Advocate or iPet Glucose Meters?

[chrmyr]

Looking for thoughts on Glucose Meters. I use the AlphaTrak 2 right now. But I came across the Advocate Pet Test and iPet Monitors. The test strips for both are much cheaper than those for the Alpha. Does anyone have experience with these? Are they reliable?

Always looking for ways to cut costs but do not want it to affect the level of care Luna is given.

Thanks in advance,
Myriah

[jesse girl]

Re: Advocate or iPet Glucose Meters?

this is a difficult question to answer . what i have seen on the forum is many individual opinions on what those individuals are doing to attain there success for their particular dogs

As a consensus people may say human meters read lower than true blood sugar i had a human meter compared to the vets analyzer that red higher by quite a bit

i did a comparison 6 months back with the one touch ultra and jesse's human meter with 50 strips for each and the meters compared very well . numbers were consistent and made sense . now can i say that they have true accuracy ? no i cant so i correlate physical symptoms . I know how she acts when shes low or high dropping or rising and i can correlate that with her meter readings

her symptoms of diabetes with more urination and drinking in excess has not showed since those early days

I guess you could get some urine strips which is accurate as far as it is testing for for sugar in the urine unlike blood test which doesnt test for glucose in the blood but it just gives a previous time in history of what blood sugar was it cant give you an exact number but just a range but that may also be a way of comparing because if the urine strips are only testing in a higher range and the meter is getting mostly much lower numbers than you maybe able to draw some conclusions on accuracy

Probably the only true way to compare is against a lab analyzer and you need multiple comparisons in a higher and lower range .

so for me its consistency and if the numbers make sense . back to back tests can be helpful but remember there can be a human error with testing and maybe the bodies metabolism may affect outcome as we mention meters dont directly test glucose in the blood . Many times it is just a guide and points us in a direction to go

my jesse has not had a hypo event (knock on wood ) and i believe testing blood sugar with her human meter has helped allot with that

i dont think using multiple meters over the long haul is productuctive but focusing on one after you decided whats best for you

[MomofGus]

Re: Advocate or iPet Glucose Meters?

I have been using my Advocate Pettest meter here recently instead of the AlphaTrak 2 because of the cost of the strips. The meter was very inexpensive and strips are half the cost as AlphaTrak, and BG readings in comparison are very close (at least for my dog). There is a thread on here about the Advocate meter where there are comparison readings posted by myself and other members. I don't know anything about the iPet meter. Never heard of it. I ordered the Advocate from Countryside Pet Supply, and get the strips cheaper from Amazon for around $22 a box. At the time, I got the meter for $9.95.

[chrmyr]

Re: Advocate or iPet Glucose Meters?

Yes I definitely would not go to urine testing. I was just thinking that maybe moving to the Advocate meter would save. I may purchase and run some comparisons against the Alpha....just to see. Thanks for the info.

[chrmyr]

Re: Advocate or iPet Glucose Meters?

FYI - if you order the starter kit for Advocates Pet Meter it's only $6.49 with free shipping.

[k9diabetes]

Re: Advocate or iPet Glucose Meters?

Tests a year or so ago of the iPet were very discouraging - terribly inconsistent readings. I don't recommend iPet at all.

I will dig up the thread on the Advocate meter - I think some people have had good results with it.

We had an AlphaTrak but only used the OneTouch Ultra - readings very close to true and much less expensive, plus a really good consistent accurate meter and errors out if the amount of blood is inadequate.

Natalie

[Daisydog10]

Re: Advocate or iPet Glucose Meters?

I have been using the Alphatrak2 and the Pet Advocate. I keep both strips on hand just in case something doesn't look right, I can check both meters. Last time I ordered the Advocate Pettest Strips, they were 24.99 which was great. I ordered them today and the lowest price I could find was from Total Diabetes Supply for 35.19. Their Advocate Redi Code human strips run 9.99 for 50ct.

The PA is almost as expensive now as the AT2

I know nothing about meters so I have several questions:

Is there an accurate human meter with inexpensive strips that you could use a conversion table for dogs?

Is there such a thing as a conversion table?

We had an AlphaTrak but only used the OneTouch Ultra - readings very close to true and much less expensive, plus a really good consistent accurate meter and errors out if the amount of blood is inadequate.

Could you please tell me more about the One Touch Ultra? Was it close to the Alphatrak2? Did you need to convert any numbers?

Thanks and I appreciate any advice. I'm still fairly new at this.

[CraigM]

Re: Advocate or iPet Glucose Meters?

I have been using the Alphatrak2 and the Pet Advocate. I keep both strips on hand just in case something doesn't look right, I can check both meters. Last time I ordered the Advocate Pettest Strips, they were 24.99 which was great. I ordered them today and the lowest price I could find was from Total Diabetes Supply for 35.19. Their Advocate Redi Code human strips run 9.99 for 50ct.

The PA is almost as expensive now as the AT2

I know nothing about meters so I have several questions:

Is there an accurate human meter with inexpensive strips that you could use a conversion table for dogs?

Is there such a thing as a conversion table?



Could you please tell me more about the One Touch Ultra? Was it close to the Alphatrak2? Did you need to convert any numbers?

Thanks and I appreciate any advice. I'm still fairly new at this.

I saw the same price gouging (?) you have with the Advocate meter last summer, I was able to buy strips for under $19 (great deal), now nearly twice the price. I bought four boxes in January and have reduced my testing because Annie is pretty consistent. I also have 2+ boxes of AlphaTrak strips, so I'm OK for a couple of months.

The One Touch Ultra does seem to be "close enough", in the 100-200 range. It's been a couple of years since I ran a side-by-side test with the One Touch Ultra, and I'll try to do one in the next day or two. My "problem" is that Linda (wife) uses the One Touch and she refuses to allow me to use it on Annie!. She realizes Annie's blood doesn't really enter the meter, but she still doesn't want to share.

When I run out of Advocate and AlphaTrak strips I will probably return to the Walmart ReliOn Prime. The strips for the Prime are still cheap at Walmart (50 for $9, or works out to 18 cents each). The problem is that the readings are not all that close to the dog meters. I personally divide the reading on the Prime by .7 and the result is close enough for me, but still off by some. So, if I see 100 on the Prime I divide that by .7 and get 142.

It's almost time to test/feed Annie, I'll try to sneak Linda's One Touch Ultra for a comparison

Craig

[Daisydog10]

Re: Advocate or iPet Glucose Meters?

Craig you had mentioned in another post about Annie's ear and how you got a little shaver and shaved the inside of her ear. What a great idea! So i got out the little nose hair shaver and it worked beautifully! Daisy's ears look great. I just didn't tell anybody...... lol

Thanks for all your help.

[amydunn19]

Re: Advocate or iPet Glucose Meters?

I never used a pet meter - the One Touch ultra did really great for us. I would take it to the vet and it was within 10 of their Alphatrack and the Lab. It was closer to the lab result several times than their Alphatrack. My vet was so impressed that he got one for his clinic. I never worried about high ranges - once they get past a certain point, they are high and it doesn't matter. I never converted numbers because I figured it was a safety cushion.

I bought strips on eBay. I bought strips near expiration. I have a friend who works for one of the companies that makes strips and they told me they are always good for at least 3 months after. I was very careful to read the sellers feedback. I would compare old strips to new strips and I never doubted the older strips - they tested very close.

I always looked at ranges rather than a specific number. I wasn't going to vary what I was doing if I got a particularly high number and usually I would wait to see if it was a pattern or just a fluke.

[CraigM]

Re: Advocate or iPet Glucose Meters?

Craig you had mentioned in another post about Annie's ear and how you got a little shaver and shaved the inside of her ear. What a great idea! So i got out the little nose hair shaver and it worked beautifully! Daisy's ears look great. I just didn't tell anybody...... lol

Thanks for all your help.

Great on the shaver! I also have a full size grooming razor that I use along her side where I inject. I feel much better injecting into skin that I can see, and not through a bunch of hair. Of course, different breeds are different and might not need grooming.

I was able to sneak Linda's One Touch Ultra over to the testing area!

Advocate Petest = 249
One Touch Ultra = 221

Pretty darn close, and I imagine the two meters would be even closer in the 100s. Don't know why Annie was so high this evening, possibly because of allergies (she's sneezing a little). Anyway, not too terribly high.

Craig

[Daisydog10]

Re: Advocate or iPet Glucose Meters?

Very good information, thanks to you both. I think I'll pick one up and start experimenting until I get comfortable and keep the other two meters around if I have issues.

Since I started her on the new vial (only her second) it's almost like I started from day one again, so I'm checking her 3-4 times per day and it's getting expensive.

[jesse girl]

Re: Advocate or iPet Glucose Meters?

i think the question is can you manage a dogs diabetes with a human meter ?

i would say yes jesse has only used a human meter for over 7 years . cost is far cheaper i spent $ 57 on 600 strips on ebay i think a comparison to an alpha trak is over $ 600

the question is we use the pet meters as the gold standard but who exactly knows how accurate they are except the manufacturer and maybe some vets that compare with a lab analyzer

is the high cost justified with its human counterparts . for the manufacturer it is probably justified because there is very little competition and the reason you have seen a rise in the advocate price and i would presume the price will continue to rise

it comes down to individual choice but if cost restricts testing i may go with the more economical model and as we know the human is the most economical

for jesse i buy strips twice a year in the spring and fall so delivery is not in extreme heat or cold . i usually purchase 600 strips at a time off ebay

i did buy one batch in the summer that did not suck up the blood properly . probably damaged from heat . the seller refunded me but like with insulin i keep some of the previous lot to compare with the next

another thing jesses meter uses triple a batteries so i purchase the lithium ones and i believe i will never have to change those batteries . i also have a spare meter of the same brand for backup

its never going to be a 100 percent perfect and safe but i dont think it has to be

[Daisydog10]

Re: Advocate or iPet Glucose Meters?

Excellent points Jesse girl.