Continuous Glucose Monitor

is that an arm patch?

 

If only we could get a feline to eat the right foods, and on schedule. A bit tough in a multi-feline household with different eating cycles. When initially diagnosed, the diabetic one could not jump up the cat tree, so the forbidden meals was placed up there. But as treatment improved his health, he was able to get up there and help himself.

A glucose monitor did allow us to better tune his insulin dose. This image is from the second round of monitoring, and is a much better result than the first round. The better dose has allowed him to gain weight, and reduced his excessive water intake and litterbox use. We'll try a third round in a few weeks. For veterinary use, these monitors are not used full time, but just for occasional sampling.




Images are different than in the OP because the FreeStyle Libre 3 mobile app is not compatible with our phones, thus a separate USB reader is required to retrieve the sensor data. The FreeStyle Libre 2 app would have been compatible, but that series was obsoleted, production ceased. A form of planned obsolescence with forced upgrades.

I was pre-diabetic myself a couple decades ago. Frequent bicycle commuting after a job change, then retiring and getting out of the office and outside for more exercise, helped greatly in preventing it from crossing the threshold into actual diabetes.

 

I have removed two sensors from the cat after their 14-day operating runs. The in-body sensing element is a flexible but somewhat stiff narrow strip, from memory I'd say about 1/4" long, but someone else can refine that guesstimate the next time they remove one.

Basically a coin-cell-sized electronic device on the skin surface, with a small hole for a needle within the applicator to place the sensing element inside the skin. The 14-day operating life is enforced by the internal clock, so users can't be 'freeloaders' trying to save a bit money by squeezing more life out of it until the battery actually runs out. The manufacturers want to collect their annuity payments refill revenues.

That said, this thing seems vastly more informative and revealing than the one-shot skin-prick glucose measuring strips.

 

pre-diabetic, can't get one without a prescription, can't get a prescription unless I'm on insulin. Bass-Ackwards health system. If I could have one of these I could much easier control my eating habits, and PREVENT diabetes.

 

did you try bobs website? stelo.cm > /

 

Very interesting topic see also

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41390-024-03573-x

Bass ackwards it may be. Consider buying a non-prescription fingerstick device. Our Bob will delight in telling how longer after any meal the glucose concentration spike appears. Use that info to know when to 'take your sample'.

 

imagine something like this that could monitor everything in your body? i think we'll get there someday

 

I wonder if by "can't get one" he means insurance won't cover it, not that he can't get one even if he was willing to go on the website and buy it. I used to occasionally buy the Freestyle Libre (competitor to Dexcom) without a prescription on diabetic warehouse for a little over $100, but that was for only 14 days. This Stelo by Dexcom is much more reasonable.

Insurance won't likely cover it for prediabetes until their is a controlled trial showing it reduces the incidence of diabetes compared to general nutrition and exercise advice. I am a registered dietitian and Medicare won't even cover Medical Nutrition Therapy (basically nutrition consults) for prediabetes. They cover a group Diabetes Prevention Program, but the rules are so cumbersome and the reimbursement to providers is so low that very few hospital systems or doctor's offices offers it.

 

No, regardless of insurance or paying on my own, a prescription was needed. I did look up Stelo and this is new. Prior to a few weeks ago a CGM was only allowed by prescription. FDA reasoning was that it punctured the skin and inserted a needle and was therefore considered a medical device. I'm not sure how Stelo gets around this, it appears to be a 15 minute delay in the result reporting? In any case I did order a pair to try them out.

 

The FreeStyle Libre 3 monitors I bought for our cat a couple months ago, were $40 each.

The CGM and insulin we use are the human versions, obtained through a human pharmacy, not veterinary pharmacy. With prescriptions, written by a veterinarian. In contrast, the syringes and skin-prick glucose monitor & strips are veterinary versions obtained through Amazon, without prescription.

 

I suspect that if people can get them for cats then people can get them for people.
$100 a month doesn't seem to be out of reach for most people, and if you cannot afford that price then I'm thinking that our "Bass Ackwards" health care system might foot some of the costs.

Like all things.....someday soon the $3000.00 Betamax machine will 'probably' be replaced by a $10 unit that is more effective.

HOWEVER (comma!!!)
Thus far, despite my best efforts, I'm not in the market.
Some people in my orbit endure semi-occasional finger pricks but only for monitoring purposes in a pre-prediabetic/insulin resistance mode.

YMMV

 

These became available this year.
I believe there are minor differences that allowed the FDA to give the OK for them to be sold without a perscription.
Dexcom also makes one that can be bought without a perscription.

 

The old home-town vet helped with that, for customers who had difficulty affording human-rated pharmaceuticals.

But that isn't what we did here. We used human-rated products, acquired through human-rated product channels, for veterinary use on a diabetic cat.

 

Hope the cat leads a loong and healthy life....
...inside, if you live in town.

Since I'm a 'city' dweller now, and I'm limited to a dog.