AlphaTRAK 2 Blood Glucose Monitoring Starter Kit

I usually don't leave reviews but this has to do with my pet cat and I'm probably not the only one that has this problem with their pet. The only problem that I'm having is when I go to test my cat I take blood from the bottom of his paw and I have it on the number 5 which is the strongest but even on number 5 it barely gives me enough blood for a sample I have to push really hard on my cats foot pad to get the smallest sample it doesn't go into the pad enough if it would just go into the pad a little more it wouldn't hurt the cat but it would be so much easier for me to be able to get the sample without having to push really hard to get a little sample other than that very good product.

Shipped quickly, everything was in the box as described, as far as I know, it is working correctly. I got it to do blood glucose curves at home, which cost a ton at my vet's office. The price on the test strips is steep, but not much to be done about it. I use every part of this except for the lancet device. I had seen the ones with a clear tube on the top to give you a better view of where you wanted to hit, but this one doesn't have that feature, and the click is pretty loud, and I imagine it would just startle the cat. I just use the lancets free hand, it's just as easy and you have better control. The amount of blood you need is really small, like the spot on the test part of the strip is twice as large as the sample you need, so it's really quick to get a drop that size. This is the second home curve I'm doing and it already only takes me about 2 minutes to set up, get a drop of blood, and get a reading, write it down in the handy diary they provide, and put everything away. The only drawbacks: 1, I have the sound turned off, but it still beeps every night. I guess around 12:30 or 1 am, it beeps 10 times and then stops. I'm usually asleep, but my husband told me about it. It's not loud, but I'm afraid one day I'm gonna go to use it and the battery will be dead, but we'll see. 2, the carrying case is a little small. I would like it to be a bit bigger so I could fit the diary and my small tub of Vaseline in it, just to keep myself organized. But that's a small complaint, I might just need to buy another case for it. Overall, it works and the price on this site was the best I found.

The lancet does not puncture deep enough, it is not well made. The glucose monitor, I swear I've turned the sound off and it goes off in the middle of the night or whenever. I have tried reprogramming the alarm but have resorted to taking the battery out after every stick. The last thing is the cost of the strips, $1.00 each is outrageous.

Easy to use, takes some trial/error to figure out the setting for the lancet depth. Warming up kitty boy's ears first definitely helped for a quicker blood flow. Saves a whole lot of stress (and money) not having to go to the vets every week to have his level checked.

We were very happy with how quickly the kit was delivered to us. However, we have not been so impressed with the lancet device. I was reading through reviews just before writing this one. I have to say that Kristi P.'s review has me hopeful. We are really struggling with getting blood from my dog's ear. I'm wasting so many strips because they error out; and at over $1 a piece, it is becoming costly; but most of all, I don't want to traumatize or inflict more pain on my poor dog. I plan to use the warm cloth trick. We have also noticed that the ear doesn't bleed at first, but then flows. However, my dog has very furry ears, so it gets absorbed in the fur quickly. We are navigating through this and getting better, so I'm hopeful. We may have to cut back the fur for a while until we really master the process.

Take such a small amount of blood and easy to use. Forget the lancet pen, use the lancet free hand as you have control of where you are going to poke your pet. Using the pen didn't let me see where it was going to go. I control how deep and place I am going to poke. Very happy with this pet meter. I use it if my kitty is going low and a human meter other times. This pet meter is comparable to the blood testing at the Vet's office. If you use a human meter the reading is much lower. I want an accurate reading for my sugar kitty.

Easy to use!!!!

Not as simple to use as I had expected. Thankfully my boyfriend is diabetic and was able to help me. Hoping i can get the cats curve done this weekend or I will need to take the cat to the vet and the kit was for nothing.

I read reviews before my purchase and after prior to myself leaving a review. It seems like the majority of the time customers complaints had to do with the pen and sticking the dog. It took me a bit to figure out what you need to do to make the ear bleed. When you first stick, there is no blood visible . I'd stick my dog 3 -4 times and nothing. But then figured it out. You do the stick, sit down the pen, and gently squeeze the area. Blood will then come out and it only takes a tiny drop to do the test. I had to do a glucose curve- that entailed hourly sticks for 4 hours the every 11/2 hours for 8 hours. The first time was horrible. I stuck my girl probably 25 times that day & used 17 strips. Then 2 weeks later we had to do another day of testing. I had 8 tests to do and 8 strips. After I figured how to stick the ear and gently squeeze, I was able to do 8 tests with 8 strips. It was super easy. I used a warm wet cloth to get more blood to the ear and only 1 stick!!! I know my girl appreciated it. We're now on the right dose and right insulin. It took 3 adjustments and 2 types of insulin to get it right and I couldn't have done it without Alpha TRAK2! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS MACHINE. Also don't waste your money on the saliva strips for sale out there. They don’t work.

My dog is not yet regulated and I purchased the equipment so she wouldn't have to go to the vet so often, but I am not able to get a reading! I am very disappointed that the lancet does not produce enough blood for us to get a reading. I have tried repeatedly to poke her in her ear but this proved ineffective. I am concerned because I don't want to take her to the vet so often, besides being costly she gets very upset at the vet. I thought I'd be able to avoid undo stress on her by being able to take the reading at home.