AlphaTrak 3, 8 Piece Pet Blood Glucose Monitoring Kit for Diabetic Cats, Dogs, and Horses All-in-One Solution for in-Clinic Or at Home, with Digital Results

After a month of learning all the in’s and outs after our senior cat said “No more Libre” as it was OK to get a baseline but overall is expensive, lasts only 2 weeks, not for cat (humans) and not supported for animals.So our wonderful vet next told us about the alpha track. It’s easy in principle but execution and use in another thing. Also, Alpha Track does not provide much info on actual lancing for depth, tips or videos. We found our cat would not allow lancing other paw so we were left with her ear option. We later found through research that lancing the is hurtful and stressful.Key take aways.>create a testing station my wife comforts and holds the flashlight while I lance and collect blood Drin test strip. This allows me to focus on getting a good test with fewer pokes.> Look at your cats ear with a flashlight to see vein to pierce with the stick. It is a ring and some parts run right on the edge of ear and some 1/16 to 1/4 inch. The lance springs from the pen stick is difficult to be precise to hit the vein.> Set the depth to higher to start 5 or 6 to start to ensure depth and can always reduce, however if you go from the outer side of the ear, to penetrate through the hair, I use at 5 for best results. I know some say to use the inner side. We prefer the outer side.>Make sure the pen stick is firm against the ear and cotton pad on the other side is firm. I find that helps in the lance springing cleanly to have better success.> Be patient and try again but DO NOTbe like me at first and lose your mind. Your cat feels your stress so better to stay calm and take a break if a few tries don’t get a blood drop. Also, I have had times where I have been too impatient and after the prick, a few seconds later the blood drop starts. I have found through research that blood flows better after more testing.> Be sure to warm the ear. My wife’s hands are always freezing and mine are always warm. I hold a light rubbing and hold for a minute which really helps.> Bruising or what looks like damaged vein is not what is seems. There will show what looks like damage but is not imlacting looking at the vein. Also, cats have very few nerves in their ear and are not impacted. Recovery of what is seen gets faster and faster as the cats system adjusts. ** Remember you are not hurting your cat, on the contrary, you are proving it love and care. The test is not harmful from the poke.> Arnica and Calendula Cream are safe to use on the ear for even faster recovery. Do not use neosprin ever. It is not pet friendly.> Patience again. Keep patient and kind to yourself and the situation. It sucks when you do everything and come up dry. Don’t give up or blame the device or process. Animals feel your emotions.>Have your phone on and ready to sync with the phone app.> If you are struggling and testing multiple times, be sure to reset the test strip so it doesn’t time out and device shut off.> If you doubt the result or it’s been a while, test the device with the test fluid provided. This is the easiest of all things to do. Just place drop on a test strip and then look at the results to see if you are in range with what is shown on the test strip for cats.>Alpha Trac actually has live, supportive call assistance.I don’t normally do a review and this is not as much of a review as it is helping others. I do like the Alpha Track. Is it perfect? Not at all. Is it a huge deal and benefit to help provide a way for us to care and extend the life of our treasured kitty ? 100%.We all need to take responsibility and quit blaming the tool. It sucks more isn’t provided but the hard work to learn, research and get better has been. All worth it, especially compared to the Libre Freedom cost and frustration. It is a cheap and great solution.

We recently upgraded to the AlphaTrak 3, 8 Piece Pet Blood Glucose Monitoring Kit for our miniature schnauzer, Gunther, and it’s been a great replacement for the previous version we were using. The kit works just as expected – providing accurate and digital results every time with no issues.It’s incredibly easy to use and perfect for at-home monitoring of our dog’s diabetes. The process is straightforward. We do not use the included lancets but that is just a preference. The test strips make testing quick and hassle-free. We love that it’s an all-in-one solution for both in-clinic and at-home use, and the results are displayed digitally, which is super convenient for tracking.Overall, this product is reliable and convenient, and we’re very happy with it as a replacement for the older version. If you need a pet glucose monitor for your dog, cat, or horse, this is a great choice! Highly recommend!

For context I have an ihealth glucometer for people and also had the libre 3 cgm. This ine is constantly marketed on pet groups. Its terrible. We had to keep pricking our dogs ear and constantly got error messages. We had 1 successful reading out of 7 strips and over 20 pricks with the lancet. The lancet barely draws any blood even with squeezing the area. It has very little or weak penetration. Our poor dog ends up squeeling and its effectively torture trying to get theis glucometer to work.Also heavens forbid this 80$ thing had a proper battery or strips and lancets that dont vost $1.50 per attempt. It needs even more blood than my human glucometer thatd 30 cents a test and $20 for the machine.And before anybody comes back with lesrning curve nonsense. A. We run a rescue and do all sorts of pilling, injections and IV fluids for pets. B. At this ridiculous price it shoukd be much higher quality and have superior lancet and testing threshold.

I bought the AlphaTRAK3 when Zoetis stopped making the AlphaTRAK2 testing strips. I was not happy at first as it took a while to get used to the new meter and strips. Here are the differences:Meter is larger and heavier (have to put the electronics for bluetooth somewhere)Strips are longer and stifferLancing device has a "soft weight" - and definitely takes some getting used to, especially if you've been using the simple spring-loaded ones that snap when you depress the trigger.The Pro is that once you get used to it. It's accurate and the sample size required is still tiny. I am amazed at how tiny, sometimes, when I don't think I've gotten a large enough sample, but I actually have.The Con is that is fussy. You have to position the strip just right for it to "sip" up the small amount of blood it needs to make that reading. If you have a wriggly pet - You end up wasting strips. I've had blood drops balanced on the tip of the strip, huge smears over the top - and it did not read. I've had to smear that blood onto a finger nail and position it just right for it to "sip" it up.Bluetooth functionality - I don't use it. The app may have improved, but the functionality was poor and the app not user friendly when I first tried it in November. There's a new version out now, and it may have improved. But I continue to use my log sheet that I keep on Google Drive so my vet can access it too.