What Glucose Meter does everyone trust?

I am new to this website and I'm having a hard time finding the exact answers I'm looking for. So I apologize if everyone has answered this question a million times lol. I'm looking for a glucose meter that everyone trusts. I'm seeing mixed reviews on the alphatrak, and Freestyle but the freestyle also has so many different versions. I just want to find the most accurate one to use. Thanks in advance!

 

I choose to use the AlphaTrak2 since it is a pet meter and what most vets use. The strips are expensive though. Some people use it but have found other brands of strips to use with it. Even more people use human meters instead. I see many mention the Relion meters. Supposedly, the Micro and Confirm take the smallest sample size while the Prime has the cheapest strips.

There are variances with every meter. None are perfect. Pick one and commit!

 

I've used both the Relion Confirm and Prime. I prefer the Confirm because it takes a smaller blood sample. The numbers you get with a human meter are not the same as with a meter designed for pets. It's not really a problem for me because I'm looking at trends, rather than individual data points. Lots of people on this forum use human meters, so you can get good advice no matter what kind of meter you choose.

 

Yes, what @FurBabiesMama said. I chose the AlphaTrak2 too and for the same reasons. As she said, the strips are expensive. Many people here use human meters.

 

My vet used a human meter, so she just said to get a meter that takes the smallest blood sample. I primarily used the Relion Confirm/Micro or it's equivalent the Arkray Gkucocar01, made by the same manufacturer and available online at ADW. It's results compared fairly well with the results from the lab tests.

ETA: most of our dosing methodologies use numbers from human meters, so it was easier to compare apples to apples.

 

I use alphatrak 2 with alpha and insulinx strips. Been using it for of over 2 years no problem. Accurate and easy to use.

 

Relion Confirm or Micro from WalMart…..not only is it affordable and take a small sample size, you can get supplies 24/7 (which is important at 2am on a Sunday morning when you cat decides to drop too low!)

 

I now use the ReliOn Confirm because of the cost issue. Our vet recommended the AlphaTrak on diagnosis, and that's what we started with.The meter was more expensive and the strips much more expensive, plus the factor that I needed to order the strips online. I worried about having enough on hand. The ReliOn is a Walmart product and we can get strips at any time we need.
Now my DH is pre-diabetic and must take his BG every morning..so Dad and Idjit share. It works out just fine.
Be aware that there are many ways to save on other supplies, insulin, syringes, not just testing supplies.

 

I liked the form factor of the Abbott FreeStyle Lite monitor and still prefer using it over the Relion Micro that I use now. The reason I switched was the cost of the FreeStyle test strips--approximately $33 or higher for a box of 50 which you will run through quicker than you think. I picked up a box of 100 test strips for the Relion Micro at Walmart for just under $36. I had to order the FreeStyle test strips online and wait sometimes over a week to receive them.

 

I swear by my old, trusty One Touch Ultra meter. I've been using it for over 13 years now. It used to be a very common and recommended meter around here but the strips are pricier than other brands now on the market (though still cheaper than the AlphaTrak). I use an AlphaTrak as a backup.

As others have said, human meters are widely used and work fine. Some vets are fine with them and even use them in-house, whereas other vets are not and push the AlphaTrak. Human meters do tend to read lower than the pet meters, but that's not a show stopper ... you just need to be aware of that fact and adjust accordingly (for example, you'll want to intervene at a different number on a pet meter than human meter).

My Relion reads wildly lower than my other meters (I have several other brands as well ... I did comparisons years ago) and has always been my outlier, so I never used it much. From what I've seen here, some of the meters in the Relion line might tend to run low. Again, that's fine for general trends, but I didn't want to have to convince a vet who wasn't comfortable with human meters in the first place to then trust my numbers when I knew they would be significantly lower than what she'd be seeing on lab values. So I stayed with my OTU, which was ususally reasonably close.

 

I use the same

 

I have a Relion Micro from Walmart - uses I think, .3 blood? Small, small amount - I'm brand new at this and until I get comfortable and my cats ear starts "learning to bleed".. this is mine. Hoping in the future to go to the Relion Prime, which is sooooo much cheaper for strips. I'm not anywhere near there yet, but it's my goal - slow and steady wins the race, for my sanity. Oh, plus I wanna buy the Nova Plus so I can do ketones via blood too - its on my list! The strips are pricey but I don't care. Trying to ketone my cat is HARD, it seems I'm never aware of her peeing to "do it" even though I think I'm so watchful.. yeah, doesn't happen. I've gotten 1 strip test in as many days...

 

You can put clean, rinsed, dry aquarium gravel in the litter box instead of litter. Makes getting a sample easy. I have males so it’s a lot easier for me to get urine and I have collected 100’s of samples working at a busy veterinarian clinic .

 

You can buy a kit from Amazon - and I'm sure other places too - that may make it easier. I haven't used this exact one but it's in my shopping cart for purchase -
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B017UKGV9Q/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_4?smid=A3P9OD0K1P8QSF&psc=1

 

Hi all,

I am also in favor of AlphaTrak products and I believe with blind eyes on it blood glucose monitor for diabetic cats

 

I use the Relion Micro - the meter and strips are fairly inexpensive. Besides it takes a teeny drop of blood which I'm sure my Coco appreciates.

 

No kidding? I had fish as a kid, so I'm familiar with the gravel - the whole box or just "the spot"?...? I tried cling wrap yesterday, it worked great - no even a trace of ketones BUT Mao found it. He chewed and bit at it before I could handle it, then DRUG IT out of the box and ALL OVER THE KITCHEN. *sigh* That was...fun.

 

I'm so bookmarking this thing, think I might need it!!!

 

I'd be totally in favor if the AlphaTrak, its price is ok to me but the price of the strips... noooot so much.

 

Yeah so far Fena's been good for me - I have abit of data to update from my notebook and I will, but she's doing A'ok for the moment so it's not a huge pressing need to post it especially since I need to do so much web searching tonight and phone calls, sigh. Will get on updating ASAP otherwise!

 

I've found insulix strips work well in alpha. $30 for 100.