Newbie with Question about Glucometer (ALPHATRAK)

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yukisarah

Member Since 2013
Hi all,
I have an 18yo male cat named Toby who is newly diagnosed as a diabetic. With his first glucose test he was testing in the 300s. We've had him on Lantus for 3 weeks now and took him back in for another test. We gave him his shot at 8am and went into the vet at 3pm. He tested at 85 at that time. We have bought the AlphaTrak 2 monitoring system and have tried to use it this morning before giving him his shot. It is not registering the blood sample. We had a large blood drop and held it on for 15 seconds but the meter is still asking for blood. Does anyone else have this glucometer? Does this happen often? Please help! :cry:
 
Re: Newbie with Question about Glucometer

Hello and welcome to FDMB,

Well done, you, for having a go at hometesting!

I have an Alphatrak as my 'back up' meter but the very few times that I've used it there have not been any problems so far... You may find it helpful to add 'Alphatrak' to your message title to attract the attention of those with more experience of this meter.

(In fact, many people here find the 'AT' just too expensive to use ongoingly and most people use meters made for humans! )

Edited to add:
I must have seemed really unhelpful in this message. Sorry, brain elsewhere....
 
Re: Newbie with Question about Glucometer

Just a thought.. Is it possible that the blood had clotted slightly before your getting it onto the test strip...?
Did the meter give any 'error' messages..?
 
Re: Newbie with Question about Glucometer

Elizabeth,

The first time you used the AT, was there some sort of set-up or coding process you needed to do before using it?

Carl
 
Yep (just looking through my instruction booklet to remind me!) There's a basic set up process (date, time etc, and a code number for 'species')...

The kit comes with control solution, so maybe the OP could try a test with that...?

I'm going to look further through my booklet further to see if there's any 'troubleshooting' info....
 
Thank you, Elizabeth! There was no clotting and no error messages. It just had the "blood drop and test strip" message on it. We tried it twice on two different strips and it was the same each time.

Hi Hope, We put the strip to the blood drop. The directions say to put it on the black rectangle on the strip's side. Is there a better way?

I scoffed at the price of the AlphaTrak when my vet showed me the estimate but she said it was the most accurate. Let me say that testing at home was horrible! My poor Toby squirmed and flinched like none other. He doesn't even know when we give him his shots but the lancing is obviously a problem for him. He is now sitting away from us and staring intently. Poor guy. I feel bad but I know its for the best.
 
Ok, 'troubleshooting' section says...

Re: Test not starting after applying blood drop
Could be; blood drop too small; defective test strip; sample applied after meter turns off; defective meter

Re: Meter not entering test mode after inserting test strip
Could be; test strip upside down; battery incorrectly installed; dead battery; defective test strip or meter; blood or foreign object in test strip port.
 
Hi, do you have 'control solution' with your kit? (Should be a little white vial?)

A test performed with that should let you know if your meter and strips are working OK?
 
Yes, we have the control solution. I will try this and let you know if it works. Thank you so much for all of your help!
 
yukisarah said:
...Hi Hope, We put the strip to the blood drop. The directions say to put it on the black rectangle on the strip's side. Is there a better way?
Click to expand...

Hiya, I'm just looking at a test strip now and the the place you put the blood is on either of the two little black dots which are located at the end of the strip. Is that what you're doing?
 
Okay I just tried the control solution and it worked. It had a reading of 150 which is in the control range. I will have to wait until tomorrow morning before I give him his morning dose and try again. I will keep you guys updated. Thanks again! :smile:
 
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