thinking about getting a new meter-any suggestions

I have an accucheck advantage that I've used for 10yrs now. I love the meter, but it takes so much blood and seems to take forever to countdown.
I'm looking for suggestions for a new meter that uses less blood and is a little faster. Also, a little cheaper test strips would be greatly appreciated
When I had to run to the grocery store to get new strips last night ($60 :shock: , usually I use hocks!), the pharmacist tech mentioned that she uses the Kroger brand meter and the strips are only $10 for 25 or 20 for 50 strips-the convenience of being right down the street is nice also. She mentioned that it uses very little blood and is a capilarry action type strip. Also, no coding. Has anyone ever tried these?
Any other thoughts?
Jennifer

 

i don't know the cost of contour test strips but gosh it sips the tiniest amount of blood ever.
but i think it runs high on the higher #'s. i've been testing meters left and right lately.
the reliOn is cheapest all around, meter and strips. don't know much about it other than lots of peeps use it.

 

does accu check use the same strips for aviva as for what your using?

 

I am using the Up&Up (Target Brand). I originally had a One Touch Ultra, but the strips are crazy expensive. We happened to be at Target and found this meter. Currently, it is only $7.05 for the meter. It uses a tiny amount of blood and counts down pretty fast. I compared it with the One Touch Ultra and they were very close. I just bought 100 test strips for $34. And there is no coding required.

 

Don't know, I use the accucheck comfort curves.

 

I like the Freestyle Lite. Sample needed is only .3 milliliters, which is the smallest sample any meter needs (there are some others that need only this amount - such as the ReliOn). The Contour needs twice as much, which is still a small amount, but depending on the kitty, the difference can be significant.

The Freestyle Lite is very quick counting down. It doesn't score well on cheap strips, though. I have never bought them locally - always online - and it seems that $27 or a bit more for 50 strips is the usual. The price does vary from one shopping "trip" to another.

 

I live in a small town, the closest target/walmart/walgreens is about 45min away. Kroger is the only thing here. That's why I love the internet!

 

I do not recall anyone using a Kroger meter. However, my guess is that it is a branded meter used by other caretakers here but under a different name. A web search shows that it may be made by WaveSense.
http://www.news-medical.net/news/200909 ... stems.aspx
Interesting that WaveSense is almost ready to release a meter that downloads to an iPhone.

 

I have been using the Walmart Relion meter for years and have been very pleased with it. The strips are about $39 for 100. The meter is $9.00 for the Ultima which is the one I use.

 

The Advantage was the meter I started with per the suggestion of the vet. It worked but needed a large drop of blood and took forever to give a reading :-Q

So I switched to the Aviva. I think I got one using a free meter offer. The Aviva is much more cat-friendly and gives a reading really fast. Test strips can be a bit pricey, though. I bought test strips from HealthWarehouse.com. The mail order ones are the cheapest and are exactly the same as the ones marked as retail or professional. Ebay is another place where you can buy cheap test strips from.

No. The Advantage meter uses only Comfort Curve strips and one other AccuChek one (can't remember the name right now). It cannot use Aviva test strips. The Aviva meter only uses Aviva test strips.

 

Jennifer, if you order from Hocks and make sure the test strips are for Mail Order only, the price is oaky. I just never let myself get lower than two vials before I order again. FWIW, with all the testing I did with various meters, the ACAdvantage and the OT Ultra ran neck and neck. Always said, if they took away the OTU, I would go to the Advantage. I used the OTU for Baby(GA), and now for Hope, Mishka and Vinnie.

 

Hi Jennifer,
I use the Kroger brand meter and I really like it. I had used the ReliOn for a while (and a few others as well), but at one point I couldn't get any strips for the ReliOn so I picked up a Kroger meter (this is actually a new Kroger brand made by WaveSense, they had another version I had tried before which looked just like the Relion). I like the Kroger (by WaveSense) better than the ReliOn, and actually the strips are even cheaper - you can get 100 for $36.99. Like you said, no coding at all, small drop of blood and easy to use. The sipping action seems a lot quicker than the ReliOn (the original ReliOn Ultima), and I have compared the Kroger brand to the ReliOn and they are usually within 10 points of each other. I'd recommend this meter. Plus another advantage is I don't have to venture into Walmart so often. There are other meters you can get online with good prices for strips etc., but it is good to be able to go and buy strips if you need them right away.

 

Thanks Jen
Since posting this I've done some reading on the wavesense Kroger meter and the few people that I can find that tested them, really liked them.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to get one. It's cheap enough that I'll get one while I still have strips for my accucheck so I can do some side by side tests and if I don't like it it isn't a huge investment.