Glucometer recommendations

D

Duke’s Mom

Member Since 2026
Can someone please either send me the link to the current recommended glucometers, or respond with what you recommend. I know I saw some recommendations somewhere, but I can’t find it. I have a Contour which has decided to fail on a day of critically low blood sugar. I keep getting an error E20 despite new strips and new batteries. Blood ketone meter recommendations also greatly appreciated.
 
Many of the members here use the Walmart Relion meter. The strips are the least expensive around.

For ketone meters, the Precision Xtra and Keto Mojo are popular. The Precision Xtra has been around for a long time.
 
I’m sure the ketone meters Sienne mentioned are perfectly fine. We had the KetoBM and it worked well for us.

Is the Contour you have the Contour Next GEN? That one looks pretty nice. ReliON is certainly the most popular here though. True Metrix is another one but they just had a recall.
 
I just arrived home from buying a new meter, just when I was going to test Corky it failed for the first time in 4 years, ReiliOn Premier Classic monitor $9.00 strips $9.00 for 50 or $17.88 for 100 at WALMART
 
Tim & Pookey said:
I’m sure the ketone meters Sienne mentioned are perfectly fine. We had the KetoBM and it worked well for us.

Is the Contour you have the Contour Next GEN? That one looks pretty nice. ReliON is certainly the most popular here though. True Metrix is another one but they just had a recall.
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I’m using the Contour Next One. It requires very little blood which is why I chose it. I think I figured out my problem. I take the blood from Duke’s paws because he’s a black kitty, so I have no idea where the vein in his ear is. I had not been washing his paws before I took the blood so not only was his skin very tough, it was also probably pretty dirty. I’m now using a warm washcloth to soak and rub his paw before I prick him and I haven’t had any more errors and he’s no longer saying “meouch”. He’s in a much better place today.
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As you can see by my avatar, I also dealt with black haired kitty. I also tested a couple non diabetics with black ears. A couple things were key for me. First, I got one of those small pocket flashlights with a flat surface at the end. I put a piece of gauze or make up pad on top of the flashlight and used that as my surface to poke against. The light really highlighted the vein. Next, I had a very small smear of Vaseline on the top of the ear fur where I was going to poke. That helped the blood bead up. Otherwise the blood hides in the fur.

One other note, it's always a good idea to have a back up meter, and spare batteries for the meter. Too many funny stories - microwaving the meter instead of the rice sock in the wee hours 😂 and kitty flicking the meter into a water fountain were two such classics.
 
The ear vein on a black cat is in the same spot as with any other cat with a different colored ear :) It runs alongside the edge of the ear. There's a good picture here: Hometesting Links and Tips

Hold a flashlight, even the one on your phone, under the ear to see where the vein is. There's also this device that may help: illumavein home - product for diabetic felines and canines

My non-diabetic has black ears and I have no problem getting blood for a bg test when I need to check.
 
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