Newbie needs advice on glucometer

[George and Chester]

Our 8 year old cat Chester was recently diagnosed with diabetes
Advised that we need to do home testing. Any recommendations on which pet glucometer will best do the job.

 

[Cali S]

You'll find that a lot of folks here use human meters, as they're much less expensive (mostly when factoring in the cost of test strips)!

My 8yo Faraday was just diagnosed at the end of April, so we're pretty new here too.

I went to Walmart and picked up the ReliOn premiere, and the test strips only cost just under $18 for 100. Obviously this is only helpful if you're in the US, but there are members here from all over the world who can chime in if you're not US-based.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Our 8 year old cat Chester was recently diagnosed with diabetes
Advised that we need to do home testing. Any recommendations on which pet glucometer will best do the job.

As Cali mentioned most of us use human that's what our numbers are based on
If you live in the US I second the Relion Premier Classic it's 9 dollars from Walmart
17.88 for 100 test strips
Buy 26 or 28 gauge lancets any brand
A package of cotton rounds
Your vet might push using the pet meter called the Alpha Trak 2
That's about 57.00 dollars
Around 52.00 dollars for only 50 tests strips plus you can't buy them in a store so you I'll have to oder on line and make sure you always have enough because they go fast

With the human meter you don't need to code it
The Aloha Trak you need to put the correct code that is on the bottle for cats into the meter
Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand
I find it better to see where I'm aiming
You can also put a thin layer of vaseline on the ear ,to help the blood bead up

Here is a video one of our members did
VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar

 

[George and Chester]

As Cali mentioned most of us use human that's what our numbers are based on
If you live in the US I second the Relion Premier Classic it's 9 dollars from Walmart
17.88 for 100 test strips
Buy 26 or 28 gauge lancets any brand
A package of cotton rounds
Your vet might push using the pet meter called the Alpha Trak 2
That's about 57.00 dollars
Around 52.00 dollars for only 50 tests strips plus you can't buy them in a store so you I'll have to oder on line and make sure you always have enough because they go fast

With the human meter you don't need to code it
The Aloha Trak you need to put the correct code that is on the bottle for cats into the meter
Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand
I find it better to see where I'm aiming
You can also put a thin layer of vaseline on the ear ,to help the blood bead up

Here is a video one of our members did
VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar

As Cali mentioned most of us use human that's what our numbers are based on
If you live in the US I second the Relion Premier Classic it's 9 dollars from Walmart
17.88 for 100 test strips
Buy 26 or 28 gauge lancets any brand
A package of cotton rounds
Your vet might push using the pet meter called the Alpha Trak 2
That's about 57.00 dollars
Around 52.00 dollars for only 50 tests strips plus you can't buy them in a store so you I'll have to oder on line and make sure you always have enough because they go fast

With the human meter you don't need to code it
The Aloha Trak you need to put the correct code that is on the bottle for cats into the meter
Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand
I find it better to see where I'm aiming
You can also put a thin layer of vaseline on the ear ,to help the blood bead up

Here is a video one of our members did
VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar

As Cali mentioned most of us use human that's what our numbers are based on
If you live in the US I second the Relion Premier Classic it's 9 dollars from Walmart
17.88 for 100 test strips
Buy 26 or 28 gauge lancets any brand
A package of cotton rounds
Your vet might push using the pet meter called the Alpha Trak 2
That's about 57.00 dollars
Around 52.00 dollars for only 50 tests strips plus you can't buy them in a store so you I'll have to oder on line and make sure you always have enough because they go fast

With the human meter you don't need to code it
The Aloha Trak you need to put the correct code that is on the bottle for cats into the meter
Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand
I find it better to see where I'm aiming
You can also put a thin layer of vaseline on the ear ,to help the blood bead up

Here is a video one of our members did
VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar

Thank you for the help