Trouble with Alpha Trak test variation...any one else?

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SantaCruzSPCA

SantaCruzSPCA

Member Since 2017
I've been having a lot of trouble with the variation in strip readings at each test time. I'm literally having to go through 3-4 strips each test to get a number I think might be right.

For example (and this is happening multiple times a day)...at +3 today I got 223, 76, 74, 201. His morning numbers were similar (484 and 495) so any of these numbers +3 would have been a huge drop and I settled on the 201? At least this one had two and two in the same family of numbers. One test yesterday had 430, 130, 306...:mad:

So far the diagnostics I've done:

-Changed the meter battery
-Did a control solution test (which looked completely fine)
-Verified that the code on the strips matched the code on the meter

At this rate, I'm blowing through strips and don't know if I'm recording accurate numbers. Has anyone else had this kind of trouble with the Alpha Trak meter?
 
I use the AT2 and I don't get those kind of variations. Are you getting these readings within minutes of each reading? If not, is it possible that your kitty's blood glucose is dropping like that?
 
Shoeskitty said:
I use the AT2 and I don't get those kind of variations. Are you getting these readings within minutes of each reading? If not, is it possible that your kitty's blood glucose is dropping like that?
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Yes, seconds, actually. Typically with blood from the same prick. I only started testing multiple times because some of his numbers weren't making sense (huge drops and spikes) and I was told to test again if the results were wonky. :(

This strange variation will usually happen AT LEAST once a day if not more. Some tests do come out very similar to each other so it's not happening every time.

Yong said:
I have not, Mandi but I only use mine for curves with Freestyle Lite strips. How is Rusty doing? :cat: I'll tag a couple members that use AT2 more often @Kris & Teasel @JanetNJ
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He's doing great, thanks for asking :) I'm getting used to our little routine and falling more in more in love with him. He's eating great and acting great! Maybe I should try using the Freestyle Lite strips (you can do that? are they cheaper?)
 
I haven't had this issue with my AT meter. Yes, you can put FS strips in it but you have to do several same drop comparisons to see how much different the readings are. It's usually under 10%. I think the FS strips are only marginally cheaper in the US. There's a bigger price difference here in Canada.
 
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The only other thing I can think of is the size of the drop of blood used. One that is too large can cause the strip to suck up more blood and give a higher reading and the opposite is true if the sample sucked into the strip is too small. If you have a human meter, like the Relion Confirm, you could test the drop with that meter too and get a general idea if the AT meter is bad. The Rel. Confirms and other human meters register lower than the AT2 because of the method used to measure the glucose in the blood. It's different for humans.
 
Squalliesmom said:
Is it possible you got a bad batch of test strips? I use a human meter, the Relion Confirm; much less expensive and so far, very reliable!
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That's what I thought when this started happening with the last bottle but now I'm onto a new bottle and it's still going. Just now I did his +9 tests and the results were 404, 291, 371...:confused:. Do I get to pick? lol.
 
the only time I got a weird reading was once when the drop of blood was too small. otherwise all the numbers have always made sense. Maybe your meter is a lemon.
 
SantaCruzSPCA said:
That's what I thought when this started happening with the last bottle but now I'm onto a new bottle and it's still going. Just now I did his +9 tests and the results were 404, 291, 371...:confused:. Do I get to pick? lol.
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Are the strips authentic AT2 strips? If they are possibly counterfeit perhaps it is the strips. I have noticed on Ebay that some strips listed from from China or India. I don't know where you get your strips so just throwing that out there as a thought. I would definitely call the company and insist that they send you a new meter.
 
I haven't used the Walgreen's, but I've used the Relion, the generic meter from Target, and currently the one from Kroger (late night last minute purchase when the Target one was dropped in the sink of soapy water. Oops. Just for the record, I'm not the one who dropped it. ;) Anyway, all three meters have given essentially the same readings, so I don't think it matters all that much.
 
Shoeskitty said:
Are the strips authentic AT2 strips? If they are possibly counterfeit perhaps it is the strips. I have noticed on Ebay that some strips listed from from China or India. I don't know where you get your strips so just throwing that out there as a thought. I would definitely call the company and insist that they send you a new meter.
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I order them straight from Zoetis so I'm sure they are fine. The meter itself was donated a while back so I'm not sure I'd have any grounds to ask for a new one, unfortunately :( It seemed to be working just fine until rather recently, although, I wasn't doing multiple tests and was just trusting the first reading.

I just found a brand new Alpha Trak meter (the first one, not Alpha Trak 2) and I think I'll try that one on for size and see how it does. Just did a practice test and got 371 and 410, which is okay. I just hate wasting all of these strips :(
 
SantaCruzSPCA said:
I just found a brand new Alpha Trak meter (the first one, not Alpha Trak 2) and I think I'll try that one on for size and see how it does.
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The original Alpha Trak meter does not recognize the codes on the AT2 strips. If you try the older AT meter with AT2 strips you would use the code "07" regardless of what number is on the test strip container.

ETA The only time I had wonky readings with my AT2 was when the blood drop was not large enough...it was large enough to get a reading, but took a lot longer to finally display the reading and it was not correct.
 
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