BG Testing Questions

My diabetic cat, Mal, was diagnosed on 12/31/09. She hasn't been put on insulin yet, but I did switch her and the other three cats to a canned food diet. When the vet took Mal's BG at his office on 12/30/09, it was 503. When he called me the next day, he told me to remove all dry food, which I did.

I bought everything I need to test Mal at home, although it's been somewhat challenging. I don't seem to be able to get blood from her ears even when I warm the ear with the heated rice sock. I've had to resort to testing on the pads of her feet and even then it's not easy. I tested her on 1/3/10 at 5:50 PM and she was at 403. I tested her again tonight at 9:12 PM and she was at 268.

I know I should be testing her more often throughout the day, and I will. My question is, when are the best times to test? Before she eats, after she eats, or both?

Since being switched over to a canned food diet, Mal seems to be more satisfied with her meals. Prior to being diagnosed, she was constantly begging for food from us whenever we ate. She always had her nose in whatever we were eating. Now she no longer begs for food. She loves the canned food and eats well. There have been no problems at all switching her over to this new diet. She does eat more often than before, but I think that's because she was so hungry all the time and her body is adjusting to this new diet. I also bought some low carbs treats and she loves those too. She is very easy to please.

As I mentioned, I plan to test her more often, but I want to make sure I'm testing at the right time. When she goes back to the vet, I plan to take the testing information with me.

Thanks for all your help!

 

Welcome Chris! I am so impressed with how fast you've changed to canned food (your vet gets at A+!!!!), and taken on testing too. Great job, you are on the right track.

I can't comment on the timing of testing, etc., but I can say that for getting blood from the ears, I had a hard time too at first. I usually have to milk my cats ears a bit to get the blood to come up - sometimes I get a good hit and it pops right up, but more often I don't. For a long while I didn't realize the blood was there at all (his fur is black, so unless it's a big drop it tends to blend in) when it didn't pop up right away, but at some point I discovered if I wait a few seconds after pricking his ear then I'll start to see a teensy bit, and I can coax it til there's enough to test. I do better too with slightly larger gauge lancets (I've done best with 28s, though many like 31s, but I don't seem to have the knack with the smaller ones - higher # = smaller lancet point)

I'm sure others will be along soon with more tips. Many of us had a hard time at first with the testing, so we have a bizillion tips amongst us to share.

p.s. is the canned food low carb? if you don't already know about Janet & Binky's charts, you can get to them in the Health Links forum. if you are using one of the prescription foods, there are lower carb options out there ...

 

Hi Joanna! Mal is a white cat so it's really easy to see the blood on her. Poor girl doesn't like her ears touched much and I poked her a few times tonight. I did finally get a good drop of blood on the pad on her foot.

The canned food is low carb. I printed out Janet & Binky's charts and I take them with me when I go shopping for canned food. All four of the cats will eat Fancy Feast. I've tried some other brands as well and Mal and one of the other cats will eat anything I put in front of them. The other two, however, hold out for the Fancy Feast.

 

I'm going to make a post in Community to see if anyone lives near you. Perhaps to come see how you're testing and give some tips/tricks.

A few things to try
1) make sure the ear is supported and you have counterpressure. otherwise the lancet doesn't prick the skin and you get NO BLOOD.

2) have you seen the trick about using a flashlight to backlight the ear? I have black cats, so I had to do that to see the vein.

3) try a different lancet setting, or gauge.

As for best time to test: i would do it before eating, then about 2 hours afterwards.

please do check that the canned food you're giving is low carb (we say usually anything under 10% carbs). but wet food is better than dry anyway, b/c of the extra water intake. have you seen Dr Lisa's website about feline nutrition?

 

Thanks, Cyn. Yes, I saw Dr. Lisa's website. As soon as Mal was diagnosed, I was online looking up information. I spent a great deal of time on Dr. Lisa's website. I believe that is where I found the link to Janet & Binky's charts, which I keep copies of in my purse.

I did watch some videos online about testing on the ear, but I guess I'm just not doing it right. I'll have to watch them some more and see what I'm doing wrong.

 

Ditto on having the ear supported. I fold up a kleenex til it's an inch or two square, and hold that behind the ear before poking. Protects my fingers, and gives me a nice setup afterwards to stop the blood.

One thing I did with Bix is start handling his ears at other times (i.e. no testing) so he'd get used to it. Now he barely cares. I tested one of my civvies today and realized how spoiled I have gotten with Bix! She didn't like it one bit, and it took me about 8 pokes to get any blood (well, I got some before that, but she shook her head and I had to start over). So I can see now how much that helped with him, just rubbing his ears here & there when not testing, til he got used to that.

If she's not on insulin, I'm not sure how much you need to test. Do you have a specific goal with that? When they are on insulin, people generally test before each shot, and then spot tests during the cycle (often spreading out the tests over a series of days) to see how the insulin is working - onset, peak, etc. I don't have experience with testing cats for just a diet change, but without insulin, so I'm not sure what the goals are with that, beyond establishing whether or not a cat is still in diabetic #s following a food change.

 

you have a lot of good responses. Sometimes it takes a while for the ear to train to bleed. It did with Pooka. But it will come.

 

I bought everything I need to test Mal at home, although it's been somewhat challenging. I don't seem to be able to get blood from her ears even when I warm the ear with the heated rice sock. I've had to resort to testing on the pads of her feet and even then it's not easy.

What makes it difficult? Is she unwilling to stay still? Is it just that the blood doesn't come? It may be related to the size of the lancet you are using--it may be too small. I used BD Ultra Fine ll 30 gauge lancets and sometimes had to poke 2 or 3 times (quickly and right next to each other) to get enough blood. Also had to "milk" the ear. I had a great deal of trouble with my rather aggressive cat, so I used the clothespin trick to calm her, and wrapped her loosely in a fleece blanket, burrito style, so I could hold onto her. If you are interested in the clothespin thing, the link is http://www.felinecrf.org/giving_sub-qs_ ... _peg_trick. Great that you are home testing, and good luck! Keep us posted.

 

Judy, the difficulty is getting the blood to come. Mal sits still and allows me to poke her, but the blood just won't come.

I'm using 26 gauge lancets.

 

Then I would wonder where you are poking, and what setting your lancet device is on.

I used to have a 'great' drawing that helped explain where I poke as it isn't always the same as others...I poke the thicker edge of the ear, 1/2 way between tip and base of the ear. It has always worked reasonably well for me, as opposed to the thinner edge that others use.

Also make sure your lancet device is set for deep

Jen

 

You've gotten a very good drop just from the diet change. Still looks like diabetes - definitely the numbers aren't even close to "normal" range - but the diet change is certainly helping.

Getting the blood to come has a lot to do with your experience. You learn exactly how to do the poke to get the best result. You don't have to be aware that you are learning; just by doing tests, you are learning, and one day it will just be easy. It's great that you are getting tests, even if they don't come easily yet.

If someone on the board is near you, a one-on-one session can make all the difference. From what you say, it sounds like you are doing things right, but there are always subtleties that don't come across in written messages. Anyway, if someone offers a tutorial, accept!

 

Welcome,

There are paw pad testers on the site, although I can't think of who off the top of my head, but there are folks who do it, so if that's the easiest way, then great that you are testing.

Is there a plan with your vet to start giving insulin? Have you been given any ideas from your vet as to what he/she will prescribe?

 

Are you using a lancet device or poking freehand? If freehand (which I found much easier---could really see where it was going in), you should be going in at about a 45 degree angle. If with device, as suggested, use deepest setting. Also, I put a little vaseline on the ear before I poked, it caused the blood to bead up (and I could see it) rather than run into the fur. also, have you watched any of the online videos which show you how to milk the ear after poking?

I promise that if you keep trying you will get it, and before you know it, it will be as easy as anything! >This has happened to all of us .

 

I just tested Mal again. Tried the ear using all the suggestions, but no luck. I really think it's the lancing device. Couldn't get blood from her ear so I pad tested again. She was at 331.

I originally had an appointment scheduled with the vet for January 14th. I just called them and changed it to tomorrow. I want to get her started on insulin right away.

I have to do some more research on insulin because my vet uses Vetsulin and PZI. I told them I won't use the Vetsulin because of the FDA recall and the one tech said the recall is only for certain batches. At this point I don't want to take a chance.

Thanks for all your help!

 

There are lots better options than vetsulin anyways; PZI is good and lantus or levemir may be even better. If you want to read a very contentious thread on that very topic, head over to think tank....but the thread isn't for the faint of heart Alternatively, there were very good discussions over at the old FDMB which can still be read.

 

Personally, I would say Vetsulin is the lowest on the list of choices, though I imagine there are some cats who have done well on it. I'd skip Think Tank altogether for now, I don't think that will help you or anyone right now. I have found some great information from the stickies on the Lantus & Lev forums (hoping the same stickies are up already on the new board!). They have links to information about both of those insulins, as well as some information comparing insulins in general, with some comments on the shorter acting insulins.

 

I can't help with PZI vs Vetsulin. (We used lantus, but are no longer using insulin b/c Cosmo is off the juice).
What monitor are you using? Some ppl don't like the lancet device and freehand. I use the lancet device from the One Touch Ultra kit (but use the Accucheck Aviva monitor). The accucheck strips are better at sipping up blood, and I have yet to get a "not enough blood" error. I thought maybe I got no errors from the Aviva b/c I had already learned how to hometest, but when I recently needed to use the OTU on my cat, I had to go through 4 strips before I got enough blood to get a good reading.

To sum up: In my opinion, Accucheck Aviva is an easier, friendlier meter to use, that is superior in sipping up blood in its strips.

 

Here is a pic of where to poke on the ears, that may be of help. I say it, because when I did my first poke, I did it all wrong on Maui.



Also, if you don't already have any, may I recommend that you get some neosporin or any other over the counter ointment. You can use it on the ears or paw pads after poking, it helps them to heal faster and stop the bruising.

I haven't been in the poconos in several years. Must be nice this time of year over there.

 

Hi! I was contacted to help you as I'm only about an hour away. I'm only on here on my phone so I haven't read the whole thread. If you'd like me to come up and help you I'd be more than happy to. I will be able to check in later tonight as I have a bunch of errands to run, however if you're interested, pm me and I'll give you my number to set up a time and date for me to come up.

 

SUCCESS! Whoo-hoo! I just tested Mal again and instead of using the lacing device, I did it freehand and got a nice drop of blood on her ear. I think I'll stick with the freehand. ;-)

 

Hurrray for you and Mal! Welcome to the Vampire club! ( I knew you could do it!)