02/09/20 Thomas J. AMPS 297, +6 341, PMPS 300

LilTurkey

LilTurkey

Member Since 2020
02/08/20
Thomas J. fought me a bit this morning when I was getting blood. I got a blood drop from a single poke but he kept grabbing me and pushing me away when I was trying to grab it to the point of biting and clawing. Next thing I know the scab on his healing ear some how falls off and he shakes his head throwing blood everywhere. I was able to grab blood from drops that flew onto my hand. Have a feeling it's going to be a nightmare to get blood from him today. Put some ointment on him and cleaned up most of the blood, I'm sure there's some I missed. Poor boy seems pretty sore, I hate that he's not feeling good.
 
Good Morning Brittany/Thomas,

Are you using an antibiotic ointment after each poke?

Maybe you can give him a bit of a pokie break this morning - when are you planning to test again?
 
Sue and Luci said:
Good Morning Brittany/Thomas,

Are you using an antibiotic ointment after each poke?

Maybe you can give him a bit of a pokie break this morning - when are you planning to test again?
Click to expand...
I was planning on testing a +3 and +6 to determine if I should increase his dose. I'm not sure if he's going to let me test those now though. I haven't been putting ointment on every single time, should I?
 
Sorry this morning was so rough. I hope he'll get used to testing soon. I put the tiniest dab of Neosporin with pain relief on Furball's ear after each test. If I put too much it can keep a blood drop from forming next time I test. At night after the before going to sleep test I put a bigger dab on her ear to help it heal. Are you holding something on his ear to stop the bleeding after each test? I learned it helps Furball's ear heal better if I do that for at least 10 seconds after each test.
 
It does look like it's time for an increase of .25 - at least he's staying under 300 which is a good thing. However, that would me more testing and it doesn't sound like he's warming up to the idea much yet.

Yes, indeed, use the antibiotic ointment every single time. Luci actually liked the smell of the one in the yellow tube so much that she wanted to lick it - I had to pick up another brand - I think it smelled like fish oil because she sure was interested in it!

Please keep trying to take him to the testing area and pet him, love him up, give him a treat and let him go...yes, I know that's not the most fun thing to do every hour on the hour - but it'll get it into his head that it's a place that he can go for a moment of loving and soft talk and not a 'fight zone'...Luci was a hard sell on the whole testing thing so you have my sympathy! I wore myself out taking her to the testing towel and petting her and talking to her - giving her a treat - and then letting her go - she didn't like me picking her up so it was a battle every time - but it was a good investment of my time...it wasn't too awfully long (well, yes, it was at least a month, maybe more) where she realized I wasn't going to kill her! And she started sitting down and letting me do what needed to be done - she was so focused on that food, ya know?

So just keep trying...he will learn that it's ok...and he'll get a little treat too! Have you looked at Chewy.com at all the freeze dried treats they have? It's quite a selection and Thomas doesn't like one or the other they'll refund your money - I have a vast variety of treats for Luci - some she likes more than others and it helps sometimes when she's hungry and we're in that two-hour window of 'no food' before the pre-shot time....so keep trying :)
 
carfurby said:
Sorry this morning was so rough. I hope he'll get used to testing soon. I put the tiniest dab of Neosporin with pain relief on Furball's ear after each test. If I put too much it can keep a blood drop from forming next time I test. At night after the before going to sleep test I put a bigger dab on her ear to help it heal. Are you holding something on his ear to stop the bleeding after each test? I learned it helps Furball's ear heal better if I do that for at least 10 seconds after each test.
Click to expand...
Thank you. Yes, I put some pressure on his ear with a cotton ball every time although sometimes he pushes me away after a couple seconds. I'll try putting ointment on more frequently. Like you said, I must be putting on too much because it stops blood drops from forming when I have.
 
Sue and Luci said:
It does look like it's time for an increase of .25 - at least he's staying under 300 which is a good thing. However, that would me more testing and it doesn't sound like he's warming up to the idea much yet.

Yes, indeed, use the antibiotic ointment every single time. Luci actually liked the smell of the one in the yellow tube so much that she wanted to lick it - I had to pick up another brand - I think it smelled like fish oil because she sure was interested in it!

Please keep trying to take him to the testing area and pet him, love him up, give him a treat and let him go...yes, I know that's not the most fun thing to do every hour on the hour - but it'll get it into his head that it's a place that he can go for a moment of loving and soft talk and not a 'fight zone'...Luci was a hard sell on the whole testing thing so you have my sympathy! I wore myself out taking her to the testing towel and petting her and talking to her - giving her a treat - and then letting her go - she didn't like me picking her up so it was a battle every time - but it was a good investment of my time...it wasn't too awfully long (well, yes, it was at least a month, maybe more) where she realized I wasn't going to kill her! And she started sitting down and letting me do what needed to be done - she was so focused on that food, ya know?

So just keep trying...he will learn that it's ok...and he'll get a little treat too! Have you looked at Chewy.com at all the freeze dried treats they have? It's quite a selection and Thomas doesn't like one or the other they'll refund your money - I have a vast variety of treats for Luci - some she likes more than others and it helps sometimes when she's hungry and we're in that two-hour window of 'no food' before the pre-shot time....so keep trying :)
Click to expand...
Thank you for all the encouragement! I'll put ointment on every time from now on. He's been fairly patient recently but now he just keeps pushing me away from touching his ears when he knows it's for testing. I've been looking at freeze dried treats, trying to pick out some I think he'd like. I'll work with him more in his testing area.
Should I skip mid day testing today to give him a break? I was thinking of increasing his dose tomorrow but now I'm not sure.
 
It's really best to see how low a dose is taking the cat before increasing. It does look like he needs more insulin, but you never know. I'd at least try to get a +5 or +6 today.
 
His mid-day test was high and I don't think it was due to much stress as I got his blood in about 5 minutes. Surely stress couldn't spike it up that high in that short amount of time. He wasn't fighting me too much either.
I think he just needs a higher dosage. The depot would've been filled already after a week right, but I'm not seeing any lower numbers other than from the first day. They're similar to his preinsulin numbers right now.
 
He fought me a lot this evening. Tried getting blood on his left ear 4 times but there wasn't enough blood. He was extremely upset. Got swiped in the face for the first time in months. Got blood on the 2nd poke on the right ear. Poor baby. Not sure why his left ear isn't giving me much blood anymore.
 
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