??? Please help. Alpha trak uncallobrated - how far off can readings be.

Hi everyone. My cat was diagnosed with diabetes last Friday. I was given an alpha trak and sent home to take readings after being instructed how to use it. I asked if i could just open and use it and it would be fine and it would be okay and the vet tec confirmed. I stupidly did not read the instructions and did not calibrate till now with the test solution. This was off by a about 2 points. I re set the code to whats on the strip bottle. Does this mean that the last weeks worth of readings were hugely off? They were reading low and I was told to stop insulin!

 

There are 7 known cat codes on the AT meter (there may be more we haven't seen here yet) and while there would be some variance in the readings with the wrong cat code, I seriously doubt it would be drastic. That said, if by any chance you were using a dog code for those initial readings, the readings could be further out of actual range.
Cat codes we are aware of are: 07, 08, 22, 37,38, 92,93.

I see you are Canadian. (Hi from another Canuck!) You have input your readings on the spreadsheet on the US sheet when they should be entered on the World sheet. Right now, I'm not sure what your readings were because the numbers look strange. Can you re-enter your readings from last week on the World sheet so we have an idea of what readings you were seeing. And when you re-enter them on the World sheet, start your entries on line 11 so the formula to convert the Cdn. values to US values will work properly. Then you can remove the lines you originally put your readings on.

If I have totally confused you, let me know.

 

It was set on 14. I try reentering the values.

 

I have no idea what code 14 is for so it's anybody's guess whether or how much it would have skewed your readings. It's too bad the vet tech apparently didn't have a clue about the meter and a bit scary. The only thing you can do at this point is make a note in the comments section of the spreadsheet for the day you recalibrated to the right cat code. Continue to take readings morning and night for a couple of days without giving insulin and see if they are falling within normal AT meter range. Normal readings would be 3.9 to 8.3 although IDEXX lab indicates normal is 4.0 to 9.7. If you see numbers above the normal range, then I would post for some assistance about continued dosing.

 

Thank you so much, Linda. Readings were 10.1 at 9 am, 8.4 at 11 am and 5.6 at 1245pm. He has only been grazing at his breakfast this morning though which may contribute to the declines? I wonder if you have any tips or have experience in feeding post diagnosis. Mako was ravenous when first home from the vet last week and ate almost all of his twice daily meals in one sitting. He has really wained on this and am wondering if he's growing tired of the food. My husband gave him a few pieces of his old kibble and he had no troubles eating that at all. I just don't want to get off the low carb wet food.

 

Looks like Mako still needs a little insulin based on those readings. Was that 10.1 at 9am right after eating at least some of his morning meal? While the Purina DM is fine, I have seen a lot of folks say their kitty got bored with it very quickly and wonder if that perhaps could be what you are seeing with Mako.
The Purina DM is also very expensive and no better ingredient wise than a number of readily available retail brands of food. Obviously you need to find something that will not upset Mako's IBD and make any food changes slowly but you should be able to find something else he likes if for no other reason than a little variety.

Normally, we do not limit our diabetics to twice daily feeding. Providing multiple feedings (4-6) through the day and night evens out the insulin needs and keeps any ravenous hunger at bay. Food is often broken up into two meals given at shot time and then smaller snacks for the other feedings.

Have you seen this FOOD INFO..... lots of options below 10% carbs to choose from in the first two linked documents by Dr. Pierson.