Hi Lora,
Happy to share! Yes, you use all the same standard diabetic testing supplies that people use: lancets, test strips, meter.
The site where I learned absolutely everything is:
The have lots of info, recommendations on monitors (the one I use is not made anymore although I can still get strips for it), sources for buying low-cost supplies, etc. They also usually have updated information about who has what on sale; the monitor itself is the least costly of the supplies and you can often get one free when you purchase a certain number of test strips (the strips are the costly item).
I use the ear stick method of drawing blood; you simply locate the small vein around the perimeter of the ear. Now, I've never had to do it on a black cat where the vein would be a bit harder to see, so for black cats, the paw stick might be better.
I would highly recommend you do buy one of the lancet 'pens'; you put the lancet in and push a button and it does the pierce. I'm not at all 'ishy' about doing medical things, but I have to say, it does bother me somewhat to do the stick with the lancet alone; it's just psychologically easier to know that the device is going to control the depth of the stick.
I calibrated my meter to what I got from blookwork at the vet; there can always be slight variances. Tommy's blood glucose started out at over 500; when we got it down in a good range, I took the number from his bloodwork on a given day (say it was 123) and tested him with my meter. Mine ran slightly lowish (I got about 110 on my meter), so after that I always added around 15 points to his readings. A range that small is not significant.
I hope this helps and that you get the info you need at the website above; please don't hesitate to ask any other questions!
Love, Julie
Lora <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Lora <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Julie,
What a cool idea! If you do not mind me asking, how do
you perform this?
Are you simply using a standardized human diabetic kit
and placing the blood sample on the strips in order to
get a reading? How accurate are the readings? Do you
have a personal preference on which kit you use?
Man, I have absolutely never thought about this! What
a truly great idea. I apologizes for sounds over
ecstatic, but I have always been concerned about my
oldest boys developing diabetes; they will be six (6)
in 2005.
My mother developed type two (2) diabetes back in
2001, the form that does NOT require of insulin, and I
have seen the diabetic kit she uses. I wonder if it
the very same kit you use.
Could you please share?
Have others done this with their diabetics?
Lora
--- Julie Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
Oh, poor Smoky! Yes, stress absolutely can elevate
the glucose level; it's one of the reasons I started
home-testing my diabetics, so that I would be able
to have something to compare the office readings to.
All best wishes on the way; it can be so scary
waiting for all the testing. Still "hoping" for a
run-of-the-mill infection.
Love, Julie
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The all-new My Yahoo! - What will yours do?
http://my.yahoo.com
"I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is
to protection by man from the cruelty of man. "
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged
by the way its animals are treated."
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948)
Paws Come WITH Claws!!!
If you're thinking about de-clawing your cat, you need to re-think your decision to acquire a pe! t.
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we.
