Advocate PetTest meter

[jaycapz]

Re: Advocate PetTest meter

I spoke to someone at the company. I am going to get a second meter, something must be wrong with this one. I'll have the new meter in the next day or so.

"JayCapz, did you use the same blood droplet for your comparison tests? If you didn't, that might make a difference."

Yes I did. Both you and craig had some great results, I must have gotten a dud. Lesson learned here though for new folks, don't trust the first meter you unbox. Always have a second meter handy to check your new meter, or compare against your vets meter/test results.

[CraigM]

Re: Advocate PetTest meter

Annie was so excited today, her new meter arrived!

Just did one blood test comparison between the AlphaTrak-2 and Advocate, and a test with both meters using the control solution that came with the Advocate (imitation blood?).

Real Annie blood, 4:00pm
AlphaTrak-2 = 123
Advocate. = 129

Second Annie test, 6:30pm
AlphaTrak-2 = 166
Advocate. = 157

Third Annie test, 6:30am
AlphaTrak-2 = 291
Advocate = 309

Advocate Control solution
AlphaTrak-2 = 77
Advocate = 86

Guess I now need to give Annie a big snack to get her blood glucose into the 300s and see if the two meters remain close to each other at higher numbers.

Craig

Just a word of caution. I notice "Advocate" sells both human and dog/cat meters and test strips. We are using the "PetTest by Advocate".

Wonder if the much less expensive human test strips would work in the dog meter? I'm thinking "No", since the systems are no-code. :-(

[k9diabetes]

Re: Advocate PetTest meter

Every now and then we have found that a dog and a specific brand of meter don't get on well. So if a second PetTest is no better, that could be the case.

The various brands of meters use slightly different methods for calculating the blood sugar and it seems some dogs' blood is different than others. Same for people. A few human diabetics I've known found that some brands of meters worked much better for them than others.

Keep in mind, too, all - every meter reading is a "calculation" - it's not a simple counting of glucose molecules in the sample. So AlphaTrak and all other meters ultimately are only estimating your dog's blood sugar.

I know in the early years of AlphaTrak, for example, some folks with diabetic cats found that the readings were too low. The companies run numerous tests of dogs' and cats' blood sugar to come up with the algorithm in the meter that calculates the blood sugar reading based on the sample. Great tool - so much better than anything we had before for cats and dogs - but still just a tool that estimates.

Which is fine - it's ranges and trends that matter, not individual readings.

Natalie

[MomofGus]

Re: Advocate PetTest meter

For the others who ordered this meter, how are your readings comparing? I'm still getting very close readings between this Advocate Pettester and my Alphatrak. I am testing with both meters first thing in the morning for comparison, then using the Advocate for testing the other 2 times during the day. I am well pleased with how it is working for me. I really like how it just sucks up the blood so quickly. I actually think it uses less blood, and it's much easier to get the blood onto the little test strip than the Alphatrak.

[CraigM]

Re: Advocate PetTest meter

and it's much easier to get the blood onto the little test strip than the Alphatrak.

. I've only used my PetTest 4-5 times because I had a container of AlphaTrak strips that were about to reach the expiry date that I wanted to use. I posted the results earlier. Will start using the PetTest next week for more routine testing after using up these older AlphaTrak strips (will still have 2 fresh containers of AlphaTrak strips).

I actually dislike the size / shape of the PetTest meter (too "boxy"). The length of the test strip is very short, and only sticks out a little from the end of the meter. I find myself needing to twist my hand to get the test strip to the blood droplet. I'm sure I'll get use to the shape of the PetTest meter after a bit of use.

Craig

[MomofGus]

Re: Advocate PetTest meter

I agree with you Craig in the meter being too boxy, and it's heavier (because of the batteries, I think). But, I don't seem to have trouble holding it to get the blood on there. I've been having trouble seeing the little point on the alphatrak stick to get the blood on there. Guess my eyes aren't what they used to be. I'm not stopping use of my Alphatrak all together, but at least I feel I have a fairly good alternative now and will be able to save a little bit of money on the strips and still know how my little guy is doing.

[CraigM]

Re: Advocate PetTest meter

Here's a question. Which of the two meters is REALLY closer to true? I'm not seeing much difference, but would be interested if just maybe the PetTest was actually more accurate than the AlphaTrak!

Craig

[wild lady wolf]

Re: Advocate PetTest meter

I put both meters to use for the 1st time and in the morning this is what I got:

AT 239
AP 367

then 12 hours later

AT 143
AP 141

perhaps it needs to be used more than once to "get calibrated?"

the strip is a lot easier to aim towards the blood than the pointy little tips of the AT, i think this pettest is a keeper!

[jaycapz]

Re: Advocate PetTest meter

Alright guys I am back.

So here is the update, if you remember I posted the meter was all over the map. Well, I think that meter was broken. I spoke with a rep at the company, funny the person who called me was a don p.epin. The irony, a man who was found guilty of millions in scamming on diabetic supplies within the same state shares the 'same name'. Anyway, that is not the point. He was very nice and helpful, he called me after hours since I could not accomodate a call while at work. He shipped the new meter, and the results are much better after several tests. So now I can offer my more accurate opinion of the product. First the test results:

A=Alphatrak, PT=Pet Test
A=81, PT=84
A=221, PT=234
A=108, PT=112
A=91, PT=99

I would say the results are nearly spot on, average variation was less than 5%. I'd say that is pretty good, you will also notice the pet test always comes in a few points higher (never lower so far).

As for the product itself, with the strips being 40-50% cheaper I'd say that will really help the wallet. As for the size, I agree this unit is much heavier and much bulkier. I am sure they will have a smaller revision of this unit in the future. The strips do take blood in easily, but feels like it requires slightly more than the alphatrak and freestyle strips. The counter is nice, but makes you wonder why is it always 5 seconds? Why does the alpha take longer? How does it decipher lower and longer in the same time frame? I guess who cares, right? I do find it more difficult to hold when taking the blood compared to the smaller units, I have messed up a couple of times but its just because I am used to the smaller unit. Also, not fond of the cheap feel of the button on the front. I feel its a pain, setting it up was not fun.

So overall, if I had to rate it on a 1-5 scale. I would give it a 4 out of 5. I think if a few more folks chime in, this unit is definitely front page worthy.

What I am curious to see:

1. How well the unit holds up with heavy use?
2. Will the strips hold in cost, or will they jump as popularity grows?
3. Will they create a more user friendly version that is lighter?
4. Will they provide the free software to go with this unit, as promised.

[Willis]

Re: Advocate PetTest meter

I ordered through AdvocateMeters.com using promo code FETCH16 and received the ADVOCATE PetTest Meter Kit for under $7, the cost of shipping. It came with the meter, 25 test strips, 10 single use safety lancets, 10 regular lancets, the control solution, and a lancing device.

Good evening Sofia's mama.

I had a question that hopefully you or one of he other folks can answer before I call the company regarding the meter I received today.

I went ahead and ordered the meter at AdvocateMeters.com. I ordered the items posted that had the Fetch16 promo code banner.

All the correspondence from the company came from ecommerce@pharmasupply.com which I figured must be the distributor.

Was curious to see if anyone else had this experience. The box that contained the items was taped/sealed on top but not bottom. Found that unusual. Also the content list had the strip lot and the exp.date crossed out. The box containing the lancet has a totally different lot # than what was listed on the outside of the box.

The meter itself does indeed have a matching serial number.

Maybe I'm a bit nervous as I don't know much of anything regarding meters and their usage yet.

I'm guessing/thinking that they just opened the box to add additional strips which would explain the untapped bottom but should I be concerned about the different lot numbers?

I'm probably overreacting. Just want to get this phase right when I start.

Thanks in advance.
Willis

[CraigM]

Re: Advocate PetTest meter

Just ordered more "PetTest" strips from Amazon today. The current price dropped to $23.10 for 50 strips. Not sure if there is a better / cheaper source, but $23.10 is low enough that I've retired my Walmart Prime for now. (To bad I also have 2 boxes of AlphaTrak strips that I'll have to eventually use)

Craig

[MomofGus]

Re: Advocate PetTest meter

That's the cheapest I've found. I'm still using AlphaTrak off and on. Here lately. I'm having hard time making the switch 100% to the Advocate. It's just me because the readings are pretty close, but since my dog had very, very high readings last week (not even registering at times), I've chosen to keep using Alpha for the time being until we are getting better numbers.

[CraigM]

Re: Advocate PetTest meter

That's the cheapest I've found. I'm still using AlphaTrak off and on. Here lately. I'm having hard time making the switch 100% to the Advocate. It's just me because the readings are pretty close, but since my dog had very, very high readings last week (not even registering at times), I've chosen to keep using Alpha for the time being until we are getting better numbers.

Funny that you don't totally trust the PetTest. Neither do / did I!

It's not that I have had any numbers that varied greatly from the AlphaTrak, all comparisons between the two meters I've done were pretty close. The "concern" was that I had a two week run with the PetTest where ALL readings were in the 90-210 range. What's the chance of that happening? Yep, I finally opened a fresh container of AlphaTrak strips to compare readings, and the two were within a few points. I finally got a 300+ on the PetTest (over fed, she was happy getting a sausage patty as a treat) and proved that the meter would actually display numbers over 300

So, I guess I'm happy with the PetTest, but still need to use up the $$$ AlphaTrak strips sometime.

Craig

[k9diabetes]

Re: Advocate PetTest meter

Bumping this thread up and copying it to the archive forum.

[k9diabetes]

Re: Advocate PetTest meter

When the original AlphaTrak came out, I did an extended series of side-by-side tests of my AlphaTrak and my OneTouch Ultra.