? Please recommend human glucometer

Status
Not open for further replies.
Misterbeesmom

Misterbeesmom

Member Since 2016
sorry if this has been gone over a million times before

what human glucometer is good and reliable and doesnt require a huge amount of blood?

i use the alphatrak and would like to get a human glucometer for ease of comparison, as most pet diabetic research and data are based on human glucometer, it seems. i like the alphatrak cuz i barely need even a touch of blood to get a reading. but there is no formula to 'translate' these readings to the human glucometer equivalent, right?

or is there? some kind of conversion formula?

thanks
 
If you are in the U.S you could buy a human meter at Walmart. I use the ReliOn Prime meter. Alot of people use the ReliOn Micro which needs less blood than the Prime. I haven't ever had any problems with the Prime meter but my kitty Lily is the most laid back kitty in the world. :)
 
Karen & Lily said:
If you are in the U.S you could buy a human meter at Walmart. I use the ReliOn Prime meter. Alot of people use the ReliOn Micro which needs less blood than the Prime. I haven't ever had any problems with the Prime meter but my kitty Lily is the most laid back kitty in the world. :)
Click to expand...

thanks! i've been doing internet search on walmart micro and confirm. i do see some people complain of inaccuracies, but many people are happy. its hard to know what meter to trust!
 
I've never had a problem with the Prime, its all I've used since Lily and I started this journey. The Micro costs just a bit more but it requires less blood. I can buy 100 Prime test strips for just under $18 so I like that.
 
Karen & Lily said:
I've never had a problem with the Prime, its all I've used since Lily and I started this journey. The Micro costs just a bit more but it requires less blood. I can buy 100 Prime test strips for just under $18 so I like that.
Click to expand...

good to know.

the alphatrak2 strips are crazy expensive. i've been happy with it other than that, and my vet uses the same one, so its good for us to compare. but i really need to get a human one.

i see in your sig Lily is on part raw diet. can i ask what brand? we've tried radcat, and i've sent out an order to haretoday which should arrive tomorrow.
 
Misterbeesmom said:
good to know.

the alphatrak2 strips are crazy expensive. i've been happy with it other than that, and my vet uses the same one, so its good for us to compare. but i really need to get a human one.

i see in your sig Lily is on part raw diet. can i ask what brand? we've tried radcat, and i've sent out an order to haretoday which should arrive tomorrow.
Click to expand...
I make my own homemade raw. Using Dr Pierson's recipe on catinfo.org. On feline-nutrition.org they basically have the same recipe. But that website also has a recipe calculator so all I need to do is put in the amount of meat and bones I have and the calculator will tell me how much heart, liver, water, and supplements to add. Plus I now mix up the proteins as well-chicken, turkey, pork so far...
 
Karen & Lily said:
I make my own homemade raw. Using Dr Pierson's recipe on catinfo.org. On feline-nutrition.org they basically have the same recipe. But that website also has a recipe calculator so all I need to do is put in the amount of meat and bones I have and the calculator will tell me how much heart, liver, water, and supplements to add. Plus I now mix up the proteins as well-chicken, turkey, pork so far...
Click to expand...

if i can ask you more, so you are grinding up the meat/bones/organs at home? are you buying cuts at your local market? i've been to those websites this week and my head is swimming.

i've been buying commercial raw and will be eventually making homemade.

i dont remember seeing the recipe calculator. will look again.....
 
Misterbeesmom said:
if i can ask you more, so you are grinding up the meat/bones/organs at home? are you buying cuts at your local market? i've been to those websites this week and my head is swimming.

i've been buying commercial raw and will be eventually making homemade.

i dont remember seeing the recipe calculator. will look again.....
Click to expand...
I used to buy commercial raw mostly radcat or Primal. But with 9 kitties it got too expensive. I know what you mean about so much info about raw feeding. It gets easier the more batches you make. On the catinfo website they recommend grinders. I bought the Tasin grinder. Yes I grind the chicken bones. If you dont use the bones then you have to add a calcium supplement. And the bone marrow is so good for our kitties.
I have bookmarked the recipe calculator on my cell phone so now its an easy find for me.
 
omg its expensive enough for 1 cat, i cant imagine 9 on commercial raw LOL. so good of you to do all that work to make sure your kitties get what they need!

so you buy the meats at the supermarket? thats the only option, right? i'd like to buy from whole foods but that'll be too expensive in the long run.

thanks for answering all my questions!!
 
Misterbeesmom said:
omg its expensive enough for 1 cat, i cant imagine 9 on commercial raw LOL. so good of you to do all that work to make sure your kitties get what they need!

so you buy the meats at the supermarket? thats the only option, right? i'd like to buy from whole foods but that'll be too expensive in the long run.

thanks for answering all my questions!!
Click to expand...
Yes I buy the meat, chicken hearts, livers, all at my local grocery store. I have checked the prices on chicken thighs at Whole Foods and they arent that much more $ than my grocery store Publix.
Its a bit of an investment at the start putchasing the grinder, supplements, etc but it does save $ in the long run. And my chubby kitties are now in great shape with the raw food. Lol
 
Karen & Lily said:
Yes I buy the meat, chicken hearts, livers, all at my local grocery store. I have checked the prices on chicken thighs at Whole Foods and they arent that much more $ than my grocery store Publix.
Its a bit of an investment at the start putchasing the grinder, supplements, etc but it does save $ in the long run. And my chubby kitties are now in great shape with the raw food. Lol
Click to expand...
excellent! thank you. i know they recommended 2 different grinders on that site, and the tasin was the one i was considering. definitely will pay for itself in the long run.

happy kitties! :)
 
If you get either the Freestyle Lite or Freestyle Freedom Lite, the strips are identical to those used in the AT2 meter but are about 1/2 the price. I am 99.9% sure they are in fact the exact same strips. The difference is that the ones packaged as AT2 strips have been batch tested to provide the code for the AT2 meter that will result in the most accurate readings as compared to animal lab values. I picked up a Freestyle meter to use as my backup. The bonus being that I can use the AT strips in the Freestyle meter and get accurate results and I can use the Freestyle strips in the AT2 meter in a pinch and get results within roughly 5% accuracy. There are 4 known cat codes for the AT2 meter so unless there are more codes we don't know about, you stand a 25% chance that the results will be as accurate as with the AT2 strips. I am not advocating using the Freestyle strips in the AT2 meter but it does work.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
If you get either the Freestyle Lite or Freestyle Freedom Lite, the strips are identical to those used in the AT2 meter but are about 1/2 the price. I am 99.9% sure they are in fact the exact same strips. The difference is that the ones packaged as AT2 strips have been batch tested to provide the code for the AT2 meter that will result in the most accurate readings as compared to animal lab values. I picked up a Freestyle meter to use as my backup. The bonus being that I can use the AT strips in the Freestyle meter and get accurate results and I can use the Freestyle strips in the AT2 meter in a pinch and get results within roughly 5% accuracy. There are 4 known cat codes for the AT2 meter so unless there are more codes we don't know about, you stand a 25% chance that the results will be as accurate as with the AT2 strips. I am not advocating using the Freestyle strips in the AT2 meter but it does work.
Click to expand...
ok wow!!!! i had no idea. hey that could be a really good option for me. i'm going to look that up! thank you so much!
 
I've been using the freestyle lite strips in my alphatrak for months now - I test each vial with the control solution from alphatrak and compare with AT2 strips and it is always right on. I have been tempted to get the Relion simply to make Murphy's numbers look better!! but I'd rather have numbers closer to what a veterinary laboratory would get - in my mind, it is more accurate to what is going on in his body I once tried the AT2 on myself (I am not diabetic - normal glucose metabolism) and got readings of 140-180 and I realized how inaccurate the inter-species readings are between meters meant for humans vs pets. I love the fact that just a tiny dot of blood will give a reading with AT2. Does anyone know how the blood volume compares to Relion prime or micro? Also, I don't want to patronize Walmart.
 
Carol & Murphy said:
I've been using the freestyle lite strips in my alphatrak for months now - I test each vial with the control solution from alphatrak and compare with AT2 strips and it is always right on. I have been tempted to get the Relion simply to make Murphy's numbers look better!! but I'd rather have numbers closer to what a veterinary laboratory would get - in my mind, it is more accurate to what is going on in his body I once tried the AT2 on myself (I am not diabetic - normal glucose metabolism) and got readings of 140-180 and I realized how inaccurate the inter-species readings are between meters meant for humans vs pets. I love the fact that just a tiny dot of blood will give a reading with AT2. Does anyone know how the blood volume compares to Relion prime or micro? Also, I don't want to patronize Walmart.
Click to expand...

While doing research today i found the at2, relion confirm, relion micro, freestyle freedom lite, and freestyle lite all sample the same size .3 ml
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
If you get either the Freestyle Lite or Freestyle Freedom Lite, the strips are identical to those used in the AT2 meter but are about 1/2 the price. I am 99.9% sure they are in fact the exact same strips. The difference is that the ones packaged as AT2 strips have been batch tested to provide the code for the AT2 meter that will result in the most accurate readings as compared to animal lab values. I picked up a Freestyle meter to use as my backup. The bonus being that I can use the AT strips in the Freestyle meter and get accurate results and I can use the Freestyle strips in the AT2 meter in a pinch and get results within roughly 5% accuracy. There are 4 known cat codes for the AT2 meter so unless there are more codes we don't know about, you stand a 25% chance that the results will be as accurate as with the AT2 strips. I am not advocating using the Freestyle strips in the AT2 meter but it does work.
Click to expand...
Sorry to bug you, but i ordered the freedom lite meter on amazon. Do you recall if the meter came with the control solution? I'm guessing it must, but it just crossed my mind.

Just an aside, the strips on amazon are $57 for 100. I stopped at two stores today and i almost fell over at the prices they were charging. Target wants $156 for 100 and my supermarket pharmacy was nearly the same. Insanity!

Where do you buy yours?

Thanks
 
Last edited:
The control solution I use is for the AlphaTrak2 - that is what I use to check the Freestyle lite strips in the AlphaTrak meter - be sure you keep the cat code on the meter (don't change to the human code on the freestyle lite strips) If you keep using the AlphaTrak meter, you will get values closer to what a veterinary lab would get - if you use the Freestyle lite meter, you will get human readings
 
Misterbeesmom said:
Sorry to bug you, but i ordered the freedom lite meter on amazon. Do you recall if the meter came with the control solution? I'm guessing it must, but it just crossed my mind.
Click to expand...

No the meter did not come with control solution. Most companies will send you control solution free of charge if you make a request. I have never tried getting the Freestyle solution but have used the AT2 solution and it seemed to work just fine. I am in Canada though, so your packaging could be different.

Misterbeesmom said:
the strips on amazon are $57 for 100. I stopped at two stores today and i almost fell over at the prices they were charging. Target wants $156 for 100 and my supermarket pharmacy was nearly the same. Insanity!
Click to expand...
That's interesting because here in Canada where our dollar has tanked against yours, I get my Freestyle strips for about $73 per 100 at Walmart while the AT2 strips at the discount pet pharmacy cost me almost the same for 50.
 
Carol & Murphy said:
Why don't you just use the AT meter and the control solution that comes with that
Click to expand...
I think we're at cross purposes, unless i'm misunderstanding you. I dont want to use the freestyle lite strips in my at2. Since i want to buy a human glucometer, it'd be nice if the strips were interchangeable so i could swap in a pinch, but it turns out the freestyle strips are more expensive than the at2 strips (with the exception of a shop on amazon), so its looking like i'm going to end up with walmart relion after all.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
No the meter did not come with control solution. Most companies will send you control solution free of charge if you make a request. I have never tried getting the Freestyle solution but have used the AT2 solution and it seemed to work just fine. I am in Canada though, so your packaging could be different.


That's interesting because here in Canada where our dollar has tanked against yours, I get my Freestyle strips for about $73 per 100 at Walmart while the AT2 strips at the discount pet pharmacy cost me almost the same for 50.
Click to expand...

That is so weird. I just looked up walmart here and they charg a lot, just like target and the market.
 
We cannot get Relion meters here so perhaps Walmart is marking up prices on other brands to make theirs look more attractive to the consumer. Target could be doing the same but it's anybody's guess for your local supermarket pharmacy. Ridiculous that your prices would be that outrageous given our dollar is lower than yours by about 20% right now! Walmart even charges us for bags up here so they are not adverse to underhanded tactics!
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
We cannot get Relion meters here so perhaps Walmart is marking up prices on other brands to make theirs look more attractive to the consumer. Target could be doing the same but it's anybody's guess for your local supermarket pharmacy. Ridiculous that your prices would be that outrageous given our dollar is lower than yours by about 20% right now! Walmart even charges us for bags up here so they are not adverse to underhanded tactics!
Click to expand...

Walmart unfortunately appears to be the cheapest. The test strips are $38 for 100. Wow. I'm going to scoot over there soon. I havent given wallyworld money in ages. Then again i shop at amazon who is probably just as bad.

All in all, i would love to know how much it really costs to make these strips, regardless of the manufacturer. I cant imagine why some brands are so expensive.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top