test strips for alphatrak

i about fainted when i went on-line to find out where to get the alphatrak test strips and saw the cost for 50 strips!!!!!!! i was hoping pet smart might carry them. doesn't look like they do (on-line anyway) and since they don't i'm hoping my vet's office has refill strips.

they sold me the alphatrak kit but haven't seen the bill yet - i can't even imagine what that might have cost!!!!! was confused and scared when i asked if i should have one. i left with the kit last friday but haven't gotten the bill yet. don't have many strips left - been testing like crazy this week.

boy this sure is an expensive disease

 

Will they take it back? Human meters work fine; the vast majority of people here use them. And it is good to be able to run to the drug store if you run out of strips.

I think the cheapest place to get the AlphaTrak strips is ADW. Choose the shopping affiliates button on the top of this page.

 

i will ask if they will take it back. can't imagine they would since i've been using it for a week now, but it's worth a try. i don't think anything purchased from the vet's office is cheap. it came in a box with paperwork, etc. so i'm assuming it was brand new. wish i would have had a clear head at the time (they could have sold me the brooklyn bridge that day) and thought to ask if there was a cheaper way to go but i had no clue what this thing would cost - not to mention the supplies needed to operate it!!!!! i don't mind spending money to help her get better, but there must be a cheaper way to go!!!!! $50-$60 for a box of only 50 test strips!!!!! i simply can't afford this type of meter with the # of times/day i should check her. what irritates me is the vet told never told me to even get a meter until i saw her check beeber's bg friday and i asked, "should i have one of those?". all they told me to do was give 1 unit, 2 times/day - not to give the insulin if the bg was below 200 - those were the only instructions i got (and they gave me a list of foods with the cholesterol counts on them). 50 wouldn't even last a month!!!!! to do a test every 2 hours until she gets adjusted will put me in the poor house!!!!! the box of 50 that came with the kit is almost gone and it's only been a week tomorrow.

when i left the office last friday with this meter kit, i said if there is a bill please send it to me. as of now i haven't gotten a bill but i highly doubt they GAVE this to me. i'm taking her in tomorrow for a checkup, so i guess i'll find out then what this has cost me.

live and learn i guess.

 

Well, even if they won't take it back, you can quit using it. (see if they will let you pay for it over time?) No reason to pay so much for strips from now on. Go to Walmart, get a ReliOn and strips for around $20.

 

No, you won't find pet test strips at a pet store or Human pharmacy. Some online pharmacies do have pet meters and test strips as well as places like Amazon.com and Ebay. This is why most people here use a Human meter for their cat - you can buy test strips pretty much anywhere from the local pharmacy to the big box store to many places online and, depending on what meter you use, the test strips can be inexpensive.

You can keep the AlphTrack on hand to use as a back up. Or try to sell it on Craigslist or even give it away for free on FreeCycle.org.

 

how does one use a human meter on an animal? are there instructions for knowing how to read the #'s?

any particular brand?

if they do not take this back i must change and try to sell this one.

 

We use the numbers on the meter. They don't match up perfectly with the AlphaTrak, but because we are looking for trends and patterns, it's not a problem. (For example if the AlphaTrak read 260 and the human read 230, it would be the same dosage.)

Lots of people like the ReliOn from Walmart because it is the cheapest and works well. The strips and the meter are the least expensive available and of course easy to get when you need them.

But you can get any meter that takes a small sample and sips the blood. Sometimes the meters are free; it's the strips that are expensive (but not as expensive as AlphaTrak) Then buy your strips on Ebay at half the price of drug stores.

Here is a thread that Pixiegirl put together with a Consumer reports on meters plus our opinions on accuracy.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=70140&hilit=meter comparisons

 

I use the relion micro from Walmart- 50 strips are $20, 100 strips are $36-ish, and you can get strips at teh ADW- 250 for $60-ish right now (buy 4 get 1 free). Relion confirm is also popular, so is the Bayer Contour.

DON"T get a meter with True in the name as they suck, so does the Freestyle Lite- or the one that has the butterfly on the strip. Several kitties have had great numbers with those but went into DKA because the numbers where wrong.

Once a meter is used they might not be able to take the meter back- its the OSHA law that covers blood-borne pathogens (at least for humans- vets might not have that stipulation). Keeping it as a back-up until you use all the strips is good, then you could pass it to someone else who doesn't mind the cost of the strips.

 

there are 4 relion products listed at walmart. what one is recommended?

 

I use the Arkray Vital from American Diabetes Wholesale. The meter alone is $11 and comes with 10 strips, or with 50 for about $20. The strips are even cheaper than the Relion ones (also manufactured by Arkray); the buy 4/ get one free is 250 strips for about $45, and if you set it up to auto-ship every X number of days (15, 30, 45, etc.) you get another % off and don't have to worry about reordering them. I find 250 every 30 days is pretty comfortable; I don't worry about running out but don't have a zillion strips left over.

Testing with a human meter is no different than a pet meter. The rule of thumb is that they read about 30 points lower than the alphatrak (why people note on their spreadsheets if they are using the AT), but all you really need to think about is the normal range. On a human meter, it's 40-120 and on the AT it's 70-150. So, on the AT, if you saw a number between 70-80, you'd think about a potential hypo and feed, and treat for hypo at any number under 70. On a human meter, that number is 40-50. As long as you know that (60's on a human meter are great numbers, and on the AT they're dangerously low), you're fine. As was said before, what you're looking for is trends and ranges, not specific numbers (unless those numbers are indicating a potential hypo).

 

All meters work the same way, regardless of wheter it is for pets or Humans: Get a drop of blood with the lancet device, insert test strip into meter, touch the edge of the test strip to the blood to fill the little window with blood, wait for a number to show up on the meter.

Here's a meter comparision guide: http://forecast.diabetes.org/files/images/v65n01_BG_Meters_0.pdf

Use either the Relion Micro or Confirm. Both only need a teeny 0.3 ul drop of blood. The other two meters need a larger sample and sometimes you can't get that much blood from a cat.

 

There's a free meter and strips in the supply closet. It's a brand name so you'd have to get your strips on eBay.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=72263