Need lots of help with my ROXY newly Diagnosed Monday

[Abia]

Re: Need lots of help with my ROXY newly Diagnosed Monday

Abia! Thank you for your encouragement! You've gotten much farther along then I have. I'm having to take it super slow b/c my Diesel is so touchy. Once we get the shots down I'll go on to blood testing.

I tried to do it for the 1st time in her carpal bad she screamed so loud i felt like a bad dog mom. I'll have to stick to urine testing for now, and still waiting for them to come in the mail.

~Jessica

Omg ROxy is the same way with her feet & ears....can't even think about trying lips. I can't take all the credit I learned like 3 years ago how to hometest and give the shot b/c my friend had a diabetic cat and needed help when she went out of town. SOO glad I learned then b/c this would be that much more overwhelming. Just know that you can do it. Its really in your best interest to learn to hometest. I have a way harder time with roxy than my friends cat right not. SHe is squirmy and scared poor baby. Roxyis the sweetest dog but when it comes to being held down poked proded (not that i blame her) She tends to be a little aggressive and snappy with me but I can manage her it just takes a lot of time. Everyone else she is ridiculous with and very aggressive has to be muzzle everytime we are at the vet for example even before the diabetes. But just like Deisel they will eventually get used to it.

[Abia]

Re: Need lots of help with my ROXY newly Diagnosed Monday

Ok everyone back from my consult. I like the vet she listened and gave her advice. She suggested that Roxy be on 6 units twice a day am/pm. So 12 units total. I thought that was a lot. Also I got a blood glucose test done and they used their alphatrack 2 and i had them use my Relion Micro

Roxys readings at 6pm at the vet before food and insulin ( I will be giving her 4 units in a couple mins)
alphatrack 2 tested @318
RelionMicro tested @ 218


This seriously scares me.
Would anyone like to try and take a stab at why this could happen?
Maybe my meter is bad.

Alphameter 2 spec for dogs and cats ordered through that vet is $191.00
$81.00 for strips ( can't remember how many)

Im still getting another opinion on monday I did like this vet more than my old though. ITs at a VCA animal hospital so its expensive
and she recommended hospitalzing roxys for 2 days and possibly getting a fructose reading later on. Also ideal range for Roxy 100-300 if we can get her consistant in that range thats what she considers regulated. But that every dog is different.

Any thoughts?

[SandyL]

Re: Need lots of help with my ROXY newly Diagnosed Monday

Really glad you liked her!

Watch out for those VCA vets.... That's where tig was diagnosed and in my 20+ years of dealing with them I've noticed if I don't stand my ground, they will soak me for every penny. At least in my area

Why would they want to hospitalize her.... She's healthy so personally I'd say no $$$$$$

Frutosimines are an average of her BG over a period of time, doesn't give you info on her daily highs and most importantly lows.... Useless if you test at home!! Save the money and buy more Alpha test strips

Meters can read really wacky at different numbers. Generally when you get in the 300s the CAN be as much as 100 points off but with the lower numbers they are generally more accurate. At least with my One Touch it's my experience
Did they use venous blood or capillary for their test??? We use capillary, my vet used venous. Testing the 2 different types will also give you widely different readings

Sandy

[Abia]

Re: Need lots of help with my ROXY newly Diagnosed Monday

Really glad you liked her!

Watch out for those VCA vets.... That's where tig was diagnosed and in my 20+ years of dealing with them I've noticed if I don't stand my ground, they will soak me for every penny. At least in my area

Why would they want to hospitalize her.... She's healthy so personally I'd say no $$$$$$

Frutosimines are an average of her BG over a period of time, doesn't give you info on her daily highs and most importantly lows.... Useless if you test at home!! Save the money and buy more Alpha test strips

Meters can read really wacky at different numbers. Generally when you get in the 300s the CAN be as much as 100 points off but with the lower numbers they are generally more accurate. At least with my One Touch it's my experience
Did they use venous blood or capillary for their test??? We use capillary, my vet used venous. Testing the 2 different types will also give you widely different readings

Sandy

Sandy VCA is the same here very expensive. I did say no to the hospitalizing b/c she will be totally stressed she does not do well at the vet. so I figure the readings would be off from that alone.
Im assuming venous. They used a syringe to get the blood. They kinda surprised when they brought their alphatrack in to test it / I figured they would do it in a machine with precise result. I just asked them to put some blood on my test strips Relion Micro and Couldn't believe the difference that ridiculous. Im tempting to buy another one for the monday visit with the other vet and test both there as well. UGH but they still charged me $34.00 Bucks whatever worth a try.

[Rubytuesday]

Re: Need lots of help with my ROXY newly Diagnosed Monday

Hey there, Animal blood is different then people blood. I think it is because the molecules are bigger so not as much flows down to where the bgs get read.

I have an AT and a Prime (relion's other meter) I have done comparisons between the AT and the Prime and most tests use the Prime. I only use the AT now if I have seen a low and want to be sure Ruby is coming back up.

If I had gotten a 218 on my meter my conversion for that would get that to a 272. It's not a perfect approach, but I know my dog's trends quite well and feel comfortable that it is close enough. We test frequently and can't use the at system that often for the price of strips.

If you want to use a human meter it is good to do your own comparison as your dog and meter may trend a bit different then mine. Also the disparity between the meters will change at different ranges. For instance I have a different multiplier for an 80 then I do for a 200. Just a caution, the At and human meters tend to be fairly close when in the low numbers.

I find with the Prime I need to get a fat little blood drop and just touch the top of the drop, not letting the strip acually touch the skin. I used to get a fair amount of error readings from not having drawn up enough blood and sometimes you wouldn't get the error reading just a lower number. I have been frustrated at times, but my technique has improved and now I feel comfortable with it.

I would never pay for a fructosamine test. It is only an average since the last time the dog has peed and there may be highs and lows together to make the numbers look acceptable.

With readings in the 300s I would not do a 2 unit increase and also wouldn't do an increase without a curve. There is so much that could be going on that one test won't reveal. What you really want to determine is what is the lowest number during the day and when that happens. From there you can decide if an increase is warranted.

Tara

[jesse girl]

Re: Need lots of help with my ROXY newly Diagnosed Monday

now i know we compare our humane meters to the alpha trak 2 but do the vets compare the alpha trak to a lab analyzer to check for accuracy at all levels especially at higher range do we really know how accurate it really is at higher levels it is possible the range could be somewhere in the middle between the 2 meters hard to say without a comparison to a lab analyzer so it maybe worth asking have they compared to a lab analyzer especially at higher levels .

for me i take a common sense approach if one meter appears to have a flatter profile than another i usually will use those numbers as my standard for me i just dont think blood sugar fluctuates that much during the day

i do apply physical symptoms to that also usually big swings in blood sugar up or down jesse slows down

its not a perfect science it is most accurate at 150 below but once you creep up over 200 its hard to say i dont own an alpha trak but i believe i have to see some comparisons to lab analyzers to say it is fairly accurate at higher levels

[CraigM]

Re: Need lots of help with my ROXY newly Diagnosed Monday

alphatrack 2 tested @318
RelionMicro tested @ 218


This seriously scares me.
Would anyone like to try and take a stab at why this could happen?
Maybe my meter is bad.

Alphameter 2 spec for dogs and cats ordered through that vet is $191.00
$81.00 for strips ( can't remember how many)

Believe it or not, your comparison between the AT2 and ReliOnMicro is identical to what I would see between my AT2 and ReliOn Prime! I divide my Prime reading by .68 to get an AT2 equivalent. This equivalent is usually within a few points of the AT2 if I tested with both meters.

Interested in th AT2? Don't know if this $59 special is still available or not. Might need to telephone and sweet talk them!. They also sell the test strips for a descent price.

[CraigM]

Re: Need lots of help with my ROXY newly Diagnosed Monday

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Oops, forgot the link! Hope it still works.

[Abia]

Re: Need lots of help with my ROXY newly Diagnosed Monday

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact....Zgpiotug%3D%3D

Oops, forgot the link! Hope it still works.

I will try and call tom. Craig Thanks! That conversion will come in handy as well.
Rubytuesday and jessegirl - thanks for the info still trying to find my groove in all this!

TO ALL thanks for all the support thus far I feel better knowing that there are others there to help and advise!

[k9diabetes]

Re: Need lots of help with my ROXY newly Diagnosed Monday

Definitely skip the hospitalization and I also would skip the fructosamine test - use that money to get an AlphaTrak meter and it's more expensive strips if it will make you and the vet feel more comfortable with testing her at home.

We did one fructosamine for the vet when we first started with her because she felt like it told her something. I disagreed, but figured it was worth making her feel comfortable. After that, I refused them and relied solely on home testing numbers and curves done at home.

** When did she have insulin and food and how much insulin was she given prior to that reading at the vet?

I am concerned that 6 units twice a day is too much and I personally wouldn't start there.

It seems like the micro and lite meters are not quite as good with animal blood as the full sized ones - they may use slightly different chemical analyses to come up with a number that is more skewed with animal blood.

If you want to use a human meter to save money, I would invest in a OneTouch Ultra - it has the best reputation so far for accuracy with canine blood and the strips are quite a bit less than AlphaTrak strips. I used to order mine from www.hocks.com - not as cheap as eBay or Amazon but reliably stocked and a lot cheaper than the local pharmacies. I got many of my diabetes supplies from Hocks.

Natalie

[Abia]

Re: Need lots of help with my ROXY newly Diagnosed Monday

Definitely skip the hospitalization and I also would skip the fructosamine test - use that money to get an AlphaTrak meter and it's more expensive strips if it will make you and the vet feel more comfortable with testing her at home.

We did one fructosamine for the vet when we first started with her because she felt like it told her something. I disagreed, but figured it was worth making her feel comfortable. After that, I refused them and relied solely on home testing numbers and curves done at home.

** When did she have insulin and food and how much insulin was she given prior to that reading at the vet?

I am concerned that 6 units twice a day is too much and I personally wouldn't start there.

It seems like the micro and lite meters are not quite as good with animal blood as the full sized ones - they may use slightly different chemical analyses to come up with a number that is more skewed with animal blood.

If you want to use a human meter to save money, I would invest in a OneTouch Ultra - it has the best reputation so far for accuracy with canine blood and the strips are quite a bit less than AlphaTrak strips. I used to order mine from www.hocks.com - not as cheap as eBay or Amazon but reliably stocked and a lot cheaper than the local pharmacies. I got many of my diabetes supplies from Hocks.

Natalie

Natalie
That was my concern that 6 was too much! Im still debating on the meter. THinking I need to grab it when it goes on sale again. TOOO bad I missed that black friday sale. I will have to search for one. I leaning toward a onetouch ultra to hold me over til then.
Got readings today every 2hr starting at 7 am its very interesting. to see how her curve is going I will update you all asap. GOing to walmart now for thicker lancets b/c im just not getting enough blood and going through strips with errors - SO FRUSTRATING!
THANKS for the input! Will update soon about her curve today!

[Abia]

Re: Need lots of help with my ROXY newly Diagnosed Monday

Todays results
7am- 507
7:15- fed 1/2cup dry Sceince Diet W/D 2tbsp wet)
7:30- gave 4 units
9:30- 295
11:30-358
1:30- 443
3:30- 289
6:00- 261 before eating same as above
615- gave 4 units
830- 377

Dont really know what to think about this. THis is just with my Relion meter so who knows what the actual numbers are

CRaigM do you think I should do the .68 conversion?

I tried to pick a one touch ultra meter none and of course none in town! I hate this small town. Im looking on amazon right now to try and find it. I also couldn't find the 26 or 25 lancets soo annoyed and roxy was extra hard to get blood to bead up tonight.

Hopefully tom will be better!


Doing it all over again tom. Yeah

[CraigM]

Re: Need lots of help with my ROXY newly Diagnosed Monday

I really hate to tell anyone to apply the .68 conversion based on only your one comparison. All I can say is that the .68 works well for my situation (AlphaTrak2 and ReliOn Prime).

[Patty]

Re: Need lots of help with my ROXY newly Diagnosed Monday

Abia,
Wanted to add my very belated welcome to you and Roxy! Sounds like you are on the right track. I used a Relion Micro for a little while just to see how it did. It ran about 70+ points low for me.

If you are looking at a OneTouch, Amazon sells them for about $20 including shipping. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...netouch+ultra2 You can also get test strips cheaper on ebay (watch for good expiration dates and factory sealed boxes).

Take care,
Patty

[Rubytuesday]

Re: Need lots of help with my ROXY newly Diagnosed Monday

"I would never pay for a fructosamine test. It is only an average since the last time the dog has peed and there may be highs and lows together to make the numbers look acceptable."

Woops, Not what I meant. The wires must have gotten crossed. I was getting UA strips and Fructosamine tests all mixed up. The fructosamine gives an average of the last two weeks. Still flawed, but wanted to clear that up.

Tara