? alphatrax range

Do we have a range for someone using an Alphatrax 2? I thought we had a reference for it here.

 

I believe it's 70 to 160, but I'll double check.

 

I can't find anything different on that at the moment.

 

The only "official" number we have for the AT is 68 for the low

 

Thank Chris, I've been looking everywhere online and in the book. I found 250 for the high end of normal, but that seems too high for what I remember reading when I first started using the AT2.

 

I use AT2 and we are trying for a consistent 80-100
The last time we had a blood draw the number was spot on with the vets-
Many vets don't consider 250 that high I think because they factor in stress??

 

No, 250 isn't really too high by current findings, but I'm sure I read somewhere that the AT2'S normal range was 65 or 70 to 170 or 180. Jeez, I hate when I can't remember where I saw something.

 

250 mg/dL (13.9 mmol/L) is the the value that a lot of vets seem to use for the renal threshold. A lot of vets consider that a diabetic cat is well regulated as long as it is under the renal threshold.

Our vets quoted me 3.9 - 8.3 mmol/L (70 - 149 mg/dL) as the healthy reference range for non-diabetic cats from one of their reference manuals (think it might have been the Merck manual but could not testify to it).

I just had a look at Saoirse's lab reference ranges. IDEXX Laboratories (UK) have 3.9 - 8.0 mmol/L (70 - 144 mg/dL) as the normal blood glucose reference range for their equipment.

The above values are only posted here for general information. As you can see there are variations in the ranges from different sources. How these would relate to an Alphatrak is an unknown. I recommend asking your vet for guidance on the correct reference range to use with your Alphatrak meter.


Mogs
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The AlphaTrak2 is supposed to mimic animal lab values as closely as is possible with a glucometer. I got this information straight from Zoetis who took over the AT meter from Abbott. Zoetis has been involved in the AT meter since it's introduction but left the marketing etc. to Abbott so I think it's reasonable to use the IDEXX ranges as being "normal" ranges on the AT meter. It may be prudent however to aim for slightly higher readings given the exogenous insulin we give our cats that cannot be controlled like endogenous insulin by internal biological mechanisms.

 

Thank you for saying this!

Yes, please ask your vet for guidance.

 

From the Merck Veterinary Manual online 01/18/2016:
"The renal threshold for glucose is ~180 mg/dL in dogs and ~280 mg/dL in cats."
The tilde indicates approximately. It is likely to vary for individual cats.

 

Googling shows the renal threshold in cats can be as low as 180. There is not real one value.

 

Beat me to it, Larry. I was thinking earlier today about the 'guide' value that vets use and was planning to put an addendum to the effect that the renal threshold will vary from cat to cat and that there is a wide range. I'm glad to see your caveat here.


Mogs
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