Accuracy of urine test strips

Baby blue was diagnosed with Diabetes several months ago. Initally I tested her with urine test strips then moved on to glucometer (B/G) My problem now is that the urine strips are consistently reading 500/1000 AM or PM fresh urine or unknown age. The blood test are 350 to 400 in the morning and low 200 at the insulin peak. Just want to know how accurate the test strips are? She now has her blood tested by the vet once a moth is that frequent enough?

 

You're better off hometesting the blood every day yourself using a human glucometer. The urine strips will show you that there' sugar in the urine, but that's been collecting for hours, you won't know at a specific moment in time how your cat is reacting to the insulin.

If the bloodtest you did in the morning was 350-400 and after a few hours or maybe six or seven since you noted peak, it was 200, your seeing how the insulin is helping your cat at specific times during the day. By charting that information you can better deterimine what dose your kitty may feel best at. Collecting data, the numbers, information on how your cat ate that day, what he ate, was he energetic, happy or tired, all of that can really help your kitty.

What type of insulin are using? What food does your kitty eat? Food is another key part to FD management. Low carb, high protein food can bring down blood sugar and help with regulation also.

 

Dear jennifer
Thanks for the advice. Baby Blue is on Humulin insulin 4 Units in the AM. She eats Purina D/M a mixture of dry and
canned. She is fed three times a day. Any other advice you can give me will be greatly appreciated Thanks Rita

 

Cats have a fast metabolism, and most insulins do not last 12 hours in cats, so it is better to give injections BID - every 12 hours.

Humulin N tends to hit hard beginning an hour after injection - then it usually runs out about 8-9 hours after the shot.

There are better insulins for cats - Lantus, Levemir and ProZinc.

Also, the dry food is causing you to need more insulin. 4 units is more than most cats need -- especially when given a high protein / low carbohydrate canned or raw food diet.

I have two diabetic cats (adopted through this board) -- each one gets 0.25 unit of Levemir twice per day. They eat Wellness canned food, which contains ~3% carbohydrates.

We test their blood sugar at home before every injection to make sure it is safe to give the shot.

 

The glucose values from the urine dipsticks are not directly comparable to the glucose levels measured in the blood. Up to the blood-glucose-renal threshold there will be no glucose in the urine. There is no one specific value for the blood-glucose-renal threshold but it is about a blood glucose level of about 240.

 

You might need a new package of urine test strips.