Newbie after glucometer advice

Hi, (from the U.K.)

Have already found so much out in the last few weeks from reading posts on this site. Thanks so much for all the great info.

Ted was diagnosed a few weeks back after becoming really lethargic and losing weight with extreme manic hunger. We changed diet to a low carb high protein before we started on insulin and then started on caninsulin 1.5 (for 1 week), then 2.0 (For 1 week) and now on 2.5 (1 week so far but back to vet in 4 days) as his levels on testing at the vet are still high. 29-31 (they say to aim for 10 but should be 5/6)

His energy levels have increased, still a bit clumsy on jumping but back to hunting and eating his kills .

I want to start testing his BG at home and I was wondering what monitors people recommend, I wish cost was no option, but I have a few poorly animals, so I’m looking for the most accurate but also cost efficient way to do this.

thanks for any advice

 

Hi Jen, and welcome to yourself and Ted.

It's good to hear that your boy is starting to feel better.

One possible reason for the clumsiness might be diabetic neuropathy (nerve damage caused by high blood glucose levels). As Ted's regulation gradually improves that should hopefully reduce/resolve any neuropathy present. Oral supplementation with the methylcobalamin form of vitamin B12 also helps treat neuropathy.

I've seen some UK members use the Gluco Navii meter and I believe the strips are quite reasonably priced. You can get the meter and strips on Amazon (and presumably eBay). I'm going to tag a few UK members to ask if they can recommend some meters for you:

@Elizabeth and Bertie
@Hercule's mum
@Douglas_my ginger cat

In the meantime, here are a couple of helpful links to help you learn more about testing:

Home testing links and tips

Testing and injection tips

There is all manner of useful information specific to the UK about where to get reasonably priced supplies, where to get diabetic-friendly methylcobalamin and folate, and a link to the UK low carb food list at the following thread:

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...-vit-b12-and-other-need-to-know-stuff.137376/

BTW, the Caninsulin/Vetsulin board can be fairly quiet at times, so if you don't get a reply within a reasonable time, try posting on the main Feline Health board (has more footfall).

Keep posting with any questions you have and we'll do all we can to help you both.


Mogs
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Welcome to the forum!
I am a gluco navii user. It is the cheapest I found in the market. I am getting 100 strips for £16 from amazon.
For a week I used the same blood drop to test with gluco navii and alphatrak2, and they are not identical, but they have excellent correlation (not 1:1 - so don't bother converting from one to another. Is all relative anyway. The important thing is that it is repetable and responds as well as alphatrak2 for a fraction of the price *** in my opinion***

 

@Hercule's mum - Thank you!


Mogs
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Hi Jen, waving from Surrey!

That is a big increase in dosage in a short time. How was it determined that the dose increases were necessary...? Tests at the vet's clinic are 'often' higher (sometimes much higher) than they would be at home. And to complicate matters, high blood glucose levels can be caused by too much insulin as well as by too little...
It is great that you want to learn to hometest! That will give you the information you really need to be able to understand what is happening with your kitty's blood glucose.

The most popular glucose meters with UK folks currently are the Alphatrak pet meter (expensive to use), and the the human meters, the 'SD Codefree' and 'Gluco Navii'. The Gluco Navii is the newer meter made by the same manufacturer as the SD Codefree; and it has the advantage of needing a smaller drop of blood for a test (0.5 microlitre instead of the Codefree's 0.9). These two human meters are also probably the cheapest meters to use. The main cost of testing is the test strips.
Other human meters are fine too. The One Touch and Accu-Chek meters are perennially popular. I happen to like the One Touch Verio and get all my test strips cheaper on Ebay.

UK vets often seem to try to persuade their clients to use the Alphatrak pet meter, and even say that the human meters are not suitable for measuring a cat's blood glucose. This is absolute tosh. Human meters were used for many years before pet meters ever became a thing. It's just a matter of understanding the range of numbers for the type of meter that you are using, pet or human.

There is a cheaper pet meter available, called 'Cera-Pet'. But this is absolutely one to avoid, IMHO. The Cera-Pet been found on feline diabetes groups and in independent research to give wonky test results, especially at low numbers. And some people who've bought it are later chucking it in the bin and buying human meters instead...


Eliz

 

@Elizabeth and Bertie - Thanks, Eliz.


Mogs
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Hi all, many thanks for all the info, that is really useful and I shall jump on amazon to see what I can get for hopefully a tomorrow delivery.

the increase was determined by his levels at the vet, but also that his thirst and hunger are still all up there. The vet was suggesting a blood test that checked his levels over 3 weeks, but as we had only just started on insulin we decided to wait a bit longer.

I don’t think we are anywhere near getting on top of it yet, but hopefully making steps towards it. So hopefully a monitor will help. The vet suggested a Libre monitor for him to wear for a week, but as we live rural and him being a hunter, I don’t think it would last. Not sure how feasible that would be on a cat.

can I ask another question, I understand the waiting 20-30 mins after food before the shot, but what is the longest it can be? Sometimes he has gone out after supper and I do get him back in within the 30mins, but what if I didn’t?

 

I’ve moved the posts to Main Health where all new members should start until they get all the basics down on testing, meters, foods, etc.

Thank you.