Alphatrak vs. Human Glucometer

Sigh...I thought I was doing such a good job testing regularly. I had put off a visit to the vet because I wanted to bring them more information so we could figure out how to move forward. I sent them my spreadsheet and other charts from my glucometer. My vet emailed me saying to get an Alphtrak because they are more accurate OR we should put a freestyle Libre on her. I tried the Libre 3 weeks ago. It fell off in 2 days. I'm discouraged and not sure I understand why why the Libre is an option (it is a human glucometer) OR the Alphatrak but the reading I have from my human glucometer is not reliable. Is there any sort of conversion from Alphatrak to human? Has anyone done a side by side test with the human monitor + the Alphatrak? I'll be bringing my meter to her vet visit on Friday so we can see how far off it really is. I will probably just try the Libre again because I don't want to have to test her every 2 hours for a day (we both hate it!).

She seems to be a little bouncy, but I feel like we're slowly making progress. IDK, this is just me venting.

Grateful for this site and wishing all of our cats into remission.

 

Pet meter is more accurate since it takes into account the difference in glucose distribution in the red blood cells and the liquid part of the blood between human blood and cat blood. The real difference is in the lower numbers. The cut off for a hypo for a pet meter is 68 and it is 50 for a human meter. I.e., a 50 on a human meter is sort of equal to a 68 on a pet meter. Thee is no real conversion since the error on both hunan and pet meter is +/- 15-20%.

 

Thanks for your reply! I'll consider getting the Alphatrak

 

FWIW, My Vet gave me a hard time at first when I started using a human meter even AFTER he had me use the Libre (a human glucose monitoring device).
We were at an appointment and he tested Cleo on his alphatrak 2-(AT2) -bg 352, then my freestyle lite human meter - BG 272. His exact words were "this is a problem." I smiled and asked him "Why? 272 or 352 or 450 what does it matter , high is high. I'm looking for patterns and trends." I also explained that the AT2 strips are crazy expensive to use all the time.
Ultimately his concern wasn't with the higher numbers rather with the lower ones and possible hypoglycemia. We compromised and I agreed to do the curves on the AT2 to send to him and I would double check low BGs on the human meter (50 or below) with the AT2.

 

I don’t agree that the alpha track meter is more accurate. it just reads a bit higher.
Most of us here use the human meter as it is so much cheaper to run.
Until a few years ago all vet used the human meter as the pet meter was not invented…now after a very successful marketing campaign, all the vets want them.
Both our dosing methods are based on the human meter.
Personally I would go with the human meter and use the money saved on the strips for something else.
Alpha track test strips are a dollar each compared to human test strips which are much much cheaper.

 

I strongly suspect that most vets are completely unaware in the different in the cost for the strips for an AT vs a human meter. Educate your vet -- and point out that adding to the costs for caring for your cat should not be the goal. In addition, as you correctly pointed out, if your vet supports the use of a Libre, it's a contradiction to tell you that the AT is more accurate. A human meter is a human meter.

 

When the AlphaTrak first came out in 2006 one of the members here did a comparison with several meters, including the AT. Her conclusion was that the AT was no better than a human meter and not worth the price. You can read about it here: http://www.felinediabetes.com/glucometer.htm

I've been at this since 2004 when there were no special pet glucometers. All of us here - and most vets - used human meters. When glucometer manufacturer Abbott learned we were using them for cats, they capitalized on it by 'creating' one specifically for animals, which actually was an AlphaTrak label stuck on a Freestyle meter (the original label was underneath). Then they convinced vets that measuring glucose in blood was somehow different for animals, a clever marketing strategy. Blood is blood, sugar is sugar. It's not that complicated.

I compared my human meter (Contour) with my vet's AT a couple of years ago and there was a negligible 15 pt. difference. Personally, I would not glue a libre device on my cat.

 

Hello,
I have a question about this. Hopefully it is the right place to ask.

We were using the Alpha Trak and this weekend we picked up the ReliOn meter since we were running low on the Alpha trak test strips. Last night the difference in readings was 40. This morning it was 100. We are out of the Alpha strips to try this again (he wouldn't sit still and the next to last strip gave an error, plus Walmart pickup gave me the wrong strips the day before).

Is it normal that the difference is 100? Should it be closer to 40 since people were saying above its about 20% difference? Just trying to figure out what we should be aware of in the transition. He is normally between 300 and 500 with the Alpha Trak.

Thanks,
Steve

 

What were the BG values that were different by 40?
The ones that were different by 100?
At higher BGs the absolute difference will likely be more. The difference is generally proportional to the BG value. At higher BGs the difference is usually greater.

 

Last night the Alpha was 535 the Relion was 498. This morning the Alpha was 434 and the Relion was 340.

 

At the high BGs a 100 point difference is not unexpected. I am surprised of only a 40 point difference Alpha was 535 the Relion was 498.

 

Thanks. So the Relion will always be lower? Should we just assume the level is up to 100 more then what it is reading?

 

Yes a human meter usually reads lower than a pet meter.
At a BG of about 70 or so the difference between the two meter will be should be much smaller, maybe 20 or so.

 

Thank You!