Meter Question

Hi All,

In advance thank for all the wonderful information on this site. My Polly aka Woggy was just diagnosed last week and we are new to all this. Have lots of experience with CKD kitties but diabetes is all new. I have a Contour EZ meter at home but my vet told me to get a One Touch because it is the closest to the vet meter. I see many folks here are using a Relion? Is there really a huge difference in the type of human meter I use? She started on her Lantus this weekend and we plan a curve for this coming Sunday 11/1/15.

Thank you for the input!

 

Hi their Woggy's Mom. And Welcome to the Forum. Yes, there is a difference in the pet and human meters. Many of us use the Relion meters because the strips are so affordable. I am not familiar with the cost of Contour EZ strips but to give you an example, the Relion Micro strips are about $36 /100 and the Relion Prime are $18 /100. When you are testing several times a day it can add up and be a nice savings.

We store our data we get from the testing on a Spread Sheet. It helps us to identify the patterns we're looking for when making suggestions on dose increases. Here's some instructions on How to create our spreadsheet. If you need help setting it up, just ask and someone will assist you. Click on my signature where it says Bubba's SS and you will see what it looks like. It looks complicated but it really isn't.

The colored headings at the top are the ranges of glucose values. They are color-coded to clue you in as to meaning.

Each day is 1 row. Each column stores different data for the day.

From left to right, you enter
the Date in the first column
the AMPS (morning, pre-shot, test) in the 2nd column
the Units given (turquoise column)

Then, there are 11 columns labeled +1 through +11
If you test at +5 (5 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +5 column
If you test at +7 (7 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +7 column
and so on.

Halfway across the page is the column for PMPS (evening, pre-shot, test)
To the right is another turquoise column for Units given at the evening shot.

There is second set of columns labeled +1 through +11
If you snag a before bed test at +3, you enter the test number in the +3 column.

We separate day and night numbers like that because many cats go lower at night.

The nadir is the lowest glucose between shots. There is a general period when it will happen which is specific to the insulin being used and testing then helps make sure your cat doesn't go too low.

It is merely a grid for storing the info; no math required.

Hope this helps you.

 

Hi Bobbie,

Your Bubba is beautiful. I can't thank you enough for the guidance on the spread sheet. I need to take some time to absorb it. I was looking at yours actually on a another post before you replied trying to understand it! I found a link on felinediabetes.org that compares some of the meters (not the Relion) and the Contour seems to test very low. I think I will just go with what everyone else uses. If I am understanding correctly do most of you test daily? My vet said a week after starting and then less often after that. I work in the human medical world and for us that is the total opposite.

Thank you again for your time!
Marjon aka
Woggys Mom

 

Your instincts are right on. We test before each shot to be sure the amount we are planning to give is safe. And we test at nadir to see how the dose is working. We have a Lantus forum; the stickies at the top have great info on dosing, testing etc.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-glargine-levemir-detemir.9/

 

The OneTouch meters are great. I used to use them but the strips are very pricey, $75 for 50 strips from ADW
The Confirm meter is a rebranded Glucocard 01 and ADW has the strips for $19/50
http://search.adwdiabetes.com/search?keywords=Glucocard 01

 

Thank you Sue and Oliver I was looking at that forum as well. A lot to learn makes my CKD and stomatitis cat seem like a breeze!

 

Thank you Larry for that. I am seeing that becomes the main concern since using so many test strips! I just want to make sure I am not told to increase or decrease her Lantus based on a meter that is way off.