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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Originally Posted by Raysaint

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]

Originally Posted by Lchow022

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]

Originally Posted by Riliey and Mo

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]

Originally Posted by Riliey and Mo

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]

Originally Posted by jesse girl

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.