New SugarMama & Sugar Cat member- ? about glucose meters

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HarryPottersMum1973

HarryPottersMum1973

Member Since 2012
Hi everyone.
My name is Liza, and I'm the mama of 'Harry Potter', my newly-diagnosed sugar-cat (I'll try to get the stud-muffin's picture up here soon ;-)) Just got the results back today.
I'm not terribly frightened about this, because I know that it can be managed.
I have looked at the chart that pixiegirls & boys posted regarding glucose meters.(THANK YOU!)
I haven't seen any updates on it regarding any FDMB ratings, so I thought I'd ask if anyone has one of the 'pet-specific' glucose meters (like I-Pet or AlphaTrak), and if they are truly worth the money.
I have a gut feeling they are probably over-rated (DEFINATELY over-priced!), and my vet implied that although they ARE more accurate with kitty blood than the human usage meters, human meters work OK but there is a notable difference between the sugars in human blood and feline blood. She will let me borrow an AlphaTrak for his BG curve in 2 weeks, but I know that I'll need to buy one for our daily usage.
So, I guess my question is, should I get one of these over-priced pet-specific meters? Has anyone had their vets give them grief for using a human usage meter?
I'd love any advice. Thanks! bcatrun_gif
 
HarryPottersMum1973 said:
Hi everyone.
My name is Liza, and I'm the mama of 'Harry Potter', my newly-diagnosed sugar-cat (I'll try to get the stud-muffin's picture up here soon ;-)) Just got the results back today.
I'm not terribly frightened about this, because I know that it can be managed.
I have looked at the chart that pixiegirls & boys posted regarding glucose meters.(THANK YOU!)
I haven't seen any updates on it regarding any FDMB ratings, so I thought I'd ask if anyone has one of the 'pet-specific' glucose meters (like I-Pet or AlphaTrak), and if they are truly worth the money.
I have a gut feeling they are probably over-rated (DEFINATELY over-priced!), and my vet implied that although they ARE more accurate with kitty blood than the human usage meters, human meters work OK but there is a notable difference between the sugars in human blood and feline blood. She will let me borrow an AlphaTrak for his BG curve in 2 weeks, but I know that I'll need to buy one for our daily usage.
So, I guess my question is, should I get one of these over-priced pet-specific meters? Has anyone had their vets give them grief for using a human usage meter?
I'd love any advice. Thanks! bcatrun_gif
Click to expand...

Number one tip: disregard what your vet says about meters.... some vets say you don't need to test the animal at all! Rubbish

If you are in the US, you can do just fine with the Relion meters as the strips are the most economical and meter is quite trustworthy. My preference has always been the Bayer Contour for my cats.
Whatever you do, do NOT get any of the store brand meters with TRUE in the names and definitely do NOT get the FreeStyle meters because their butterfly strips give false readings.... they never give a number over 299, and several people have been sucked in with readings that 'are not too bad at all', then they test with any other meter and get reading horribly higher.

Sure you can get a pet meter, but the strips are way too expensive and not as convenient to purchase - if you suddenly run out, there is no running to Walmart or your local pharmacy to pick up a fresh pack of test strips!

There is really no value for you to borrow the vet's pet meter because those numbers won't have any comparison to the meter that you will be using every day. If you wanted, and the vet's meter was coming with FREE strips for you to use, you could always compare the pet meter with a human meter if it will give you a handle on the difference in the readings.
It is notable that the numbers people mention on the board are based on human meter numbers, so you would have to factor in the difference if you do choose to go with the pet meter.

Bottom line: home testing is important, so select a meter that seems comfortable to you, excluding the FreeStyle ones.
 
Hi and welcome!

I didn't have the opportunity to purchase the AlphaTrak, so I can't speak to how overpriced it may be, or how accurate. When I started testing my kitty, I picked up a ReliOn, which is a brand sold at Wal Mart. It was reasonably inexpensive, and the strips were not terrible compared to others. Being the worry wart that I am, I wanted my vet to check it, which he did. It tested very closely to the one he was using in the office, so it made me relax a bit knowing that I was getting a pretty decent reading on my cat. Trends seem to be more important than right on the button values, so go with what you can comfortably afford, but stay away from anything with True in the name-my understanding is that they give very inaccurate readings.

You have a great attitude-that you CAN manage this. I like!

Best wishes,

Kate & Leo
 
Thanks, Gayle & Oliver, and Kate & Leo!
I will definately check into the ReliOn.
I do like the idea, too, of comparing the vet's AlphaTrak to the meter that I get. Sounds like a good idea, so I can get an idea of the difference between the two numbers.
Thanks again. :smile:
 
From some of the research literature, there is a difference between the AlphaTrack and a human glucometer. At least with the dosing protocol developed for Lantus, the AlphaTrack meter runs about 30 points higher than a human meter. From when some of the people here have done comparisons, there may be a consistent difference between the meters or maybe not. The bottom line is that a human meter does a more than adequate job. The biggest advantage is as Gayle noted, if you run out of AlphaTrack strips, they are hard to track down compared to strips for other meters. The AlphaTrack strips are also quite expensive.
 
Sienne and Gabby said:
The bottom line is that a human meter does a more than adequate job. The biggest advantage is as Gayle noted, if you run out of AlphaTrack strips, they are hard to track down compared to strips for other meters. The AlphaTrack strips are also quite expensive.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Sienne & Gabby!
I agree; as long as the numbers can be tracked, I can do the math on Harry's real numbers.
 
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