I'm so scared...my Dweezil has Diabetes

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monty_dweezil (GA)

monty_dweezil (GA)

Member Since 2014
Hi everyone

My baby son Dweezil (6 years old) was diagnosed with Diabetes yesterday and I'm terrified I'm going to somehow hurt or kill him with my major lack of know-how in terms of how to inject the insulin!

I don't know how to read the glucose levels, but apparently a level of 4-8 is normal (I don't know if this is for blood or urine) and his was 35. I think this is urine. Or maybe it's just Australian numbers.

His dosage is 2 units twice a day, 12 hours apart. We started yesterday and he had his first at-home administration of insulin (Glargine) at 6pm with his dinner. It went well. Nothing seemed to get on his fur which meant it all got into him. He seemed better pretty much right away, but that may have just been in our heads (previously, he'd been gulping water a lot, his litter box smelled of apple cider and he had lost about 1.8 pounds in three weeks. Hence why we took him to the vet yesterday).

This morning I gave him his morning dose and I have never done it before, nor was I able to accompany my partner to the vet yesterday as I could not get off work. I pinched the skin behind his head / neck and tried to get a tent going on, and injected into that hollow.

First I was worried there'd be a tiny air bubble in the syringe. I find it hard to see such a small dose as it's clear liquid. I then googled and read that it's not dangerous to get a bit of air in subcutaneous injections, THANK GOD. Very different to a vein.

Then there seemed to be liquid on his fur after the needle was given. *sigh* So I assume somehow I managed to NOT get it injected properly. I have no idea how this happened.

I was paranoid about leaving him all day (for work) without any insulin, but was also paranoid about giving him too much insulin, so I gave a tiny 1ml extra injection. Nothing got on my hand or his fur this time.

I'm terrified though that he may have a hypo reaction from this. I don't know how we're supposed to help him if he DOES have a reaction (too low blood glucose / too much insulin), as we were told the peak of insulin comes around 5-6 hours after injection. We are always asleep then or at work. I am SO SCARED.

I hate this. How can we go on like this forever!?
 
Hi and welcome to the forum,

First thing to tell you is - and I learned this lesson myself so you're not alone in this...if you give a fur shot, don't ever give more. You don't know how much got in and you could end up doubling the dose.

What meter are you using? The 35 does not sound unreasonable - so its probably correct. My kitty started off in high 30s as well. What was his number at diagnosis do you know?

Typically on the forum here, they recommend starting at 0.5 or 1u twice a day depending on whether you are feeding him a low carb, wet food diet. What are you currently feeding him?

Air bubbles arent dangerous as far as I know - however if you have a bubble of air then he won't be getting the full dose as the air is taking up some of the space in the syringe. I found the best way to get rid of the air was to draw up just a little more than you need; pull the plunger out the vial (or pen) then pull the plunger down quite a bit (say to 5 units) then tap the syringe til any air is at the bottom. Slowly push the plunger back up to where it should be - your 2u, then you should be air free.

Fur shots happen to all of us - all we can do is just say better next time.

Its okay leaving him for the day with no insulin if you've done a fur shot - as they say here "better too high for a day than too low for a moment".

Here are some links that you might find useful reading:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207 - how to set up a spreadsheet so you can record your numbers and post it in your signature so we can all see and help you.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1581 - Tight Regulation Protocol
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1581 - Can you do Tight Regulation with a Full Time Job
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=61794 - Dont Go Too Fast with the Insulin
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=129446 - Start Low, Go Slow - alternative to the Tight Regulation Protocol.

This should help you a lot.
Juliet and Silver​
 
Thank you SO much! :) I am NEVER giving any extra insulin ever again. I am too scared I'll come home to find him dead. :(

Yes, at his diagnosis yesterday his level was 35. They had the urine strip (I'd managed to get a sample at 5am that morning) and it was so dark it was almost black, whereas the normal very high reading was dark green.

Our vet has started him on 2ml twice a day, with food, 12 hours apart. He weighs 5.5kg (or a tiny bit over 12 pounds. He was 13.6 pounds a month ago) and he has now changed from his old diet (which both my cats had been on for most of their lives) which was Advance brand indoor cat biscuits (pet store brand) twice a day and a very small amount (a quarter of a small tin) of Fancy Feast wet food twice a day. We do not feed on demand but they used to have their wet food at 6am and 6pm and their dry food at 9am and 11pm.

So now, they are on Science Diet diabetic formula and they are to have this twice a day and that's it. They are both SO hungry. No wet food. And no 4 x daily smaller feedings. Although, Dweezil has never eaten all his biscuits all in one sitting, so we've been removing them once he walks away and he has eaten half, and then we put them back 2-3 hours later and he'll finish them then. I hope that's ok.

He is my baby cat son. :) I just want him to be ok.
 
welcome to FDMB!

Juliet has started you off with some good info.
one thing that will help us give you good feedback is if you add some details to your signature.

To edit your signature

Go to the top left of the screen.
Click on User Control Panel.
Click on Profile
Click on Edit Signature
A text box displays.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as
your name, cat's name,
city, state,country
date of Dx (diagnosis)
insulin
meter
any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.
Then Click on Submit to save it.

See my signature for 2 links you may find helpful:
Glucometer Notes - some reference ranges for different meter types and what they may mean; info on meter reliability
Secondary Monitoring Tools - some additional assessments you may wish to make on your cat
 
Thank you again.

I don't really know any figures yet. We only know his level was 35. He has to go back in a week for his whole day of testing, I presume the glucose curve thing?
 
So now, they are on Science Diet diabetic formula and they are to have this twice a day and that's it. They are both SO hungry. No wet food. And no 4 x daily smaller feedings. Although, Dweezil has never eaten all his biscuits all in one sitting, so we've been removing them once he walks away and he has eaten half, and then we put them back 2-3 hours later and he'll finish them then. I hope that's ok.
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This is Science Diet dry food? And the vet said no wet food? And only feed twice per day?
 
monty_dweezil said:
...So now, they are on Science Diet diabetic formula and they are to have this twice a day and that's it. They are both SO hungry. No wet food. And no 4 x daily smaller feedings..
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Uh ... you can reduce your costs considerably by feeding over the counter, low carb, canned food, on those 4 meals a day spread out, if you want to do so.
Please go to Cat Info for vet-written nutrition information, plus a downloadable food list for shopping here.
 
Dammit! I meant Royal Canin diabetic formula dry food. I keep calling it Science Diet! :(

We were told that most wet food uses lots of sugar as preservatives.

And yes, we were told NO GRAZING, only breakfast and dinner. I had assumed prior to this advice that some controlled grazing (4 smaller meals per day) might be better at "absorbing" the insulin doses...

I actually thought our old diet for our cats was pretty good! With a mix of wet AND dry. Their old biscuits contained...

Protein - 35%
Crude fat - 16%
"Moisture" - 6%
And various added things that sound good (and are also in the Royal Canin diabetic biscuits, which are as follows...

Protein - 46%
Crude fat - 12%
"Moisture" - 5.5%

So it's marginally better I think, except it also contains barley, wheat gluten, maize gluten, tapioca, fructo-olligo saccharides...all of those SOUND like they're carbs to me. In the additives it has starch 18% and sugar 1.8%. 356 calories.

Advance contains corn gluten, rice and corn, and then much the same other stuff. 374 calories.

I recall when they were younger, we tried some fresh mince from the supermarket, but Dweezil threw up all over himself every time he ate it (twice), and Monty wouldn't touch it.

We used to use Temptations treats each morning, but we're not sure if they're ok now. The vet gave us liver treats.

Right after my cats eat their biscuits, they ALWAYS go for a drink of water.

Now I'm looking at the shopping list of foods. We only seem to have Fancy Feast here in Australia...none of the other brands. They actually do (used to) have a few of that brand, and in particularly they love the cod, shrimp and sole. They used to like the souffle type ones, but then Monty would throw up after each one so we stopped buying them.

They've always been fussy with their wet foods. They only like the ones with gravy and darker meat. They've never touched the all white ones like the plain chickens, or the plain beef ones.

We do have IAMS, Purina / Pro Plan and Eukanuba. I always assumed Purina was sort of a merging of supermarket brands and vet / pet store brands, as they're in the supermarket.

In general, I find it SO hard to decipher labels on things when they don't say how many carbs are in them. The wet foods never seem to have any detailed info on the labels except their ingredients, which are the same for each ones. Even the values in the shopping list here I am baffled by. I'm not even sure if the numbers are the same as here due to us not using oz and lbs and such.
 
I can only tell you from my experience with my FD kitty, Bob.
And what I've seen work for hundreds of others in the three and a half years I've been here.

Dry food, even prescription food, is not good for cats. Even non-diabetics.
Low carbs seems to be the trick to treating diabetes. Ideally, those that contain 5% or less calories from carbs. Pate style canned foods in general meet those criteria. My cat ate Fancy Feast "classic" flavors, all 5% or less. Just about everyone here feeds low carb canned food (nonprescription).

Feeding multiple small meals works better than two meals per day. It spreads the boost from carbs from eating more evenly thought the 12 hour cycles of insulin. Human diabetics tend to eat small and frequent meals. Works the same way for cats.

Your vet picked a good insulin. I'm not sure about starting at 2u twice a day, but other people who used Glargine (we call it Lantus here but it's the same insulin) would know better than I do. But the food and meal timing they advised makes me scratch my head.

I realize you don't know me from Adam, and I'm certainly not a vet. But here is a link to an interview with a leading feline nutrition and diabetes vet, Dr. Lisa Pierson that was done recently. She posts here occasionally, and I would absolutely trust her advice and wisdom with my cats. Give it a listen and maybe share it with your vet.

And welcome to the "family"!

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=129946
 
Thank you so much for that.

I admit I am totally clueless in this regard. I have of course a strong general interest in my cats' health and also an interest in medical things for humans too, so I tend to research a lot and learn quite quickly. This is all new to me.

My previous understanding was...wet foods with by-products = not good. Wet foods with lots of sugar and salt = not good. Natural wet foods = good. Dry foods like some supermarket brands or cheaper brands = REALLY bad and they can often end up causing kidney failure and urinary blockages and infections. Dry food from vets and pet stores I thought = good in small amounts per day alongside small amounts of good quality wet food.

My cats have always eaten small meals a few times a day, so we are going to keep doing that. It's not as if either are overweight. We don't need them to lose weight, and especially not Dweezil, who we now want to GAIN a bit back. As I mentioned somewhere (I think), Dweezil in particular always walks away after eating half his meals, every time, wet or dry. Then he'll want food again 2-3 hours later and will finish the meal then. There's just no way he will ever eat the whole meal at once, even if he's starving. So we can't just let him eat half and then not eat again for 12 hours!
 
On the catinfo.org page, there is a link to a chart that lists the % of protein, fat, and carbs for hundreds of canned cat food varieties. The formulas are beyond me, but Dr. Lisa has already done the work for all of us :smile:

Cats are obligate carnivores. They require NO carbs to supply energy. They have enzymes that convert proteins and fats to carbs to fulfill all of their energy needs. Any carbs in their diet are useless to them.
 
Hello and welcome. We've all been in your shoes. It's very scary at first. Have you read The Dear Mom letter from your cat?

One of the Australian members who was here when I first started stopped by a couple of days ago. Here is the list of foods she fed her cat.
Ziwipeak Brand: Lamb and venison. Also Whiskas (loaf varieties only), Natures Gift and occasionally (because all formulas contain fish) Ultimates (not the one with rice) and Woolworths Select (in the plastic tubs only) Amount fed per meal: Variable Number of meals/day: Free fed
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He is still in remission over 2.5 years later.
 
Yep, QLD is Queensland. :)

Hmmm...i am more and more convinced that the right wet food is required.

I got home today SO relieved to find Dweezy alive and well. :)
 
The formula for calculating a starting Lantus dose is based on lean weight.
Here are the steps:

How much does your cat weigh?
How much should your cat weight?
Take the lower number.
Convert to kilograms if in pounds (pounds/2.2)
Multiply by 0.25.
Round down to nearest 0.25,
That is the dose in units.

Glargine is a U-100 insulin. This means it has 100 units per mL. You use matching U-100 syringes with it. These can come with half unit markings; they do not come with 0.25, nor 0.75 unit markings so we eyeball those or use calipers when giving doses at those increments.

We have 2 protocols for giving Lantus

Start Low, Go Slow
Tight Regulation

Take a look over both and see what will fit best into your life.

Its important to understand it can take 5-7 days on the same first dose before it settles. After the first dose level, it takes 3-5 days to settle. This is because Lantus forms small crystals under the skin which gradually dissolve to release the insulin. We call this the depot of shed. There is usually a bit of overlap in doses which helps keep the glucose level smoother.

New folk should not inject if the pre-shot is less than 200 mg/dL on a human glucometer unless there is mid-cycle data to show it is safe. As you get data, you may lower that to 150 mg/dL.

Dose increases are based on the nadir, the lowest glucose post shot. This is usually around +5 to +7 hours post-shot. Dose reductions are based on going below 50 mg/dL on a human glucometer for Tight Reg and 90 mg/dL for SLGS.
 
monty_dweezil said:
Yep, QLD is Queensland. :)

Hmmm...i am more and more convinced that the right wet food is required.

I got home today SO relieved to find Dweezy alive and well. :)
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The reason I asked is that you may have some incredible resources at your disposal that are close to home. If you have had time to glance at the links that Juliet posted above, one of them is to the Tight Regulation protocol that many here use. It is sometimes called the "Roomp/Rand" protocol. Dr. Jacquie Rand is the "Rand" and she can be found at the University of Queensland:

http://researchers.uq.edu.au/researcher/76

You may be able to contact The U of Q for information on the best foods available in Australia for diabetic cats. I'm sure the ones Wendy listed would be on the list as well. They would have the most up to date information on the overall treatment of feline diabetes too. Something that you and your vet would have easy access to.
 
We were really lucky to receive help from Jacquie Rand and the UQ diabetes clinic when Balki started insulin.
Balki tightly regulated immediately, but Jacquie advised us not to just stop insulin, but to continue for at least 3 months.
I am so thankful for this advice, because Balki is still in remission today, and on high carb dry food.
They actually recommended Hills m/d to us and never suggested the kind of canned recommended here.
Balki would not eat the Hills however, and they were happy enough with the RC Diabetic we gave him instead.
Personally, I found diet to be unimportant (Balki's BG is the same whatever he eats) and tight regulation for as long as possible was key.
I think it is actually much easier and safer to follow tight regulation when you free feed and don't feed really low carb.
 
Oh wow, yes, I will definitely contact them!!!

And YES, I did read that letter to mom from the kitty. I loved it. It is SO apt for how I'm being right now. Checking to make sure Dweezil's sleeping or resting and not in a coma. LOL!

Thank you SO much again for all your help and support.
 
I keep seeing all these beautiful baby cats as avatars but cannot get any picture of my sons to be SO tiny at only 9kb!!!

Anyway, Dweezy definitely seems more sprightly and his old naughty self. He had stopped grooming my ankles for a few weeks (he used to always do that when on the couch with me) but has started again as well as trying to eat my hair (I do NOT let him do this, lest I become bald. lol)

There have been no more fur shots so far, as my partner has done the last two. She gets nervous but is better at giving the actual shot than I am. I have an appointment with several youtube videos this afternoon after work to watch exactly how they do it. I'm always a bit scared of hurting him if I get too much of his scruff in my hand.

I was also thinking, how do other cat parents do this whole routine if they work full time? My partner is home all day Mondays, I'm home all day Fridays, and also only work 4 hours on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The only day we're out all day is Tuesday. We're lucky. I also go to bed fairly late (11pm-midnight) most nights and my partner gets up early (before 6am) for work, so those poor cats never get much time to themselves! lol
 
I was also thinking, how do other cat parents do this whole routine if they work full time? My partner is home all day Mondays, I'm home all day Fridays, and also only work 4 hours on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The only day we're out all day is Tuesday. We're lucky. I also go to bed fairly late (11pm-midnight) most nights and my partner gets up early (before 6am) for work, so those poor cats never get much time to themselves! lol
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Excellent question, and one we see often. Here is a link to a thread that will give you an idea of how some folks do this:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=129378
 
Delighted to hear that Dweezil was OK when you got back home. As others have commented above, if you get an injection hiccup then you chalk it down to 'one of those things' and give the proper dose at the next injection. It's even more important when using depot insulins like Lantus (glargine), since the effects of the additional insulin may not become apparent for several cycles.

If you're planning to switch Dweezil to all wet, low carb food it's vital that you should be home testing his BG beforehand. The removal of dry food can result in much lower BG within hours. As it is, Dweezil's starting dose of insulin is on the high side cf. that recommended in the Tight Regulation dosing guidelines (maybe the vet was taking into account the dry (higher carb) food?). Frequent home testing while Dweezil goes through the transition is the best way to keep him safe.

monty_dweezil said:
Checking to make sure Dweezil's sleeping or resting and not in a coma.
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I'm a helicopter parent, too! :oops: :lol:
 
HEHEH, helicopter parent! Yes, I am at times. I am not ashamed! I sometimes will be on the couch and realise I haven't seen Dweezil walk by for a while, so I look around and see he's asleep in the curtains or on the dining table behind a pot, and then I relax...for a while...until I start to worry...IS he just asleep? lol. So I have to get up and stroke him. Usually he doesn't fully wake up but just stretches and flexes his feet, which is so cute. Heheh.
 
Well...tonight was a nightmare. Today was dweezy's glucose curve at the vet, a week after first being diagnosed.

He took his insulin fine there...ate fine...they did the first blood test...and then he would not let anyone anywhere near him for the remainder of the day. He got so terrified he peed and pooped himself on the spot. That makes me SO upset to hear.

So...he went in at 8am and came home, with a big dog cage in case it wasn't safe to have him out and about (safe for us or monty), at 6pm.

He seems fine now. Thank god.

The only good news is his first test result was level 13. Down from 35 a week ago.

The vet has now reduced his dose to 1 unit 12 hours apart.
 
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He has improved; that's great news. More to do, of course.
Have you picked up a glucometer, test strips, and 26-28 gauge lancetsfor home testing yet? Once you're confidently testing at home, you will be much more in control.
 
We have not. Right now i am in a different state for Christmas and the in laws are staying with my partner. I know that many places are closed until next monday but my partner is going to go and buy a glucometer then i think.
 
Hmn. As soon as possible, you or your partner need to pick up some urine testing strips - KetoDiaStix, or generic - from the local pharmacy/chemist, and test the urine output. Although much less precise than blood glucose, it will identify ketones, a by-product of fat breakdown. Ketones in excess may lead to diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially fatal complication of diabetes. If you get the strips that also test urine glucose, you will see if the glucose has been under control since the previous void.
 
I will have my partner pick those up as soon as she can. All this stuff went crazy at 6pm tuesday, wednesday morning i went away interstate, my partner had to work and today it's christmas.

We were waiting till the glucose curve had been done at the vet to get a proper glucometer.

I assume urine strips can be purchased from any pharmacy and are the same as the ones for humans?
 
Thank you. :)

I just heard my partner is going to get a glucometer, strips for it and urine strips on monday. Good.

Our vet is also very happy for dweezil to have the low carb wet foods in the list i got from here. I had printed it out, highlighted the lowest carb ones and my partner showed it to her. So i'm pleased about that too.
 
Ok, so finally an update!!

I'm back home. Dweezil has been doing well with his injections and is eating well and drinking much less and peeing less. However, I'm still concerned as he seems thinner again this week. Last weekend I weighed him (I weighed myself and then again holding him in my arms) and he seemed to be 5.9kg, which is excellent as it's almost at his normal weight. But today, exactly a week later, I weighed him and he seemed to be only 5.5kg, which is a worry if it's accurate. Which it may not be I suppose. He does seem a bit smaller, though nowhere near how he was before his diagnosis when we could feel his spine and his coat was a bit scruffy.

So today we tried to test his blood glucose. And we failed. GRRR. But we'll try again tomorrow. GOD, it's HARD!!!! He was surprisingly patient with us, but after four attempts, he was over it. We didn't want to push him too hard, as we simply cannot have him refuse to let us near him for this purpose, or have him react in a "psychotic" manner to us at home like he did at the vet.

I tried testing myself first, and ended up inadvertently testing my poor finger three times. I am definitely NOT Diabetic though, WOO HOO! lol. I just wanted to make sure I knew how to do everything, and quickly so as to cause as little discomfort and stress to Dweezil as possible.

We tried using the pen on him first. It had worked well on me. There are I think 5 settings for needle gauge and I tried 2 on me first. No blood. So I tried 4. Blood. A good blob when squeezed. It hurt though. So I dialed it back to 3 for him. No blood at all. I couldn't even see where it had gone into his ear, yet I know it had. (before even trying this, we had fed him some of his beloved liver treats while clicking the pen. Soon, whenever the pen clicked right near his ear, he would look at the ground expecting his treats) So I increased it to level 4. This time, still no blood whatsoever. Each time, he would jolt and be like OW! I know it hurts, I did it myself prior.

So we tried the lancet then. First time, BLOOD! YAY! But hardly anything. I tried to squeeze his teeny thin little ear and a bit more came out...but when I put it on the test strip in the glucometer, unfortunately it was maybe only a third of the amount it required to do a reading. SIGH. So we tried again...poor Dweezil, both times, jolted (despite being held closely by my partner) and inhaled sharply. No hissing or anything. No blood at all this time. I had a new test strip ready. That fourth time, he meowed in a way that said "You better stop this right now, or else". He had been getting treats between each attempt. We stopped trying for the day. He was fine afterwards, ate his dinner as normal and took his insulin shot without any notice, thankfully.

We NEED to get this number. I SO am desperate for a reading. We'll buy some urine strips too, just to get some sort of information from that also, even though it's not as useful.

Has anyone here had any success using the pen? I prefer it to the lancet in terms of my own comfort, simply because I don't know how far or hard to do the lancet. I don't want to go through his ear, but I don't want to be poking him and it not being deep enough to get any blood each time.
 
monty_dweezil said:
Ok, so finally an update!!

I'm back home. Dweezil has been doing well with his injections and is eating well and drinking much less and peeing less. However, I'm still concerned as he seems thinner again this week. Last weekend I weighed him (I weighed myself and then again holding him in my arms) and he seemed to be 5.9kg, which is excellent as it's almost at his normal weight. But today, exactly a week later, I weighed him and he seemed to be only 5.5kg, which is a worry if it's accurate. Which it may not be I suppose. He does seem a bit smaller, though nowhere near how he was before his diagnosis when we could feel his spine and his coat was a bit scruffy.

So today we tried to test his blood glucose. And we failed. GRRR. But we'll try again tomorrow. GOD, it's HARD!!!! He was surprisingly patient with us, but after four attempts, he was over it. We didn't want to push him too hard, as we simply cannot have him refuse to let us near him for this purpose, or have him react in a "psychotic" manner to us at home like he did at the vet.

I tried testing myself first, and ended up inadvertently testing my poor finger three times. I am definitely NOT Diabetic though, WOO HOO! lol. I just wanted to make sure I knew how to do everything, and quickly so as to cause as little discomfort and stress to Dweezil as possible.

We tried using the pen on him first. It had worked well on me. There are I think 5 settings for needle gauge and I tried 2 on me first. No blood. So I tried 4. Blood. A good blob when squeezed. It hurt though. So I dialed it back to 3 for him. No blood at all. I couldn't even see where it had gone into his ear, yet I know it had. (before even trying this, we had fed him some of his beloved liver treats while clicking the pen. Soon, whenever the pen clicked right near his ear, he would look at the ground expecting his treats) So I increased it to level 4. This time, still no blood whatsoever. Each time, he would jolt and be like OW! I know it hurts, I did it myself prior.

So we tried the lancet then. First time, BLOOD! YAY! But hardly anything. I tried to squeeze his teeny thin little ear and a bit more came out...but when I put it on the test strip in the glucometer, unfortunately it was maybe only a third of the amount it required to do a reading. SIGH. So we tried again...poor Dweezil, both times, jolted (despite being held closely by my partner) and inhaled sharply. No hissing or anything. No blood at all this time. I had a new test strip ready. That fourth time, he meowed in a way that said "You better stop this right now, or else". He had been getting treats between each attempt. We stopped trying for the day. He was fine afterwards, ate his dinner as normal and took his insulin shot without any notice, thankfully.

We NEED to get this number. I SO am desperate for a reading. We'll buy some urine strips too, just to get some sort of information from that also, even though it's not as useful.

Has anyone here had any success using the pen? I prefer it to the lancet in terms of my own comfort, simply because I don't know how far or hard to do the lancet. I don't want to go through his ear, but I don't want to be poking him and it not being deep enough to get any blood each time.
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Keep calm *HUGS* you will get the hang of the glucose testing. I got in a terrible state when I first started doing it. We use the Alpha track 2 testing kit & my poor cat Squiggles got poked & prodded til we got the hang of it.

Dweezil sounds fairly forgiving . It wasn't until we got to the end of the 2nd all day 2 hrly blood glucose testing session, that we finally got our technique right. I putting the setting on 3 or 4.
 
Thank you so much for your support!

So you use the pen on 3 or 4 as opposed to the lancet? And it works to get enough blood?

We will be trying again tomorrow. :) Dweezy is such a good boy.
 
Start with the deepest setting on the lancet pen and make sure your firmly back up the ear. I use a cosmetic pad for backup and to fold over to ear after getting the same to stop any bleeding and reduce any bruising. Make sure the ear is warm too.
 
Ok. I will try a cosmetic pad. I have heaps of those. I've heard about stopping the bleeding right away after the sample is taken so as to avoid a bruise, but i can't even imagine there being enough blood for that!

So using the pen on the deepest setting is ok? It won't pierce the ear completely?

Does anyone use the inside of the ear or only the outside? When our vet was showing us how to do it (on her very patient and docile cat), using the outside along the rim and that vein, it did not go well and not enough blood was produced. In the end, they used the inside ear nearish the rim and were more successful.
 
monty_dweezil said:
Ok. I will try a cosmetic pad. I have heaps of those. I've heard about stopping the bleeding right away after the sample is taken so as to avoid a bruise, but i can't even imagine there being enough blood for that!

So using the pen on the deepest setting is ok? It won't pierce the ear completely?

Does anyone use the inside of the ear or only the outside? When our vet was showing us how to do it (on her very patient and docile cat), using the outside along the rim and that vein, it did not go well and not enough blood was produced. In the end, they used the inside ear nearish the rim and were more successful.
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Yes, I use the inside of the ear, near the outside rim, you can sometimes see a thin red vein under the skin. My vet told me to hold the alpha track pen in place for a few seconds, preferably until you see a little drop of blood appearing where the needle's gone in. It shouldn't piece his ear & if you put a cosmetic pad or a folded up piece of paper kitchen towel behind his ear, it'll stop it going through to your finger !

If you can hold the cosmetic pad on the place where the needle went in, once you've finished, it does help prevent a bruise, though squiggles has never had one.

With my glucose meter, if I've put the test strip right in, I have 2 mins between trying to get the drop of blood & the glucose meter switching off, which can be a pain if I've messed things up, because then you have to take the strip out & put it in again :( Which is all very well, but I never seem to have enough hands !

It's good if he eats his food afterwards & I find giving Squiggles a few treats when it's done definitely helps .( & a few before hand to take her mind off it ! ) Good luck, deep breaths, try & stay calm *HUGS*
 
I have both Alphatrak and Accu-Check Aviva meters. Here's the testing sequence I use. Maybe you might find something in it to help you refine your technique. :)

- Put the test strip the full way into the monitor to check that it's OK. Then slide it back out of the meter just enough for the meter to switch off.

- Have the test station set up with ointment and lancet ready (with or without pricking device), tissue or cosmetic pad to support ear, meter with test strip part way into the meter but not enough to switch the meter on. And the treats, of course! :)

- Warm up your rice sock (or other warming equipment - I used a little plastic tube with warm water in it).

- Prepare kitty's ear with a little Vaseline or Neosporin ointment.

- Start warming the ear. If possible, hold the ear over the rice sock / other warm thing with one hand and slide the test strip into the glucometer with the other hand. (This maximises the amount of time available to get the droplet onto the strip and, if necessary, allows time for more than one lancet prick.) Keep warming the ear until the meter indicate's "Ready to Test."

- Put the cosmetic pad or other support under kitty's ear. It can help to curl both the ear and the support over your index finger, and grip them in place with your thumb and middle finger. Prick the edge of the ear to draw the blood sample. Apply a little pressure in the direction of the blood bead if it's not quite big enough. If you don't get success on the first prick, try a second one. It helps to have the lancet prick the ear at a slight angle rather than perpendicular to the ear.

- I use 4-ply strips* of good quality kitchen paper to support Saoirse's ear. Saoirse doesn't like things inside her ear and the paper strips are neat and easy to handle. I cut up several sheets at a time into strips and keep a little stock of them at her testing station. Once I've taken the blood sample, I fold the strip over the ear and apply gentle pressure for about 30 seconds to help lessen bruising. It should be possible to do the same with a cosmetic pad.

- Then it's treat time. Yay! :D

One tip I've seen here for wriggly cats is to lift the blood bead onto a clean fingernail and then sip up the sample with the test strip. Another tip our vet gave me was to slightly grip the edge of the ear while drawing the sample because it tends to reduce help keep kitty's head from moving about too much and may also reduce the chances of kitty making a bid for freedom mid-test. I've used our vet's tip since I started testing, and it works really well!




* Fold sheet in two, then fold in two again to make a long, slim oblong. Cut into 1" folded strips, ready for testing.)
 
Eliz speaks the truth! Saoirse only needs setting #1 on the Alphatrak lancing device, but sometimes her ditz of a mom accidentally moves the dial to a deeper setting. <embarrassed smiley> I always feel like a complete fink when I find out I've set the pricker too high, but it seems to upset me much, much more than my little Munchkin.
 
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If you absolutely have to, aim for the vein directly. It may bleed a bit, but you'll have your sample. Definitely press and hold to reduce bruising and bleeding afterwards.
 
" One tip I've seen here for wriggly cats is to lift the blood bead onto a clean fingernail and then sip up the sample with the test strip. Another tip our vet gave me was to slightly grip the edge of the ear while drawing the sample because it tends to reduce help keep kitty's head from moving about too much and may also reduce the chances of kitty making a bid for freedom mid-test. I've used our vet's tip since I started testing, and it works really well!

Put the cosmetic pad or other support under kitty's ear. It can help to curl both the ear and the support over your index finger, and grip them in place with your thumb and middle finger. Prick the edge of the ear to draw the blood sample. Apply a little pressure in the direction of the blood bead if it's not quite big enough. If you don't get success on the first prick, try a second one. It helps to have the lancet prick the ear at a slight angle rather than perpendicular to the ear.


If you absolutely have to, aim for the vein directly. It may bleed a bit, but you'll have your sample. Definitely press and hold to reduce bruising and bleeding afterwards. "

Very useful tips everyone, thank you !
 
Well, we tried again yesterday. Dweezil is now highly sensitised to the procedure and dislikes it immensely.

We tried the pen on setting 4. Did the procedure as per the steps above (thank you for those!), his ear was already very warm as he'd been in the window before. He jolted back (as he tends to do) and made a sound in his nose and throat that said I DON'T LIKE THAT!!! OW!!!! I looked at his ear, hoping for blood, but...not a single drop. There was just a teeny tiny little pink dot there. NO BLOOD! I massaged the ear, held the ear, "milked" the ear...NOTHING!!!!

Tried again...and both times before I even could get the pen properly in place, he did his violent jolt backwards and up, away from his own ear, and although my partner was holding him as close as possible, she couldn't stop him doing that, and the second time he did it, he knocked his head into her chin so hard she almost bit her tongue off! He then was meowing in a warning way, so we let it drop for the day. SIGH.
 
You could try free handing it and ditch the lancet pen. I do that and find it much easier to see and control what I am doing.
Also, try to aim at a slight angle through the ear, or maybe test on a paw pad.
 
I actually tried with just the lancet needle (without the pen), and poor Dweezil definitely felt it, but...just either no blood at all or not enough. The one time we got some blood we were joyous, but...it was about a quarter of what was needed.
 
Oh no Monty Dweezil, I'm so sorry :( Perhaps it's due to the circulation in his ears. I hope you succeed soon. Have you got to do a whole day's test or just an occasional one ?
 
Our vet saw him have his psycho episode so she just hopes we can somehow get ANY number. Lol. We'd love to get a proper curve all day on a Saturday for instance, but at this point, we'd settle for one reading before his insulin to give at least some idea of his high number, and a reading 6 hours later to get his low number.
 
monty_dweezil said:
Our vet saw him have his psycho episode so she just hopes we can somehow get ANY number. Lol. We'd love to get a proper curve all day on a Saturday for instance, but at this point, we'd settle for one reading before his insulin to give at least some idea of his high number, and a reading 6 hours later to get his low number.
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I'm sure you would :( Could you afford to have him booked in at the vets for the day so they could do a curve ?
 
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