AlphaTRAK 2 Blood Glucose Monitoring System Starter Kit for Dogs & Cats, 50 strips

This is the first time I have needed to use a glucometer for any one of my pets. My 14 1/2 year-old cat now has diabetes and it’s a lot cheaper if you have your own glucometer when you have multiple vet visits in the early phases of glucose control. The meter is easy enough to calibrate for the test strips and the correct animal. The lancing device that comes with the meter is not good. I don’t use it at all. The kit comes with 30 gauge lancets and they appear to be too small for my cat. He has very thin ears but I could not seem to get enough blood to register the meter using the 30 gauge lancets. I use 22 gauge lancets that the vet office provided for me and that size makes it a lot easier This is the first time I have needed to use a glucometer for any one of my pets. My 14 1/2 year-old cat now has diabetes and it’s a lot cheaper if you have your own glucometer when you have multiple vet visits in the early phases of glucose control. The meter is easy enough to calibrate for the test strips and the correct animal. The lancing device that comes with the meter is not good. I don’t use it at all. The kit comes with 30 gauge lancets and they appear to be too small for my cat. He has very thin ears but I could not seem to get enough blood to register the meter using the 30 gauge lancets. I use 22 gauge lancets that the vet office provided for me and that size makes it a lot easier to get enough blood easily pricking by hand … more

If your pet has been diagnosed as diabetic, I HIGHLY recommend purchasing your on blood glucose tracker. This saves you money by not having to take them to the vet just to see if their levels are too high or too low. Any veterinarian should be willing to demonstrate how to use this as well. Our vet is the one who recommended we purchase our own. He did, however, recommend a cheaper one that is for humans, but keep in mind animal and human blood glucose levels are very different so it's extremely important to buy one specifically for animals. I even do my own glucose curve, checking her every hour for a period of 12 hours to watch how her levels change and then report everything to the veterinarian If your pet has been diagnosed as diabetic, I HIGHLY recommend purchasing your on blood glucose tracker. This saves you money by not having to take them to the vet just to see if their levels are too high or too low. Any veterinarian should be willing to demonstrate how to use this as well. Our vet is the one who recommended we purchase our own. He did, however, recommend a cheaper one that is for humans, but keep in mind animal and human blood glucose levels are very different so it's extremely important to buy one specifically for animals. I even do my own glucose curve, checking her every hour for a period of 12 hours to watch how her levels change and then report everything to the veterinarian. … more

This is what the vets recommend. It mostly works well though there was no way for me to go back and mark the test I ran with the control solution, so that interfered with averages. PROS + Monitor reliable + Only needs 0.3microliter blood sample (great especially at the start you don't realize the difference in difficulty between getting 0.3 and 0.5 from your pet's ear) + Strips easier to use than human monitor strips because sample taken on the side, not the middle + Starter kit included everything needed to get started CONS - Extortionate cost of strips - human strips (for human monitors) are as low as 90%. When you are doing a blood glucose curve you are using 6 strips a day (more This is what the vets recommend. It mostly works well though there was no way for me to go back and mark the test I ran with the control solution, so that interfered with averages. PROS + Monitor reliable + Only needs 0.3microliter blood sample (great especially at the start you don't realize the difference in difficulty between getting 0.3 and 0.5 from your pet's ear) + Strips easier to use than human monitor strips because sample taken on the side, not the middle + Starter kit included everything needed to get started CONS - Extortionate cost of strips - human strips (for human monitors) are as low as 90%. When you are doing a blood glucose curve you are using 6 strips a day (more when you're new at this and waste strips with too-small blood samples). This on top of all the other costs of a diabetic animal. Shame on the manufacturer. - The lancing pen is abysmal and needs a re-design. This should not be sold separately or as part of the starter kit. I wasted the first 5 strips before I realized the needle only came out of the pen about 2 times out of 5, on very close inspection. Shame on the manufacturers but bravo Chewy! for resolving this issue, no questions asked. … more

This kit was highly rated everywhere I looked. The instructions, though, are muddled and incomplete. Even the instruction videos--plural, as there are more than one you'll need to watch--don't really tell you start to finish how to take a sample and use the system. The lancet in particular is problematic. I brought it along with my cat to my veterinarian's office today and together we couldn't get a sample with lancet. After numerous tries, we used a mini needle to get a drop of blood, and then the meter was unable to read the sample. Very frustrating. I'm going to try a couple more times but may end up returning the kit.

This arrived at my door two days after I ordered it. It came with a nice, soft sided, case, lancets and lancing pen, small container of test strips, and the tester, along with easy to follow instructions, a tracking log, and a lot of literature. The tracking log seems to be a great way to help the vet track my cats glucose levels while getting him adjusted on his meds. The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is because the lancing pen is more trouble than it's worth. I just use the lancet on it's own and so far, so good. The tester reacts very well to a very small amount of blood from my cat and gives an almost immediate reading. I have been using this for less than two weeks and I have never This arrived at my door two days after I ordered it. It came with a nice, soft sided, case, lancets and lancing pen, small container of test strips, and the tester, along with easy to follow instructions, a tracking log, and a lot of literature. The tracking log seems to be a great way to help the vet track my cats glucose levels while getting him adjusted on his meds. The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is because the lancing pen is more trouble than it's worth. I just use the lancet on it's own and so far, so good. The tester reacts very well to a very small amount of blood from my cat and gives an almost immediate reading. I have been using this for less than two weeks and I have never had to use one before (recent diagnosis). Although my cat doesn't like going thru this, he is more cooperative than I expected. If this is your first time using this and are a first time user for diabetic cat/dog, you can take this to your vet, along with your cat/dog, and they can help you learn how to use it. … more

The Alpha Trak2 Blood glucose monitor kit I ordered came very fast and arrived on the promised date. The set-up directions were confusing tho. I had to go through them multiple times, and had to turn the monitor on and off to start over. Once it was set up the monitor worked as directed. I did have a hard time getting enough blood from my cat's ear in order for the unit to register it because it was my first time doing this. After 6 tries, I had to go back to the vet and have them do it for me. That was just as traumatic for me as it was for my cat! The strips are very expensive. I did not use the lancet based on reviews I have read, and my Vet agreed. The price for the kit with 50 strips The Alpha Trak2 Blood glucose monitor kit I ordered came very fast and arrived on the promised date. The set-up directions were confusing tho. I had to go through them multiple times, and had to turn the monitor on and off to start over. Once it was set up the monitor worked as directed. I did have a hard time getting enough blood from my cat's ear in order for the unit to register it because it was my first time doing this. After 6 tries, I had to go back to the vet and have them do it for me. That was just as traumatic for me as it was for my cat! The strips are very expensive. I did not use the lancet based on reviews I have read, and my Vet agreed. The price for the kit with 50 strips was also the best one I found on line. I am happy with my purchase. … more

This system is easy to assemble, but the instructions are complicated and hard to follow. My boy Cooper is diabetic. I am used to giving him 2 shots a day. Getting a blood sample is a whole different thing. Trying to poke him in a spot to get a tiny drop of blood, then trying to get that drop on to a small stick to test was way out of my expertise. I don't know how the vet does it, but it's worth the time to skip the trauma and drive him to the vet and have them do it. FYI Chewy stocks at least 2 other systems. The replacement sticks are not interchangeable. You have to purchase the same brand.

This thing is a hunk of excretory matter. You can't delete anything stored in memory, so any mistakes on their poor instructions results in the averages being useless. This is the most useless piece of elephant dung I have ever seen. DO NOT BUY THIS! If you are already spending your well earned money into a diabetic pet, you are more than willing to spend more money on a useful piece of equipment. Look for a more expensive option or at least one that allows you to delete test results that are clearly wrong. My Vet is going to get an unwelcome tounge lashing from me for having me buy this unreturnable hunk of shoe scrape.

This glucometer is amazing. Able to get an accurate blood sugar reading with less than a 1/4 of the blood needed for my other glucometer. I found the instructions for both calibration and using the control solution to test for accuracy to be easy to follow and understand. I have succeeded in obtaining a reading with each attempt, saving money on wasted lancets and strips. Definitely worth the price!

It was less to buy this starter kit with 50 test strips, than just the test strips alone!!! And the meter I had was a hand me down. So to get it ALL NEW WAS A BONUS! My only issue is that my cat absolutely HATES having his ear pricked!!! And if looks could kill, I'd be DEAD!!! But we do what we must and he's pretty much in remission, THANK GOODNESS! GREAT STARTER KIT! And just take Your time to read the instructions for setting it up and coding the test strips. It is really easy to do! Getting that tiny blood drop from my cat, that is the most DIFFICULT!!!