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.

I didn't post my first review, below, regarding difficulties during setup. Now, after using it a few months I am thoroughly impressed. Love how the strips "suck" up the blood, and the unit gets ready to test quicker than the 2 model. They are sturdier than the strips for the 2. I really like the lancets (don't use the pen), just ordered more. I still don't have the date set up properly, but bought some cat logbooks for each of my 3 diabetic cats that I prefer to use to keep records. There is always an adjustment period for a new model of something, and this is no different. After working through that, I am very pleased with this meter and accessories.I, perhaps like others, bought this because the AlphaTrak2 test strips are ridiculously expensive now due to phase-out of the unit. I didn't want to buy it due to its variable and often unfavorable reviews. I am a 79yo woman, with a Masters Degree, retired business executive. I am not suffering symptoms of dementia, nor experiencing loss of mental capacity. Yet, I found setting this unit up quite challenging. The manual was so tiny on my phone that I retreated to my PC (what if I didn't have a PC?) and finally got the job done. Wasted 4 test strips testing the control solution. The first 2 readings were out of range, the third one barely in the required range for a cat. I gave up trying to set the date beyond the year, and didn't set the time. I have no plans to set up the app right now (have plenty of those for other things), although can see that the history on the device would be handy to share with my vet. I will do spot tests monthly on my 3 diabetic cats, and will report back my review of its actual performance while doing what it is intended to do (test cats' blood). It may be sooner, as one of my guy's regulation came unhinged when he was dx'd with heart disease, so he has been unstable.I honestly wish there had been another choice that was highly rated. I don't think the online manual data is organized well (took me forever to find the actual control solution procedure), and there are a lot of screen symbols and bits of info to process. Just making time for basic care of diabetics is challenging, much less having time to spend with the technology features built into it.I won't be surprised if I discard it after a few weeks, and try to find the next best alternative that is more user friendly. Obviously, price isn't a consideration. If it were, I wouldn't have bought this one in the first place. What was a consideration was my successful use of the AlphaTrak 2 for several years.I will write another review to append to this one in a month or so. Good luck to all who think "I got this" when they start to set it up. No doubt younger techies would have better luck, but I feel many diabetic cats are seniors, as are their parents, so something simple and straightforward would have been preferable. I am happy for the horses, but have to wonder what horse owners wouldn't want to purchase a separate meter for their animal, then have to spend time jockeying between the three species to test.

I'm coming from an AlphaTrak 2.The needle Poker thing has been 'improved' to the point of uselessness.-The tip has been widened and the indicator removed so you have almost no idea where the needle will come out.-The method of cocking it has been changed: now you pull the end, which is smooth and tapered so it's hard to grab. Cocking it is now a 2 handed operation and it can be hard to tell if you've actually done it.-The button to trigger it has been recessed so that it's hard to find and it's easier to push so you can now trigger it accidentally while trying to find it.-The whole thing has been smoothed and tapered so you can now drop it easily.-Rather than just pulling the end off, now you have to twist it. No indicator so you have to read the directions to understand this, it's not intuitive or indicated.-The needle has been shortened and perhaps narrowed? All I know is that I cannot get blood anymore even tho I know the needle is coming out because it can poke my finger behind it (again, no blood from me either) and I can tell that I'm hitting the vein by the dot left behind.Because of this piece of crap, I need to take my poor cat to the vet to have them do the curve. I've been using the AlphaTrak 2 for a few years so I'm not new to this operation. This SUCKS!!!!!NOT HAPPY!!The reader reads but it doesn't really matter if you can't get the blood to begin with.