Expired testing strips?

[vbc2000]

Happy Friday all!
We all know how expensive the pet glucometer test strips are. I found some on ebay (for Advocated Pet Test meter) that are $9.99 as opposed to the $39.99 I have paid. They say they expired 5/2017. I read a bit about expired strips online but would like your input. Are these still usable and for how long?
Thanks!

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

Interesting article here regarding expired strips. This is for human glucometer strips but the technology used in pet meters is the same so the same principles would apply. My personal opinion is that using grossly expired strips is a bit of a crap shoot and more so when you are purchasing them already expired because so many factors can affect the quality of the strips. Humans would look at a wonky reading and think something was wrong but with our furry friends who can't tell us how they are feeling, I wouldn't push my luck using out of date strips. If the strips turn out to be no good, you haven't saved any money and could potentially end up with a sick kitty and an enormous vet bill if they are reading incorrectly. Just my 2 cents.

 

[FurBabiesMama]

I would not chance it. This is confusing enough without adding another variable that could impact the data being gathered.

 

[vbc2000]

Interesting article here regarding expired strips. This is for human glucometer strips but the technology used in pet meters is the same so the same principles would apply. My personal opinion is that using grossly expired strips is a bit of a crap shoot and more so when you are purchasing them already expired because so many factors can affect the quality of the strips. Humans would look at a wonky reading and think something was wrong but with our furry friends who can't tell us how they are feeling, I wouldn't push my luck using out of date strips. If the strips turn out to be no good, you haven't saved any money and could potentially end up with a sick kitty and an enormous vet bill if they are reading incorrectly. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for the article. I was going to switch to Relion Confirm after my current meter's strips run out...I guess I'll just do that.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

The Relion Confirm and Micro are quite popular here. While it takes a bit of getting used to the lower range of BG numbers (I'm a former pet meter user myself), it is a safe and less expensive alternative. Just don't try to compare the two meters...you'll drive yourself nuts and there is no way to convert numbers from one meter to an equivalent on the other. The human meter will read lower. High numbers are still high so the only thing you need to remember is that your warning of potential low BG will be 50 using a human meter rather than 68 on the pet meter and a normal range on the human meter will be 50 to 120.

 

[vbc2000]

The Relion Confirm and Micro are quite popular here. While it takes a bit of getting used to the lower range of BG numbers (I'm a former pet meter user myself), it is a safe and less expensive alternative. Just don't try to compare the two meters...you'll drive yourself nuts and there is no way to convert numbers from one meter to an equivalent on the other. The human meter will read lower. High numbers are still high so the only thing you need to remember is that your warning of potential low BG will be 50 using a human meter rather than 68 on the pet meter and a normal range on the human meter will be 50 to 120.

Thanks!

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

Just noticed you are using Vetsulin (should have looked before) so I would increase your low number warning to about 90 to give yourself an extra cushion due to the swift and sometimes steep drops Vetsulin can produce. I would aim to keep your lowest reading in any cycle 90 to low 100's again to provide a little more safety cushion.