a lot and the strips are significantly less expensive. Our protocols work for either human or pet meters. Quite a few people will use both meters: the human meter for day to day monitoring, and the pet meter for occasional curves to give data to the vets. You can't really compare the numbers since there is no exact conversion, but both types of meters will work since at lower numbers, the readings between the two meters are very close, and at higher numbers, we're really looking at the movement between numbers (how much of a rise or drop) more than the exact reading.

 

Thank you very much for your help and feedback!

 

Either meter will tell you if you are high or low, but your vet is correct that only a pet meter is calibrated for cat blood. Human meters run lower than the pet meters, and the difference between them is sugnifficantly greater the higher the number, and closer in lower numbers. So for example a cat that reads 450 on a pet meter, might only read 350 on a human meter... but a cat that reads 70 on a pet meter might read 50 on a human meter... you see? Either way it will let you know if your cat is too high or too low. On an alphatrak normal is 68-150 where on a pet meter normal is 50-120.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both.... Alpha advantage: Accurate and you will get the same reading as your vet. Disadvantage, strips are expensive
Human meter: Will still tell you if your cat is above normal, or in hypo numbers. Test strips are more affordable Disadvantage: Not the same readings as your vet.

I personally chose to use the Alphatrak because the cost to have the same readings as my vet was worth it to me... but if cost was a factor I would have used a human meter.

If you decide to stay with the Alphatrak the cheapest place I've found to buy them is aswdiabetes.com who (with a $5 discount code) you can order them for $48. Amazon is a few dollars more but if you have prime you can get them very quickly.

 

Thank you! That makes sense.

 

Welcome Cindy and Baxter!
Great to hear that you are already home testing Lots of information on the forum and experienced members who live and breathe feline diabetes! Few things to get you started.
A signature with some basic information helps us with bad memories: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/

We are very data driven here and highly promote home testing. It is the best tool in caring for our fur babies diabetes. Here is the Spreadsheet we use, all you need is a Google account: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

And this is always good to have on hand, even if kitty is still in higher numbers: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

If you need help with ANYTHING, don't be afraid to ask.

 

Thank you!