Glucose Meter - Question

I have a question about finding the right meter. My vet told me to use AlphaTrak meter but it is $100 and the strips are more than a dollar a piece! I just can't afford that, but I am terrified of getting an inaccurate reading and hurting Ducky by giving him too much insulin or something... and his poor little ears I am not very good at taking his blood and his ears are all bruised... Does any one have any meters that they really like and trust?

 

i've used the Freestyle Flash since 2006 and love it. The new model of that is the Freestyle Lite and I'll probably update to that here pretty soon. but i've used just about all of them on the market at one point by going out and helping people local to me learn to hometest plus diabetes runs rampant in my family. i just started with the Flash at my vet's recommendation and i've just stuck with it that's all

for ease of use you'll find ALOT of people like the Accu-chek Aviva but for economy ALOT of people use Walmart's Relion meters. The newer Relion models are the Micro and the Confirm. both work alot like the Freestyle meters in that there's no coding and they take the smallest required blood sample.

the key if you go name brand is to buy strips online. you can typically get them for about half the cost of retail by getting them at sites like http://www.hocks.com http://www.americandiabeteswholesale.com http://www.store4diabetics.com and even http://www.ebay.com

relion ones aren't as available online though.

and you are right, you don't have to buy the AlphaTrak meter. some people do but you don't have to. the cost is too much, strips are too much, and strips are much harder to come by than for one you can run over to walmart for at 8pm if you need to (by the way, the same company makes the Freestyle as the AlphaTrak so really, how much difference can there be?"

 

human meters work fine for cats

choose one that:
you can afford the test strips -- estimate 2-4 per day (at least one before each injection plus a spot check or two)
takes a tiny amount of blood (the tiniest has the most expensive test strips of course)
has "sipping action" test strips OR is "approved for alternate site testing" (easier to get the tiny blood sample into the strip from the kitty's ear)

I personally like the MAXIMA AST meter from www.hocks.com
The test strips cost $16.49 per 50ct ($0.33 each)
requires 0.5 microliter of blood (the best require 0.3 microliter of blood)
sipping action strips.

 

I have an Accu-chek Aviva and like it. The cost OTC for the strips is aweful, the last one I bt was about $78 for 50. But I get them on eBay when I remember to order them soon enough and have paid $25 or less for the 50 count. You just need to watch expiration dates on eBay because the Aviva is chipped won't take expired strips.

The Walmart brand is very popular on this site and seems to be consistant. ND laws on Pharmacies are really weird so most of ours doesn't have pharmacies and the one that does didn't have the Relion out so I went to my pharmacy and she looked at the price of the meter, not the strips. It has worked well for us once I figured out what I was doing :?

 

I've used Truetrack meter from CVS pharmacy. The test strips are around $52 for 100, and sometimes they have $5 or $10 off coupons. They used to have the test strips at Jewel/Osco also, but I haven't checked there recently. I was thinking about trying the Walmart one as I think the strips are even cheaper, but I have no complaints about Truetrack. They usually have a coupon so you can get the meter free at the store or on the box.

 

Thank you all for the tips, I will look into all the meters mentioned. My vet just kind of threw me off by saying that I didn't have to test him and not to use human meters if I did. This forum has been a very comforting source to me this last week.

 

I use a Nova Max meter (only needs .3 microleters of blood). I think it was $19.99 for the meter and I find test strips online for a very reasonable price on Amazon.com with frees shipping. I haven't heard a lot of talk about my meter online, but I feel it is accurate (I have tested every person in my family and it is always consistent). I really like the small amount of blood it requires.
About your kitties sore ears, Trouble's were like that too for the first two weeks. It goes away and you don't have to feel so bad anymore. Good luck!

 

oh Phoebe, i always forget about the Maxima. that one is very economical too Angel. (Phoebe, a week ago i picked up 200 strips on ebay for $11.00!!! i've had a couple Maxima's donated recently and when I saw those strips for that cheap I couldn't help but snag them up. LOL!!)

 

I use Walmart's Relion brand meter. The meter is about $9 and the strips are between $39 - $44 for 100. This was also rated as a Consumer Reports best buy.

I have been very happy with the meter.

 

I use the Accuchek Aviva as well and I order the test strips from Hocks.com. If you order 3 boxes of 50 each at a time they charge a little over $25 each.

 

Avivia was the first meter that I used and I feel in love with it. It sips up the blood very fast and does'nt need much blood either. It is very user friendly, especially if your new to doing this. The strips are pricey though unless you buy them on ebay.

What I use now is the Relion meter from Walmart. It was $9 for the meter and I get 50 strips for $20 or 100ct for $39. I have a walmart near me and I like the flexability of just going to the store and picking up strips. Plus no shipping. It's not as fast as the Avivia but now I find it very easy to use.

I tested the Avivia and Relion together and they came up with pretty much the same # so I use the Avivia as a back up meter. Also it goes with Sara when she goes to the pet sitters.

Are you using a tissue behind Ducky's ear? Than when you've got the blood on the meter you can wrap the tissue around to the other side and apply a small amount of pressure for about 5-10 seconds. After that apply some antibiotic lotion. This should help the bruising. I can hardly tell anymore.

It does'nt seem to hurt Sara. In fact at times she has slept through it. Most of the times its not a problem at all.sometimes I think its just more of an annoyance to them.

Good luck and your right this site is awesome!

jan and sara