? Question about Alphatrak and Freestyle meters

Sooooo, I have to get a meter. My brother gave me a Freestyle Freedom Lite, which is exactly the same as the Alphatrak2, but for use in people. Does anyone know if I can use the strips interchangeably with those two meters?

Or do I just bite the bullet and get the starter kit from chewy with a $15 off coupon?

 

I used freestyle strips in my AlphaTrak and they seemed to work fine. I made sure to test them with the control solution first to make sure they were in the proper range.

However, if you are in the US I would recommend the ReliOn prime meter. It’s MUCH cheaper - I paid $35 for 50 freestyle strips on amazon, compared to $9 for 50 ReliOn strips at Walmart

 

Hi Lyss, I don't know if the Freestyle Freedom Lite strips will work with the AlphaTrak2 or not. It is perfectly fine to use a human meter to test your sugar cat. Many of us do because of the cost of the pet meter and strips, and that you have to order online and wait for delivery.

Are you in the states? Many of us start out with the ReliOn Prime meter at the cost of about $10, and 50 strips are also about $10. It looks like the Freestyle Freedom Lite strips are about $30 for 50 strips.

You don't have to use a pet meter, our dosing protocols for insulin were written based on human meters, and consistent testing and recording in the spreadsheet is going to give you the information you need to track insulin effect and progress.

 

To get the most accurate readings from an AlphaTrak2, you need to use the AlphaTrak strips. They are calibrated for dog and cat blood. Each vial has a dog code and a cat code on it; you have to enter the appropriate code on the device. There are several posts here about people using various other strips and doing comparisons. Some have ended up with pretty accurate results, but sometimes there are significant differences. Since you do not currently own an AlphaTrak2 and strip cost is a factor, I would suggest you not get one. (And I would definitely not buy the expensive AlphaTrak strips and try to use them in the Freestyle Freedom Lite. The meter does not even allow for coding so what's the point of having the special strips.) You can either get the appropriate strips for the Freestyle Freedom Lite or choose another human meter with even cheaper strips to start out with.

Some vets insist on having testing done with the AlphaTrak2. So, some people have an AT meter and strips that they use only for vet curves, and they use a human meter and strips for normal, daily testing.

 

The vet uses the AlphaTrak2, and suggested it, but didn't say not to use others so I'm on the fence.

 

Well, then do your wallet and bank account a favor. Get a human meter with affordable/available strips (you never know when you might be going through quite a few, especially when you are learning to test). You don't have to code the ReliOn Prime meter and just knowing the patterns is going to help you and vet know what's going on with the insulin doses...too much, too little, just right?

 

a lot of it depends on how you feel about finances

the AlphaTrak2 strips are expensive, and at least at the beginning you are going to use a lot of them
alternate strips used with an AT2 may or may not be accurate -- and to begin with you need closer accuracy, than later on

the Freestyle Lite meters are great, they take one of the smallest blood samples, which can be important particularly at the beginning

if the expense is important -- go with the ReliOn from Walmart, to begin with, and you will still have the Freestyle as a backup

 

Okay, honest question though.

Like, I can get a 10 dollar dinner. I can also get a 70 dollar dinner. Both are food, both will fill me up, but one is better quality by far.

So can I believe that for $10 I'm getting the same accuracy as the Alphatrak2 and it's strips?

Sorry I'm just trying to make sure I do the best, even if I'm eating ramen this week.

 

Hey, Ramen is good! Seriously Lyss, the important thing is the testing. I would not say that because the pet meter is more expensive that it's better quality. People with diabetes use the human monitors..and many many use the ReliOn Prime, and it's just as critical to know human BG as it is cat BG. We started out with the AlphaTrak2 as vet suggested, but just couldn't keep up with the cost. So, it was down to go without testing consistently, or use a human meter with affordable strips.

Here is some info from my "files":
Meters: you can use a meter calibrated for humans-- the numbers won't match pet meters your vet might use, but all you really need to know is what is "too low" (50 and below on a human meter), what is "normal" (approx 50-120), and then your own cat's relative numbers (going up? going down?). The big expense on supplies will be the strips, so shop around before choosing a meter to figure out what works for you. Many in the US use one of the Walmart ReliOn meters because strips are pretty cheap and Walmarts are open all the time for emergency buys, but you can also often get good deals on strips for other meters on Amazon or eBay.

Human meters do read lower than pet meters, and BG range in the dosing protocols are adjusted accordingly. For example, a normal range on a human meter is 50-120, while on a pet meter it is 68-150. You cannot compare numbers from a human to a pet meter because you're using a different point of reference for them. It's more important that a meter be consistent, (we are generally looking for trends in data to adjust the dose, not single, exact numbers). There is also a +/- 20% variable allowed in any glucose meter, including pet meters.
You can’t translate numbers from a human meter to what they would be on a pet meter. Then are no studies which provide a correlation between the two. However, it’s equally important to note that 50 on a human meter does not equal 68 on a pet meter. Those are the numbers which have been determined to provide a safety net.

 

no meter is 100% accurate, no meter will agree with lab test equipment 100%
this is one of the descriptions as to why: https://onedrop.today/blogs/blog/accuracy-blood-glucose-meter

https://www.thediabetescouncil.com/10-popular-blood-glucose-meters-put-to-the-test/
this gives you additional information about meters -- the ReliOn Confirm was recently discontinued, I got one of the last ones our Walmart had;
however many on this message board use the "replacement" ReliOn Prime

 

Expensive doesn’t mean better readings necessarily. I loved the AlphaTrak when I used it, but it was just not economical. My cat is doing just as well since I’ve started using the ReliOn meter

 

I am an AlphaTrak user... have been for two years. In a perfect world where cost was not a factor for anyone, I would say that everyone should have one (of course, in a perfect world, our cats would not have diabetes at all). But, if cost is a concern at all, it is not the right choice. (Strip price varies a little bit but don't expect much better than $1 per strip.) To be blunt, if it means you have to eat ramen, it is not the right choice. Keep in mind that you are going to need to use your meter/strips for more than a week or two. There is a chance this could be a very long term situation. It is more important that you are able to continue testing regularly than it is to have a pet meter/strips. By far the majority of people here use human meters. You can manage this just fine with a human meter.

 

I know the human meters are trustworthy, but is a $10 meter as reliable as a $70 dollar one and the same for strips?

I guess I'm just trying to weigh financial cost versus peace of mind.

 

Meters are required to meet accuracy standards and have a variance no more than 15/20%. That being said, there are plenty of articles where meter accuracy has been tested. So, if you want, you can do some research to pick a meter you are comfortable with. Here are a few articles that came up for me in a quick Google search:

https://diabetesed.net/how-accurate-are-glucose-meters/
https://onedrop.today/blogs/blog/accuracy-blood-glucose-meter
https://diatribe.org/are-blood-glucose-meters-accurate-new-data-18-meters

 

As with so many things in this world, price is often based on nothing more than "name brand" or it being a specialty product rather than product quality. All human meters must meet FDA standards or they would not be on the market. They will all have their own idiosyncracies but they all have to meet the existing ISO standards so meter price does not need to be a deciding factor. In this case, the deciding factors should be blood sample size (smaller sample = easier testing, the cost of the strips and your comfort using the meter. In some cases, a more expensive meter will have features you don't need for your cat.

The AT2 meter is modeled on the old Freestyle Freedom Lite meter that required coding. It is made by Abbott and marketed as a specialty pet product by Zoetis who bought back the marketing rights to the meter from Abbott when Abbott closed their Animal division. The strips for the Freestyle meter and the AT2 meter are the same strips however the strips marketed as AT2 strips have been batched tested to determine which cat or dog code on the AT2 meter will elicit the most pet lab accurate results. Without the correct code for the specific batch of strips, your results will generally be in the ballpark but not as accurate as is possible with the correct code. There are at least 8 cat codes for the AT2 meter.

 

So I called my mom (my brother is diabetic so she's probably had a lot of the same concerns I have currently) and asked her if she would have put her sons health in the trust of a ten dollar meter if we didn't have insurance and she was adamant she would have.

So I got all my stuff, and tried to test him this morning. First try was preshot, not enough blood. I tried again at +2 and he was 322. I'm going to chalk this up to stress and not worry, but I'm going to aim for +2 readings both morning and night till Monday and then attempt a curve if he's used to it.

I feel like a monster for pricking him. Tell me that feeling goes away?

 

You aren't pricking him....you are testing him to keep him safe. Once Pan is more comfortable with testing and his ears are bleeding better for you, it will all become routine and you won't think about it much if at all. There may be some days but for the most part, yes, the feeling does go away. If it's any consolation, Pan doesn't feel anything like what you feel when you prick your finger...your finger is far more sensitive. Kitties have few nerve endings in their ears so as long as you don't hit the vein, they barely feel it.

 

You are all wonderful supportive people. I really appreciate this forum.

 

think of how often a cat, encountering another cat, gets clawed

I can tell you from experience, being clawed hurts MUCH worse than being pricked by an lancet (even if you are pricked on a finger pad) -- plus there is a chance for infection when clawed, the lancet is sterile (until you pull off the needle guard)

really no worse than getting a slight prick from a rose as you are arranging flowers, you shrug that off .. cat will too ESPECIALLY since he gets a lovely treat right after

 

The feeling goes away thankfully!! Especially when you start to see them acting more like themselves again when you get the dosing right. My girl is a literal demon and would fight me every time and I felt SO bad. But that same cat now comes running when she hears me dig a lancet out of the box or pop the lid on the test strip vial because she would like her freeze dried salmon treat NOW, thank you very much

With Vetsulin, the lowest point is usually around 3-5 hours after insulin I think (Sophie is +4), so it may be good to get some of those readings too when you can!