Problems with Alphatrak2

Kitty Levon and I have been having a terrible time with testing. He fights, I stress, so I thought I was just incompetent and just took him to the vet for tests. I bought the Alphatrak2 in March from Amazon. I used it about 10 times, then Levon went back into remission. Now I can't get a reading. After troubleshooting on the phone with Zoetis for what seemed like hours, I figured out SOME strips would turn on the meter (not all strips) but if these strips are touched/jiggled/bumped the meter shuts off. How am I supposed to get blood without touching or moving the strip, eh?

When the Zoetris rep could come up with no other reason for my problems, she told me I would have to take it to my vet, have her troubleshoot it like I just did, then she could call Zoestris and THEN they would "see about getting me a replacement." Why should I bother my vet about this? I bought this on Amazon, after all.

Has anyone else had this problem with the meter or strips? Has anyone dealt successfully with this company? I've emailed the Amazon seller, but I am really annoyed with this problem, and with all the stress to us while repeatedly attempting to test poor Levon.

Julia aka sofapup

 

I never had trouble with mine shutting off. Your very sure the battery is good?

 

used mine almost around 35 times already and have no issues with mine. if you didn't tear out the plastic tab thing out of battery compartment than i would try changing batteries since you haven't used it since march.

if you tore out the plastic tab thing, than you may of messed up the circuit board inside like some others that were having problems with their alphatrek did. unlike most things that have that pull out tab in battery compartments that you are suppose to pull out, we are not suppose to do so with alphatrek, the tab thingie is to easily take out battery only.

personally, if my alphatrek that i too bought from amazon, was not working right so soon and i did not pull out that tab thing or damage it myself, i would avoid the hassles they are putting you through to get a replacement and order another from 'amazon' and than put broken one in that box, write defective on box so they don't sell it to someone else and return it as damaged/not working!!

 

I had just one occasion where mine stopped working but have not had any issues since.

 

Used my AlphaTrak2 for 2 years now. The battery died once. It was easy to replace. The strips do expire, so make sure yours are not expired. If any water or moisture gets on them, they are ruined.

The strips are expensive. I use FreeStyle Lite strips from Ebay. I get them for ~$0.40 each.

 

Looking at my notes - it was labor intensive- but I did get 50 strips free. They send them to ur vet. Try Rebecca. Customer service. 8889638471. 20./. Of my strips from kit failed. They sent 50 (smallest bottle of strips) as goodwill gesture. Side note. Our car went into remission 5 weeks after diagnosis. He's happy and healthy. Keep ur cat on can food. HILLs. Low carb. High protein. I'm in San Diego CA. I have xtra everything. Lantus insulin, syringes and testing kit that I'm posting for sale.

 

Thanks for the replies. I spent what seemed like hours on the phone with Zoestris troubleshooting all the common possibilities. They want to go through the same process with my vet. Again. Seems like just more hoops.

 

Not worth the hassle. A new meter costs $50 with 25 strips. Having the vet do it costs $15. Just ordered a new one. Works fine wit no jiggling.