What type of home testing kit do you recommend?

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clc0014

Member Since 2010
My cat was recently diagnosed with diabetes and had been on Lantus for two weeks when I took her to the vet for a glucose curve. After spending the full day at the vet's office, they informed me that they could only conduct 1 test while she was there and that her level was actually too low (77). Based on this they recommended that I reduce the dosage to from 2 to 1. However, I'm extremly concerned now that this single test wasn't really a good indication on what is going on with my cat. I am ready to start home testing and am looking for advice on what kit seems to produce the most accurate results. My vet recommended AlphaTrak, but I've heard other kits work just as well. What would you recommend?
 
Welcome to LantusLand!

Most of us use human meters. The protocols were written using them and take the difference in cat and human blood into account. The strips are much cheaper and more readily available. That is where you will find the biggest cost in testing, the strips. You also need to look for a meter that uses .5 size drop of blood or less.

Many peeps use Relion from Walmart, inexpensive strips and meter, easy to get. I use the Maxima AST, that I got from Hocks (see the link at the top of the page) Strips are even cheaper, but you usually can't get them locally. They have a special w/ 2 boxes of strips w/ a meter which makes the meter free.

Testing at the vet is usually higher due to stress, that is an impressive number to have at the vet. Definitely a lower dose is a good idea, but I'm not an advisor.

other good things for the kit: a sock w/ 1/4 cup of raw rice to microwave to warm the ear; lancets, I like BD UltraFine 30 gauge, but some like coarser gauges; pads to blot blood and put pressure on ear after testing , prevents bruising: Neosporin to help heal all the pricks.
 
Any human meter works fine. I personally like Walmart's ReliOn Micro because Walmart is very close and they are the cheapest strips you can get "off-the-shelf". Many other people like the Aviva, and will order their strips from Hocks.com or e-bay.

77 is actually a very nice number, IF you have more data...for example, if you know that 77 was the lowest number she hit that day. It probably would be a good idea to reduce the dose back to 1 u and start testing. It's very encouraging that you did get that number - your furbaby might be headed into remission!
 
Doodles was diagnosed on 4/19 and her first trip to the vet for her two week curve was awful!!!
It took her 3 days to get back. Lots has changed since that visit :-D no more Huminlin N, no more kitty krack, I have this awesome board
and now I home test. Unless its an emergency she's stays here :-D
My friend set me up with my kit. I use the "One Touch Ultra" you can get at Walmart too along with strips that can cost a fortune
with all the testing :roll: So I have gone ebay :-D I just bought 300 for $149 and 50 for $41 and then I just scored my friend has 3 boxes of 50 :-D for free!
I think I'm set for awhile :lol: :lol:
But what a great number to get at the vets that's awsome! How great would that be to just control with the food :-D good luck
 
I use the Aviva Accu Check. The cost of the initial kit was about 20 bucks and I get the strips (box of 50) through amazon for $23.00-$25.00. When Punkin was first diagnosed, I brought the Accu Check and the One Touch Ultra with me to the vets office and we did a comparison with their meter, the Accu Check reading was only 3 points off from the vet's and the One Touch Ultra was about 20 points off, so I went with the Aviva.

Glad you're here, you have a lot to learn so start reading the stickys! :mrgreen: You'll find a lot of great information and support here, welcome aboard........and 77 is a very nice number. :smile:
 
I use a Contour meter. My strips run anywhere from $23 - $26 for a box of 50 from Amazon, Hocks, or Ebay. Consumer Reports did a review of glucose meters a while ago. From what we've seen here and their report, the only meters that are problematic are the pharmacy (e.g., Walgreens, CVS) store brand meters (i.e., True Track).
 
another good meter is the bayer contour - you can find strips on ebay or amazon at a reasonable price. this meter doesn't require coding, is very easy to use and takes a small (I mean tiny) amount of blood.

I used the one touch ultra and mini on Maui and the contour on my former camper Blue (who is on prozinc).
 
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