Maggie earned her wings.

[farrwf]

Re: Maggie (I've cried a lot)

the true track takes a ginormous amount of blood far more than any meters i have tried any other meter you will get will seem like a drop in the bucket and actually will seem so easy after using the true track . that was my first meter i have a collection of 4 now one touch rellion nova max and prodigy

You need to get the free FreeStyle Lite it comes with some free strips and lances.

I've got a free Nova Max PLUS and a Free FreeStyle Lite, both in mint condition. One of these days I'll have to start on the O when he's in a real good mood.

[jesse girl]

Re: Maggie (I've cried a lot)

You need to get the free FreeStyle Lite it comes with some free strips and lances.

I've got a free Nova Max PLUS and a Free FreeStyle Lite, both in mint condition. One of these days I'll have to start on the O when he's in a real good mood.

jesse is cheering on the O for that first test you have already started the collection time to get down to business if the O will cooperate

[Diane Roehm]

Re: Maggie (I've cried a lot)

I went a bought a wal mart Reli On, I have to tell you what a difference it makes I actually got a sample from a spot they shaved on her back at the vets office. It took me a few tries but she didn't feel a thing and it really did not take much blood. YAY!

Her blood glucose is 203 right now.(no lunch for the first time) I will try to check again before her 6:30 shot. I tested some blood on me with the true track I was 122 with the reli-on I was 103 so like 20 points difference Of course I was stressed because I had to poke myself like 5 times to get a reading with the true track. I should of did this a long time ago. By the way CraigM if you are reading this the numbers are with no alcohol in my system. lol

[CraigM]

Re: Maggie (I've cried a lot)

By the way CraigM if you are reading this the numbers are with no alcohol in my system. lol

Sounds like some testing should be done!

Which of the ReliOn meters did you get?

[Diane Roehm]

Re: Maggie (I've cried a lot)

Yes, some testing should absolutely be done! ha ha. I got the reli On confirm. I just got another reading and it is at 1:30 203 and at 3:00 193, hope it doesn't go down to much without that lunch. I guess I should check it at 6:30 when i feed her and give her insulin.

Poor thing she really doesn't feel good today. Hope I can get her regulated soon. Do you think this meter is accurate enough?

OK CraigM after one beer for myself Reli On 110 and true track 104, seems like I can have a few more.

[CraigM]

Re: Maggie (I've cried a lot)

The Confirm seems to test lower than my AlphaTrak. I've done dozens of comparisons and use a conversion factor of 0.66 to convert the Confirm reading to nearly match the reading of the AlphaTrak. (I divide the Confirm's reading by 0.66). So, if Annie had 193 on the Confirm, that would be 292 "converted".


The readings would be much closer at lower numbers: 70 on the Confirm would become 106 converted to match my AlphaTrak. Some here don't try to convert and just add something like 30 points to their human meter reading, others just go with the reading that shows on the meter. Whatever you are comfortable doing!

Enjoy the testing!

[Diane Roehm]

Re: Maggie (I've cried a lot)

I may never learn all this. 193 to 292 seems like an awful lot to be off by Am I reading that right? Should I add 30 to what my reading says because it is a human meter?

[jesse girl]

Re: Maggie (I've cried a lot)

you may just want to treat the numbers as they are that's actually what i ended up doing your not looking at the exact number but trends the ups and downs of blood sugar and of coarse lower blood sugar

[CraigM]

Re: Maggie (I've cried a lot)

Yep, there is a big error between the meters, especially at high numbers. When you think about it, 193 and 292 are both high numbers and if either one were the lowest number of the cycle you'ld do pretty much the same thing. If you're not comfortable doing the conversion based on my comparisons (dividing by 0.66), you could do the "add 30", or just use the reading directly from the meter. Either of the three methods would probably be OK in the target area in the low 100s (lowest point in curve).

[Diane Roehm]

Re: Maggie (I've cried a lot)

Does anyone know the comparison between the true track and the Reli On? Like is the true track higher in the readings or are they pretty close?

[jjefferjo]

Re: Maggie (I've cried a lot)

I too use the relion confirm with a conversion factor. I absolutely love it
less blood- cheaper strips

[k9diabetes]

Re: Maggie (I've cried a lot)

Some general comments on meters.

There is no standard comparison or adjustment you can make with a meter or between meters. It varies with the dog and the brand of meter and even sometimes between meters of the same brand with your dog.

Some meters have a better reputation than others with animal blood. OneTouch Ultra is one meter that tends to be more accurate with animal blood than some of the others. It is "usually" around 30-50 points lower than actual but it still can vary quite a bit and would have to be verified with your meter and your dog.

I think some brands do better with animal blood because the test process they use is less sensitive to blood cell size. I'm still hoping to find time to read a comparison of meter technologies I came across online so I better understand the way the various meters measure blood sugar.

It's those differences in the blood of dogs that make the meters tend to read the blood sugar low. So even if the meter is very accurate on human blood, it's not necessarily so with animal blood.

At times, it has seemed that some meters work better for small dogs and cats than others... there's a whole lot of variation.

Also all meters, even when used on humans, are less accurate at high blood sugar levels. They are made to be most accurate under 250 or 300. So even when people test their blood sugar with the meter, the readings in the high range are not as reliable. And high is high regardless so it's not really necessary to know exactly how "too high" it is.

The last thing I wanted to mention is that you tend to get what you pay for with meters. The "Lite" or "Mini" meters tend not to perform as well as the full-scale versions. And many of the cheaper meters also are not as reliable.

The jury so far is still out on the NovaMax, which some have been trying recently, for example. The strips are inexpensive and some of the readings have seemed to be pretty accurate - even with OneTouch - but there's been questions about how consistent the meter is in the readings as they have seemed to some to bounce around.

That's why in the end I recommend just a few brands with a good history of working well with dogs and also of giving consistent accurate results.

For a while, there were counterfeit strips being sold online for some brands. If you're buying on Ebay and find the meter isn't performing well, it might be worth buying a bottle of strips from the pharmacy and seeing whether the store strips perform better.

I compared my OneTouch with lab analyses and also did the long comparison with the AlphaTrak so felt comfortable in predicting what the readings meant. They were also confirmed by urine tests I did occasionally with Chris. It's a process to determine how your meter works with your dog. But a good reminder not to get too focused on exact numbers and work more with ranges of blood sugar.

Natalie

[Diane Roehm]

Re: Maggie (I've cried a lot)

Yesterday was the first day that I stopped feeding Maggie her lunch.

I got a new meter the Reli On and it was so much better getting blood.

Here is what happened last night. I am really baffled as what is going on. I fed her 1/2 more dinner than she is used to because I am adding the calories I took away at lunch.
3:00 193
4:30 197
6:00 247 2 1/2 cups food w/d 12 units humilin N
7:00 271
8:00 309
9:40 335
2:00 458 Maggie woke me up I knew it must be high she was really nausaus
6:00 338 she would only eat 2 cups 12 units insulin.

I don't understand why the numbers were going up last night, (to much food not enough insulin???) The vet has told me to raise to 14 units but I thought since I was changing her food around I would wait. Now I am thinking I should do it. I am going to continue the curve today but would love some thought from people.

Thanks

[k9diabetes]

Re: Maggie (I've cried a lot)

Yikes... with blood sugar of 193, please do NOT go to 14 units!

I wouldn't do anything with her insulin in the morning until she's been on this meal plan for at least a day and a half or two days. Observe what happens without changing anything else. She's not even through one full cycle of the new diet yet.

Could very well be she needs more insulin at night than in the daytime. Her numbers this morning will tell you more about that. I'd want to see how low the blood sugar goes today without the lunch meal and with the calories moved back to breakfast.

Her night-time curve is a "mountain" - that's good to know. Let's see how things go today and then you will have more information on which to base a decision.

If she does need more insulin, I wouldn't got up more than 1 unit. I might even go up only half a unit. Depends on her blood sugar today and tonight.

It looks like she might be slow to convert her meals to sugar.

Natalie

[Diane Roehm]

Re: Maggie (I've cried a lot)

Thanks Natalie, what do you mean It's good to know her night time curve is a mountain? Natalie I will be posting the numbers later. Could you please give me your thoughts.
I was thinking maybe raising it at night she seems to eat more at night than she does in the morning as well. I had a hard time to get her to eat 2 cups. Thanks Natalie, your opinion means a lot.