Confusing meter

I have tested the meter with the testing liquid and it seems fine. I have been testing Greylie and he seems OK he was 81. I have tested myself/since my bg is on the higher side. Yesterday at 7.30 am I was 120/118/111/102 and today 118/99/92 both days after fasting at 7.30 am on a different finger every time within seconds of each other.

Now I worry that I will get wrong readings for the cats too. My vet does not trust the human meter and thinks that if Sophia' is coming back from her honeymoon... which she thinks she will.... please don't Sophia.... I should buy a cat meter.I would not want to stick my cats 3 times but worry that I don't have the right numbers. What do you all think?

 

The accuracy of human meters is only +/- 20% and the values you obtained are within that range. An animal meter might be a little better is getting the actual BG better but should have about the same +/- since the animal meters take the "test value" and modify it to reflect animal vice human blood.

Almost all human meter are perfectly satisfactory for felines.

 

These miraculous meters are designed to be inexpensive and "good enough" to keep humans alive.

The accuracy is +/- 20 %. This is true for pretty much ALL human glucometers and probably the pet ones as well.

This means that if you test from the same drop of blood, the readings could vary this much and still be "accurate":

28-35-42 Snack time!

40-50-60 (40 is 80% of 50, 60 is 120% of 50)

80-100-120

160-200-240

240-300-360

320-400-480

400-500-600

So your readings for different fingers are really the same -- within the accuracy range of the meter.

It would be interesting to use the vet's meter and test each finger and see if you get similarly varying results -- or read the paperwork and check the "accuracy" percentage. The vet may not want to -- both from the expense $$$$ point of view, and because he doesn't want you to see the same variation (which you most likely will).

If you think about the ranges above in terms of "Do I shoot or not?", the only questionable one is at 200 -- and that is why it is important to keep a log and record of what happens when you shoot at the lower numbers.

 

Thank you.... I think I just add my numbers up and divide by 3 to get an average
.

When Greylie was 194 I was told not to shoot and pretty soon after that he was diet controlled on wet food and now has been for a long time. My vet said that she would not worry about Sophia being 200 .. of course if she gets a lot higher it will be a problem and she will go back on insulin. The last time I needed that I could give her humilin L... worked great adn was very inexpensive.

I can't tell you how glad I am to have this board and I am so grateful to all of you.

 

There is no need to test 3 times and take an average.

The only time you should retest is if you think the first test is crazy and might be wrong.

Because sometimes there is an error. Once in a while, I'll get an odd low reading because the test strip did not get enough blood. When i retest, I get a more expected number. Again -- no averaging -- if a number is wacky, it can be ignored after you retest.

 

Thanks Phoebe.. I would never stick my cat 3 times....once is an unhappy time for them already especially for Sophia. I checked myself 3 times figuring that it would be about the same for my kitties plus... I have a dr myself who goes crazy when I am a little higher than 100....... which is unfortuantely the case when I have a big blood test....

 

by any chance do you need to code your meter? If you do, is it set to match the test strips? When I first got my meter, I didn't know about coding and got all kinds of funky numbers.

 

Coding the meter only effects the absolute accuracy of the meter. It will not effect the range of BG displayed.