Has anyone in the UK ever used substitute strips in Alphatrak 2?

Absolutely appalled at the cost of Alphatrak 2 test strips at a pound a strip I’ve thrown away 4 today!
Has anyone found a compatible brand of strips compatible with the monitor? WD be very grateful for any info.

 

Hi Zee - yes, Alphatrak strips are silly prices and one very good reason why not many people opt for that meter over a human one. However, all is not lost as there are strips that are compatible - I think it's the Freestyle Lite ones.
From memory, the UKer who might currently be using an Alphatrak is @Schmill - see if he has any comments....

 

Thank you Diana. I’m fuming as just thrown away a whole £4-5 worth... Madam kept moving and I just didn’t manage to get a decent sample... it is an outrageous expence! I was extremely silly but was persuaded by my vet (grrrr..) to get the Alphatrak!

Will have a go at getting in touch with @shmill...

 

Yes it is outrageous! If the compatible strips don't work, you could always just get another (cheap) meter that uses cheap strips and use that one - it would be a waste of an Alphatrak but you could look into selling it on ebay or something. Or keep it as a back-up...

 

Good suggestion!

 

And another suggestion - when you're doing a test, don't put the strip into the meter until you definitely have enough blood, to avoid wasting the strip... have the strip ready but poke the ear first, transfer a drop of blood to your fingernail and then put the strip into the meter and let it "sip" the blood on your fingernail. That should prevent wasting too many.

 

Thank you.. another good suggestion...

 

We're full of 'em here, Zee

 

You most certainly are...

 

I had a similar problem with Catcat, who flinched and folded his ear when meter approached

I don't usually have fingernails long enough to collect a droplet --- I bite them or they crack and tear across before I do

I found in my stash, a tiny sample spoon, given out by Baskin&Robbins ice cream -- I collect the droplet on that, works a treat
(and Catcat can get back to what he was doing, usually with his nose in the food bowl)

 

Now this I like.. I’ll have to eat some ice cream first....

 

Where there's a will there's a way!

 

I'm not in the UK but I buy my meters and strips from the UK on Amazon. Codefree human meters are fine for testing our cats and the codefree strips are about 7 pounds for fifty. The whole package meter, I0 strips and lancet costs around 13 pounds and they are very reliable. One hundred strips costs about 13.99p. It's absolutely criminal to charge a pound a strip!

 

Thank you all... I think the Alphatrak is a no no... will re think..

 

I’m going to look into codefree... how do you calibrate for cat?

 

You can't calibrate a code-free meter for a cat. A human meter just reads a little lower than a pet meter.

 

Of course... I’m re-thinking the human v animal testing. I have enormous problem getting a decent drop of blood - I do believe ‘human’ strips require more than the animal strips? Have I got this wrong?

 

it depends on the meter and the strip it takes -- my ReliOn Confirm takes .3 ml (about the size of a ballpoint pen tip; the ReliOn Prime I use as backup (it's still available) uses .5 ml which is more like the clicker end of that ballpoint; Freestyle Lite is another .3 ml setup; OneTouch needs a "fat" .5 ml-- the early ones needed something like .7 -1 ml .. that's one reason I quit using them for myself, -- the Alpha Trak requires the .3 ml as well, and one advantage to this, is the sample area on the strips is at the side of the strip, not at the end, making it easier to collect

so yes, and no ... it's a shame that the Confirm, and its generic original, the Arkray Glucocard 1, have been discontinued, though at least at the moment, the strips are still available

the heated rice/oatmeal sock helps, massaging the ear beforehand helps, holding pressure below the pricked point helps, after the ear grows more capillaries, that helps too, as does experience, and the cat cooperating a bit better once it's obvious that test> treat

 

Thank you! Everyone has offered something for me to consider...

 

The newer One Touch Verio requires 0.4 ul and the older one Touch Ultra/Mini require 1 ul. I use the One Touch Ultra 2 and Mini for two of my cats and an iHealth (0.7 ul) for my two other diabetic cats.

 

thanks for the correction -- I have three different models of OneTouch, left over from DH's prescriptions plus a newer one from a friend who gave it to me -- no Verio, they're all older than that (models from 1998, 2004, 2007 and 2014) -- my numbers are based on my memory of the size of blood droplet that gave us a valid number; a lot of "not enough blood" results then .. strips long ago expired, booklets who knows where

I also have an older Freestyle Lite which still lights up, have thought about getting strips for it, but the ReliOn is working well enough that I don't want to spend any extra money for that -- better to put that against getting Lantus since I'm not too confident about working towards remission while on Vetsulin