Can you use AT3 strips in AlphaTrak2?

[Elaine and Ember]

My foster kitty recently got diagnosed and I had two people donate AlphaTrak2 meters to me. The strips are way expired (2020 and 2021) and everything I've read says that the AT3 strips don't work in the old AT2 meters. Is that just so they can make money selling new meters or are they really not compatible? And are expired strips actually expired or can you still use them? (Granted these are SUPER expired, but in general do you have to throw them away the minute they're expired?)

I'm using a Relion for my home testing but wanted to check if there's any way to use the AT2 as a backup.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Sorry, the manufacturer explicitly said you cannot use strips from one version of the meter in the other. The AT2 and AT3 are quite different models, not just different versions. The company that now manufactures the AT3 (Zoetis) bought the AT2 technology from Abbott Laboratories, so it's not surprising there are differences. There were a lot of grumbles from AT2 users when the AT2 strips stopped being made, forcing them to buy an AT3.

Personally, I'd buy a second Relion as a backup. That way you know you can reuse the strips in the second meter. It's also very confusing when you are using two different meters. We suggest using one meter type, and sticking with it.

 

[Lara & Luciole (Lu)]

I can't speak to the make of the meters, but after my first diabetic cat, River, passed in 2016, I kept the meter, test strips and lancets I had.

When I first suspected my cat Luciole of diabetes last year and tested her, everything worked perfectly. So that's a difference of 8 years.