? A few questions

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SMM

SMM

Member Since 2017
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/bouncing.177980/
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/bouncing.177980/
I have been embarrassed to post here as I must be the biggest loser on this board. I have tried and tried to get Martin's blood by myself - with towels/sheet - she freaks out and I'm sure the result would be a stress # IF I could get one - in her favourite spots - shakes head, folds ears back and walks all around, etc. Treats are offered as well as cuddles even if I cannot prick which is always! I have to rely on my husband being around and agreeable to do the prick while I hold her - she goes limp when I do hold her (go figure!) I feel so bad about this but it is what it is - I am trying my best. Am I really the only one here who cannot get a BG sample by themselves?
Ketones - in the 15 years Martini has owned me she has never once peed in my presence. She waits til I leave the room - her litter is Sweatscoop - have tried laying down cellophane but then she pees outside the box.
Looking at the results of laboratory tests from two different companies - they say 50-160 (2.8-8.9) is in the normal range for cats. This group seems to aim for the really low numbers, I know you all have a lot of experience and that's why I am confused.

Thank you and signed,
The BIGGEST loser
 
I struggled for weeks, often to the point of tears.
I had tried free-handing the lancet....it works for a lot of people but I had no success and really felt like I was torturing my cat. I then tried a human device and tried 3 different ones before I found one that I was comfortable working with. At that point I started to have success.
Try warming your cat's ear first. Many of us use a sock filled with rice....tie a knot at the top and then warm in a microwave. I warm mine for 20 seconds. Hold it on your cats ear and the warmth will help the blood flow. While I'm holding it (with my right hand) on my cat's ear, with my left hand I'm giving him chin rubs, nose rubs etc. After you get the sample you can give a treat. And putting neosporin on your kitty's ear will help it heal.
I used to go to wherever he was laying but I find it a lot easier if I leave everything set up on a table and bring Boomer to that table each time.
 
images
Hope this helps! I use to straddle over the top of my kitty he felt safe and calm. As hard as it might be you need to show confidence. You will get it !!!!! Sometimes I use a warm wash cloth then poke and I always use a dab of neosporin and change spots on each ear.
 
Well, if your husband can prick her then you have a successful approach---right? Yum and I sit on the floor with pillows most of the time. When I need to test her, I lean over her---blocking her escape up or to the back---and I encircle her in the front with my arms. She gets some hugs and kisses (she purrs) and then the test---and then a treat of freeze-dried chicken or salmon. Probably won't work for you but just an idea. I put glad wrap in my litter box too. It worked like a charm the first time---and always for the civvies---but after the first time she started peeing outdoors. (Didn't help that I was chasing her out of the box early and spying on her in the bathroom.) I adjusted by putting the glad wrap just around the edges of the litter. Sometimes I would capture a bit of urine on the crumpled buried pieces. There are ketone meters that work on blood samples.
 
Perhaps I should explain a bit further - Martini is a rescue - anything to do with bags, towels, boxes - that includes me getting her between my knees is deduced to be 'caged'. I/we do use a sock warmed with rice and she does get a treat /cuddles when a prick is attempted even. My husband finds the sweet spot a lot of times. Only thing is I am holding her while he pricks - the only way we have found, and he's often not agreeable to help. :(
I will look into the ketone meters that work on blood, thank you. I cannot block her escape - she panics I'm sure due to earlier days when she was a colony kitty. Huge thank you's for all your suggestions, I'll keep on plugging away as best I can.
 
All my kitties were feral. Yum moved inside at night with me when she was 6 months old, when her mother had another wild litter. Of course I have had almost 15 years to tame her. I don't know if I could have done all this diabetes stuff even 5 years ago. Well, where there's a will there's a way, but it would have been even tougher. Good luck.
PS: The official sweet spot is awfully small. I aim for the main body of the ear inside but near the vein. I fold the ear over a bit. Probably you have read here that the ears bleed more easily the more they are poked, as capillaries develop.
 
Okay, I'm going to try an attempt at the way I held Rover's ear. It helps with trust issues.

Saving your thumb and index finger to grab the ear, first place your other three fingers flat across the opening of the ear so that the ear is blocked and nothing, not a finger or a sharp object (lancet = claw), is going to get deep inside that ear. Then hold the tip of the ear steady with your thumb and index finger (or whatever works for you), and test with your free hand. It may take a bit of time for the cat to learn to trust that you will never stick anything into the ear canal and are, in fact, protecting the ear.
 
Bitite said:
Looking at the results of laboratory tests from two different companies - they say 50-160 (2.8-8.9) is in the normal range for cats. This group seems to aim for the really low numbers, I know you all have a lot of experience and that's why I am confused.
Click to expand...

The lab results are based on using meters specific to cats - just like the Alpha Trak meters. Most of us use human meters which will read lower than a animal specific meter. I believe the protocols take into account these lower readings for when we do reductions, increases and worry about hypo situations. That is correct right @Red & Rover (GA) & "Cat"
 
Bitite said:
Perhaps I should explain a bit further - Martini is a rescue - anything to do with bags, towels, boxes - that includes me getting her between my knees is deduced to be 'caged'. I/we do use a sock warmed with rice and she does get a treat /cuddles when a prick is attempted even. My husband finds the sweet spot a lot of times. Only thing is I am holding her while he pricks - the only way we have found, and he's often not agreeable to help. :(
I will look into the ketone meters that work on blood, thank you. I cannot block her escape - she panics I'm sure due to earlier days when she was a colony kitty. Huge thank you's for all your suggestions, I'll keep on plugging away as best I can.
Click to expand...
You're not a loser, but I know the feeling. I got on here and everyone was testing and shooting and knew the numbers and what to do. And I couldn't even get 1 blood test. I had a horrible time. Every test time I got sick to my stomach, started shaking, and felt like I was going to throw up. I still hate it, and I have to make myself do it, but we get it done. I couldn't test by myself at first and it took a while to be able to do it, but I can now. The warm sock really helped (as Judy said above--20 seconds), and I have to use a lancet device. I have to hold her ear after pricking so she can't shake her head or we have blood everywhere. The Neosporin ointment really helps, but I often look at her ears and feel terrible. I hold a cotton ball under her ear, and kind of press the lancet device down on her ear over the cotton ball. She can't shake her head or move her ear, and it's only for a few seconds.

With Martini being a rescue, it's got to be so much harder. Callie was bottle raised by us from when she was only 3 days old, but she still hides, folds her ears back, and gets really mad at me sometimes. Other times she's fine with it all. I do the extra loves and treats and usually that helps, but when she's feeling bad she just wants me to leave her alone. As a side note, I can't give her an injection without help, and I get panicky just thinking about what I'm going to do when there's no one here at shot time to help me. She won't hold still while I inject. So speaking of feeling like a major loser! :banghead:

So if you're feeling bad this is the place to come. I've received so much help, understanding, and compassion from others on here. So many others have worked through the same problems, and they get it. This kitty diabetes is just plain hard. :bighug:

By the way, 50-160 are good numbers.
 
Would she let you use a paw pad? I use the rear larger paw pad and alternate feet as we go.
 
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My gosh you people are so wonderful and understanding!
Not sure I want to venture the paw pad just yet - I've heard of lots of infections from the kitty litter etc, but it is something to keep in mind, thank you for the suggestion apple.
Glennie, thanks for the honesty, ) I can inject by myself and do mornings, but I make DH help me at dinner time just 'cause!
I will try all your suggestions - if only she'd keep her head still!!!!
 
For urine ketone testing, try non absorbent litter, like aquarium gravel. You can wash it and reuse it.
 
You are not a loser! This stuff is really hard for some kitties and their humans! I am fortunate that my diabetic cat is easy to handle, but I think our other cat (what's called a "civvie" around here) would fight like crazy if I tried to test her. She is ok with getting her nails clipped but hates having her ears cleaned or getting a pill and turns into a squirmy monster; I can't even imagine trying to hold her ear still enough to get a blood sample. You are doing a great thing for Martini by sticking with this and trying different strategies--it might just take some time to figure out what works for you and her, or to get her used to it.

Do you think your husband might be willing to help more consistently if you framed this as a possibly-temporary need--that is, if you said that you need his help now but are hoping that Martini will eventually be comfortable enough with all of it that you can do it alone? Does he find it upsetting to do the testing, or is it just inconvenient? My husband is not a fan of blood or needles but has been willing to learn to do this stuff in case I'm ever not able to be home because he has done a little reading about feline diabetes and understands how important the tests are for keeping our kitty safe and effectively treating his illness.

Do you think Martini would totally freak out if you used one of these things? http://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Cat-Comfort-Bag
 
Bitite said:
My gosh you people are so wonderful and understanding!
Not sure I want to venture the paw pad just yet - I've heard of lots of infections from the kitty litter etc, but it is something to keep in mind, thank you for the suggestion apple.
Glennie, thanks for the honesty, ) I can inject by myself and do mornings, but I make DH help me at dinner time just 'cause!
I will try all your suggestions - if only she'd keep her head still!!!!
Click to expand...
:bighug:
 
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