Best BG meter

[Bdavis7034]

Hi there - new here (first post). After looking around and reading many threads one thing is very clear - I definitely need to home test. My vet, like many I have now read about here recommended NOT home testing specifically and said it was unnecessary.
A little history: My Pomeranian Juno was diagnosed last month after we noticed excessive thirst and then had accidents in the house (completely uncharacteristic). He was hospitalized for 10 days - got stabilized and returned home on 3 units insulin. Fructosamine still above 400 at last vet check 2 weeks post discharge - increased insulin to 4 units - vet wants to re-check him after 1 more month on insulin which is coming up june 1st.
I’ve read about human vs pet blood glucose meters and from what I gather, the test strips can be more expensive for the pet variety. Sounds like a lot of people use the human version and then do the appropriate conversion because it won’t be calibrated for a dog? Almost bought the AlfaTrax meter for pets before reading more here- so before I make any decisions I’d appreciate any helpful guidance.

What is the best meter / most accurate I can buy? I really want to do the best I can.
Thanks!

[Raysaint]

Re: Best BG meter

I think you, or the vet, should be doing weekly curves. Testing in a month is a long time. A new dose of insulin could be making significant changes, and you should know what those changes are.

And curves give you a more definitive picture of what is going on; fructosamine is just an average over time once you start getting regulated. Curves are what's needed to gauge insulin adjustments.

[jesse girl]

Re: Best BG meter

Hi and welcome . I cant recommend a pet meter as I have not used one on my jesse . I have used a discount human meter on my jesse for over 10 years . Never did any conversions and took the numbers as is . I have used many human meters and they were all not much different from the readings they gave . The original human meter that we used we compared with the vets lab analyzer ( most accurate way to test blood sugar ) and jesses meter was fairly accurate at 150 and below and got very accurate at about a 100 which is a good thing so you know a dog might go to low . Now at the higher range it could be off by quite a bit .She tested 500 on the meter and 350 on the analyzer . Now they say most human meters read lower than what it should be but not in this case in a higher range so thats why i dont convert . Others have and I wont comment on that . Its not going to be a prefect game . It will be safe and good enough to get the job done.

[Lchow022]

Re: Best BG meter

Hi!

I've been using the alpha trek 2 blood glucose meter for the past 3-4 years now. It works great although the strips are very pricey here in Canada. Majority of the vets here uses the same one so I trust it.

[Riliey and Mo]

Re: Best BG meter

i used the alphatrack2 with the freestyle lite strips. strips are half the price. i bought whatever lancets were on sale without using the lancet device

[Bdavis7034]

Re: Best BG meter

I think you, or the vet, should be doing weekly curves. Testing in a month is a long time. A new dose of insulin could be making significant changes, and you should know what those changes are.

And curves give you a more definitive picture of what is going on; fructosamine is just an average over time once you start getting regulated. Curves are what's needed to gauge insulin adjustments.

I thought 1 month was quite a long time- thanks.

[Bdavis7034]

Re: Best BG meter

Hi!

I've been using the alpha trek 2 blood glucose meter for the past 3-4 years now. It works great although the strips are very pricey here in Canada. Majority of the vets here uses the same one so I trust it.

Thanks for the advice. Glad to know you are happy with it and it works well.

[Bdavis7034]

Re: Best BG meter

i used the alphatrack2 with the freestyle lite strips. strips are half the price. i bought whatever lancets were on sale without using the lancet device

Thank you- great to know those particular strips are interchangeable.

[Bdavis7034]

Re: Best BG meter

i used the alphatrack2 with the freestyle lite strips. strips are half the price. i bought whatever lancets were on sale without using the lancet device

Thanks- I like that I have options for the strips.

[Bdavis7034]

Re: Best BG meter

Hi and welcome . I cant recommend a pet meter as I have not used one on my jesse . I have used a discount human meter on my jesse for over 10 years . Never did any conversions and took the numbers as is . I have used many human meters and they were all not much different from the readings they gave . The original human meter that we used we compared with the vets lab analyzer ( most accurate way to test blood sugar ) and jesses meter was fairly accurate at 150 and below and got very accurate at about a 100 which is a good thing so you know a dog might go to low . Now at the higher range it could be off by quite a bit .She tested 500 on the meter and 350 on the analyzer . Now they say most human meters read lower than what it should be but not in this case in a higher range so thats why i dont convert . Others have and I wont comment on that . Its not going to be a prefect game . It will be safe and good enough to get the job done.

Thanks for the advice. Appreciate it.

[sibhus]

Re: Best BG meter

As others, im using a Alphatrack 2 along with freestyle lite test strips. I have my code set to 6 for the lite strip on the Alphatrack and gauged it against a proper Alphatrack dog test strip code set to 35, and was within 10 points, so it was good enough for me.

The vets always want to do the bg curves onsite which is not representative of how a dog will be at home. Ie...he will probably be more relaxed, eat more, and also walk or get exercise.

I have just started using the Freestyle Libre and hope to follow up with a post about my experience with it.