Human BG Monitor vs Pet BG Monitor

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sheryl1032

Member Since 2012
My vet suggested that I use an actual pet monitor instead of the human one. Although she did look at my spreadsheet and kept a copy in the file she said the numbers would be more accurate using the pet one. Has any one used the pet one? How much of difference in the numbers/accuracy is their from one to the other? I am trying to reduce the visits to the vet since it stresses out my kitty so much. Any information would be helpful.

Thanks.
 
Some people use the Pet meter but most of us use human meters. The pet meter is more expensive, the strips are expensive and can only be gotten at the vet or online. Human meters cost less as do the strips and you can run out late at night and get strips when you run out.

We are looking for trends and patterns so a difference of 20-30 points is not important. Whether the number is 220 or 245, the dose would be the same.
 
When Zeus was first diagnosed, I tested my meter against the vets - i assume it was the pet meter, but I didn't ask, anyway, mine was about 50points lower. Took Zeus to a different vet today, and they used the pet meter (which the vet said was "the gold standard" and couldn't trust a human meter). Anyway, we did test the same drop of blood, my region ultima was only 20 points higher... I'll stick with my meter, I can afford the strips, and can run to Walmart when I need more.
 
The most important thing is consistency and patterns, so I would suggest staying with the one you use now, but for more info, check out this article : http://www.felinediabetes.com/glucometer.htm Scroll down for a good write up on pet vs human glucometers.

It's like using a regular watch vs one that is always synched with the atomic clock. Sure, the second one may be a bit more accurate, but unless you're landing the Mars Rover, you still know what time it is with your regular Timex. :lol:
 
I think its totally personal preference. I chose to go with the AlphaTrak meter because its what my vet uses.
With my Alpha, it was often up to 80 points higher than the Relion Micro I have. BUT, that's not the case with all Alpha's.
It is signifigantly more expensive than a human meter and I had to plan ahead because I couldn't get the strips locally.
 
Accuracy is not important with home monitoring--consistency is. Human meters read about 30 points lower than pet meters, but that is perfectly fine because the dosing protocols for cats are written to adjust for human meters. You just adjust the range--normal for a cat on a Human Meter is 50-120, and on the Alphatrack it's 70-150. It's far more important that you be able to afford enough strips to test as frequently as you can. The shape of a curve on the Alphatrak is going to look just the same as the shape of a curve on a Human meter--and it's the pattern that you're looking to track.

Just tell your vet no thank you. Not to sound too cynical, but vets do make money selling the strips for the Alphatrak so they do have a financial incentive to get you to switch.
 
My vet didn't push the pet meter that they have, but he did say to me earlier this year that the One Touch was better/closer to the Alpha Trak than the relion micro I use. I got a One Touch Ultra from my endocrinologist for free (I am not diabetic but I see her for my thyriod problem) and she loves to hear about treating FD. The thing came with some strips but I see that they are more expensive than the relion. with Wal-mart down the street now, I'll sticck with that one.
 
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