? Meter issues - Nova Max Plus doesn't match AlphaTrak2

How accurate is a human meter for cats?

I've long used an AlphaTrak 2 meter, but recently have gotten some very weird results. I also have a much newer Nova Max Plus meter that I use for ketones, so I bought some glucose test strips for it to compare the two. I just tried using both back to back and the results don't match:

NovaMax Plus: 135, 155

AlphaTrak 2: 240, 249

Thoughts? Does this suggest my AlphaTrak 2 is broken?

 

The AlphaTrak 2 is a pet meter so should give you the most accurate results. The other is a human meter. Human meters always read low on cats.

 

Sounds about right. Human meters run lower. A 50 on a human meter might be a 70 on a pet meter, but the higher you go up the further apart they are.... So a 300 on a human meter might be a 400 on a pet meter. Your alpha is the number closer to what your vet would get.

 

I knew it would be off, but I didn't realize it would be that far off. I still suspect my AlphaTrak may be inaccurate, so I bought some fresh control solution to check it.

 

Since the alphatrak seems to be much more accurate, is it worth the money to switch from my human glucometer? Especially this early in my cat's diagnosis?

 

Good idea

 

I noticed that your kitty started on steroids a couple of days before the bg numbers went up. That could be the reason for the higher bg numbers recently.

I also compared my human meter to the vets alpha trak and mine was around 125 while theirs was about 240 for the same blood sample, which is about the same as the difference you got.

 

It’s more about looking at trends rather than numbers themselves. As our spreadsheets reflect, what we consider hypoglycemia is different on a human meter vs a pet meter. I used alphatrak for the majority of Frosty’s diabetes journey, and spent a TON of money on the strips. Then I found out that many people here use Freestyle Insulix strips with the AlphaTrak meter which are much cheaper, but look the same and give very similar readings.

But at the end of the day, that’s a personal choice. Whatever you feel most comfortable with.

 

Yes. That part makes sense, although it was budesonide, which I'm told shouldn't have caused this big or this long of a problem. She's been off steroids since 10/4 and a couple strange things make me think my meter may be off. Her BG has gone down at the vet -- the lowest readings in the past month were all at the vet. Normally, she spikes there from stress. I should have directly tested against their meter, but didn't think to do it. Also, her highest reading in the past two weeks were when she hadn't eaten in four hours and had been asleep on the couch before testing. It's certainly possible that this is just her being weird and the meter is right, but I wanted to try to rule out a meter issue.