? First time home testing

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Scarlett White

Scarlett White

Member Since 2016
I have the alpha track 2 and we spent an hour this morning trying to test. Using the lancet freehand, I poked his ear and in the right areas a few times, I tried both ears and could see the vein, but no blood came out. I massaged it too. Poor little guy is such a trooper.

I read somewhere about a warm wash cloth and using pain relief neosporan. What can I do to get the blood to come out and make it easier on him?
 
Good job for being so persistent with attempting to test your kitty. :) When we were first starting out we also had great difficulty getting enough blood to test... it was frustrating but we learned a lot. so here's a few tips for you
1. We always gave the cat a low carb treat whether we got any blood or not... You want your cat to see testing as a precursor to yummy things and extra attention and petting and love.
2. We learned that if the ear was not warm enough there wasn't blood available to collect. We put about a 1/4 of a cup of uncooked rice in an old sock. We then tied the sock closed with a piece of string. Be sure you leave a little space in the sock so you can wrap the ear easily with it to warm it up. We heat the sock in the microwave for about 25 seconds. Always test it on your wrist like a baby bottle to make sure it's not too hot. Then wrap the ear in the sock and massage. When the ear is warm, it is so much easier to get blood.:cat:
3. Know that there are few pain receptors in the ear so it's mostly a painless poke for the cat. We do use neosporan on the ear partly for pain relief but also so the blood will not disappear into the fur which means another poke is needed.:banghead:
4. keep poking in spite of seeing few drops of blood. the ears "learn" to bleed with repeated attempts.
Hang in there. It does get easier.
I hope this is helpful to you
 
Thank you so so much! We will build the sock today and try some more. He really doesn't like treats at all. I thought about giving him so catnip spray after. Is that ok? Do I put the neosporan on before or after poking?

Also I am doing it on the outside of the ear is that better than the inside? The inside seemd easier, but I was afraid it is to much pain for him.
 
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The neosporan goes on the ear in the place you will poke after warming but before poking.
As for the treats do what works for you and the kitty. My cat loves a piece of a freeze dried chicken heart after his pokes. :cat:
 
Hahaha that is so cute and thank you so much, I had no idea you were supposed to put it on before poking. This gives me something to work with. I really appreciate you taking the time! :bookworm:
 
Hi Scarlett and congrats that you are home testing as it is soooo important to keep kitty safe. This link might be of help to you with information on testing. The link is Here .

We all test before each shot to make sure it is safe to shoot and we do test through the cycle as well to find how low the insulin takes kitty. We put our data in a Spread Sheet that helps us to see patterns and trends. If you click on one of our signatures you will see Spread Sheet and you can see what it looks like. If you set one up the people here can help you when you have a dose question. Information on how to set one up :


How to create our spreadsheet
Let us know if you need help and someone can help you set it up.

Also here is an explanation on how the Spread Sheet works

AMPS is the AM Pre-shot test (always test before shooting to make sure they're high enough to give insulin)...then the U column is for "Units" (how much you gave)
The +1, +2, +3, etc are for how many hours since shooting...so +2 is 2 hours after the AM shot, +9 is 9 hour after, etc.....Since we're all over the world here, saying "he was at 148 at 8pm" doesn't tell us anything...we need to know how long since his last shot.
At the end of a 12 hour cycle, it's PMPS time! (PM Pre-shot) and the whole thing starts over

Also, can you give us some information about your cat like name, what insulin and how many units twice a day? You can add that information to your signature and anything else you would like us to know and the SS can be linked to your signature.


Keep asking questions as that is how we all learned. And Welcome!
 
What worked best for us when we first started was to fill a small pill bottle with warm water (testing on the wrist to make sure it wasn't too hot) and holding it against China's ear....it also gave me something hard to poke against

It's fine to use either side of the ear and although the "sweet spot" picture shows just a small area, it's actually fine to poke anywhere along either edge of the ear.

Anything your cat considers a "treat" will work....even if it's being petted, loved on or groomed! It doesn't have to be food!

Here's something I wrote up for others that needed help with testing...maybe it'll help you too! (substitute "him" for "her"....LOL)

It can be really helpful to establish a routine with testing. Pick one spot that you want your "testing spot" to be (I like the kitchen counter because it's got good light and it's at a good height....it also already blocked 2 escape routes due to the wall and the backsplash) It can be anywhere though...a rug on the floor, a table, a particular spot on the couch...wherever is good for you. Take her there as many times a day as you can and just give her ears a quick rub and then she gets a yummy (low carb) treat. Most cats aren't objecting so much with the poking..it's the fooling with their ears they don't like, but once they're desensitized to it and learn to associate a certain place with the treats, they usually start to come when they're called! Or even when they hear us opening the test kit!

You also have to remember...you're not poking her to hurt her...you're testing her to keep him safe and understand what's going on inside her body. There's just nothing better than truly understanding what's going on inside your kitty's body and with this disease, the more knowledge you have, the more power you have against it. The edges of the ears have very few pain receptors, so it really doesn't hurt them. Also, if you're nervous and tense, it's going to make your kitty nervous and tense too. As silly as it might seem, try singing! It forces you to use a different part of your brain!

It's also important to make sure her ear is warm. A small sock filled with a little rice and microwaved or a small pill bottle filled with warm water (check temp against your wrist like you would a baby bottle) works well

Finding the right "treat" will be a great help too! Freeze dried chicken, bonito flakes, little pieces of baked chicken...whatever low carb treat you can find that she really enjoys will help her to associate the testing with the treat! China's Achilles heel was baked chicken, so I'd bake a piece, chop it into bite sized pieces, put some in the refrigerator and freeze the rest to use as needed. It didn't take long for her to come any time I picked up the meter!
 
To warm Saoirse's ear I use a plastic pipette filled with warm water and clamped with a food bag clip. To keep the water in the pipette at the right temperature I stand it in a cup of warm water until I'm ready to apply it to the edge of her ear.


25066851356_93815b83be_n.jpg



Saoirse really doesn't like anything in her ear. This little gizmo is great because I only need to press it gently to the edge of her ear and she's comfortable with that.



Mogs
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Another thing I'd like to add is technique. I always angle the lancet at 45 degrees to the site on the ear I want to draw blood from and make sure the bevel of the lancet is down, so that the 'point' of the lancet is facing up. Once I get his ear warmed up, I pick a spot I want to do and after practicing this little technique I've done successful first-time sticks every time. It does take practice and it takes time to develop the confidence to do it. I was horrified at first that I would hurt him or be too rough with him. I bought him some freeze dried salmon which I give little pieces of each time I test and now he'll happily sit on my lap the entire time and let me do my thing. Because he knows something is in it for him.
 
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What gauge lancet are you using? When starting out it can be easier to get blood with a larger needle (smaller number). Sometimes people have trouble getting blood with a 30 or 31 gauge at first, you might be better off with something like a 27 or 28. At the store they're usually called alternate testing site lancets.
Once the ear "learns" to bleed, you can go to the 30 and 31s.
 
The heat sock worked perfectly, thank you so much. It made a world of difference. Catnip helped too for a treat.

Jan Radar said:
Good job for being so persistent with attempting to test your kitty. :) When we were first starting out we also had great difficulty getting enough blood to test... it was frustrating but we learned a lot. so here's a few tips for you
1. We always gave the cat a low carb treat whether we got any blood or not... You want your cat to see testing as a precursor to yummy things and extra attention and petting and love.
2. We learned that if the ear was not warm enough there wasn't blood available to collect. We put about a 1/4 of a cup of uncooked rice in an old sock. We then tied the sock closed with a piece of string. Be sure you leave a little space in the sock so you can wrap the ear easily with it to warm it up. We heat the sock in the microwave for about 25 seconds. Always test it on your wrist like a baby bottle to make sure it's not too hot. Then wrap the ear in the sock and massage. When the ear is warm, it is so much easier to get blood.:cat:
3. Know that there are few pain receptors in the ear so it's mostly a painless poke for the cat. We do use neosporan on the ear partly for pain relief but also so the blood will not disappear into the fur which means another poke is needed.:banghead:
4. keep poking in spite of seeing few drops of blood. the ears "learn" to bleed with repeated attempts.
Hang in there. It does get easier.
I hope this is helpful to you
Click to expand...
Jan Radar said:
The neosporan goes on the ear in the place you will poke after warming but before poking.
As for the treats do what works for you and the kitty. My cat loves a piece of a freeze dried chicken heart after his pokes. :cat:
Click to expand...
 
This helped me a ton! Thank you, I was doing it to straight on. :(

ja9390 said:
Another thing I'd like to add is technique. I always angle the lancet at 45 degrees to the site on the ear I want to draw blood from and make sure the bevel of the lancet is down, so that the 'point' of the lancet is facing up. Once I get his ear warmed up, I pick a spot I want to do and after practicing this little technique I've done successful first-time sticks every time. It does take practice and it takes time to develop the confidence to do it. I was horrified at first that I would hurt him or be too rough with him. I bought him some freeze dried salmon which I give little pieces of each time I test and now he'll happily sit on my lap the entire time and let me do my thing. Because he knows something is in it for him.
Click to expand...
 
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