Aww, you are doing just fine! This is hard for all of us in the beginning. Gandolf's numbers look great so there is no need to panic. He's not too low and he's not too high. 188 is very nice.
He doesn't have to wait to eat for his shot, but it is good to get a blood test before food. That way you know the number is not influenced by the food he just ate.
For example if I wanted to know my BG, I would take it before I ate a bunch of doughnuts for breakfast. Otherwise those yummy doughnuts would make my BG number look crazy. BUT after my little blood test, I can eat the doughnuts and have a shot too since I won't notice the shot due to my feeding frenzy. Hahaha! I hope that silly analogy helps you get the picture.
I hope getting the blood tests will be easier as you go along. I found that after I warmed my kitty's ear, I should also massage the ear up from the base toward the tip and wait just half a minute. Then prick and again press the ear toward the edge to 'milk' the drop so it gets larger. I have to hang on tight because my kitty wants to flick his ears and then I lose the blood drop and end up with it on my face. :lol:
My biggest problem when I was trying to get a drop of blood was that I rushed it. I had to tell myself to be patient, yet firm because what I was doing was helping heal my kitty. It was in his best interests to let me test him... so I felt better and more confident. I didn't think... oh my this must be hurting... nah. I take care of a feral kitty and his ears are always torn up from fighting in the wild and he doesn't seem to even notice. So I think ears have less feeling than we think.
I'm slower at typing than Libby, so forgive my repetitiveness. :roll: :lol: :lol:
