Human Meter versus alphatrac2

[Susan Shropshire]

I am so thankful for this forum and wish I had found it 2 years ago when Leo was diagnosed. We have seen 2 vets and I feel we haven't gotten good info from either of them. They both seem to be ok with higher numbers and Leo has had pancreatits, high fructosamine test and now high tryglycerides. I can't get them to do anything differently, so I am going to have to take it into my own hands. I guess when he starts to improve they will see.

I have been using the AlphaTrack 2 to keep track of Leo's #s. I didn't really buy that one because of anything other than that was what the vet's office used when I was in the office. I see a lot of people using the Relion human meter. I did purchase one since the test strips are less expensive. I have done side by side testing and I am finding that the relion is usually around 70-90 less than the alphatrak (once it was the same). I also noticed that in the regulation instructions it said something about the #s being with a human meter.
So, is it just that the #s will register a little lower with the human meter? I read online something about a cat having more sugar in plasma or something than humans??? I really don't know enough about it. For example: I did his PM test and the alphatrak said it was 433 but the relion said 363. Then I did a +2 and it was 354 for alpha and 261 for relion. Just wanted to understand better about using a human meter.

 

[Librarianista]

Yes, human readers will almost always read lower than pet meters because of how human blood and cat blood are chemically composed differently. If you are switching to the ReliOn, it will be easier on you to just set the AT2 aside unless you need to use it as a backup. It’s like using Celsius vs Fahrenheit. Neither is wrong, but regularly switching between the two will be difficult for both you and others to understand.

There is no easy conversion, so you need to know basically what ranges you’re looking for. The important things are to know when you need to take action to prevent hypoglycemia. On a human meter, 50 is your “take action” number compared to 68 on the AT2. Healthy BG ranges on a human meter are 50-120.

Some vets don’t like human meters because they aren’t technically “correct” or match veterinary instruments, but both scales are kind of arbitrary.

 

[Susan Shropshire]

Yes, human readers will almost always read lower than pet meters because of how human blood and cat blood are chemically composed differently. If you are switching to the ReliOn, it will be easier on you to just set the AT2 aside unless you need to use it as a backup. It’s like using Celsius vs Fahrenheit. Neither is wrong, but regularly switching between the two will be difficult for both you and others to understand.

There is no easy conversion, so you need to know basically what ranges you’re looking for. The important things are to know when you need to take action to prevent hypoglycemia. On a human meter, 50 is your “take action” number compared to 68 on the AT2. Healthy BG ranges on a human meter are 50-120.

Some vets don’t like human meters because they aren’t technically “correct” or match veterinary instruments, but both scales are kind of arbitrary.

Thank you! That is what I found doing the side-by-side testing. The alphatrak 2 test strips are so much more expensive and if it's not worth it then I would rather be able to test more with a human meter. I thought I had seen something about the numbers on this site were based on a human meter so that is great. I'll just be sure to tell the Vet that the numbers are on a ReliOn meter. Of course, my vet doesn't really care about me home testing anyway, which I think is crazy! We are about to have to find another vet anyway because my vet is leaving to take another position in another state.

 

[Librarianista]

The resources on this site were developed years before pet glucometers were invented, so that's why you see so many of them referencing human glucometer scales. It just so happens that they are also a lot cheaper, which is why many of us kept using them.

Good luck finding a new vet! I plan to use this website the next time I'm searching for a vet, so maybe it will help you too.

https://catfriendly.com/find-a-veterinary-professional/

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

If you do decide to switch to a human meter Bhooma can change the numbers on your spreadsheet for 2 of the cells and put a line above on your SS saying switched to human meter
Just let us know and I will contact her
On a human meter, 50 is your “take action” number compared to 68 on the AT2. Healthy BG ranges on a human meter are 50-120.