12/17 Tessa AMPS 348 +2 327 PMPS 285 +2 253

[tessa's mom]

Yesterday: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...2-1-99-2-95-3-98-5-146-7-133-pmps-178.271907/

I had a feeling she'd bounce today. I also noticed that the edge of her Libre sensor was a little loose last night and I almost covered it with a bit of medical tape but decided against it. I should have trusted my gut and done it because she managed to get her Libre sensor off.

I feel super stupid for asking this but I've read through the sticky threads again and I am unsure how many times it's completely necessary to test her each day.

I know for sure that she needs to be tested before each dose and I assume I should test within an hour or two after each dose to see if she's diving and I should test around +3 or +4 since that seems to be when she has her nadirs (at least during the day). Will I need to test her more than that on the average day?

I know if she has an active cycle I'll probably have to test more and I feel sick just thinking about that.

I just tried testing her (since we're now at +4) and I think it's going to be very difficult to do this on a regular basis. She was mad and growling at me (even though I was offering her favorite treat) and I failed to get enough blood for a test. I tried collecting the blood on my fingernail but it wasn't enough and she stopped bleeding before I could get any more. I'm using 28 gauge lancets too, those should be large enough, right?

 

[tessa's mom]

I just tried again and now BOTH of my cats are acting terrified of me. I can't do this.

 

[Bandit's Mom]

Do you plan to get another sensor? Looks like this was Day 12 on this sensor and you would have needed a new one in another couple of days?

She will probably bounce today and considering that she was flat and high at +2, I suggest you give it a break till PMPS. She might have an active cycle tonight if she decides to clear the bounce, but I won't be surprised if she bounces a little longer from green. A +2 should tell you if you need to get more tests later in the cycle.

Are you using a lancing device or freehanding with the lancet? If it's the device, do you think the clicking sound is startling her? You cold try a 26G lancet to poke a bigger hole. Warming & massaging the ear before a poke can help with blood flow, but sometimes you have to "milk" the ear after a poke to increase the size of the blood drop. Most importantly, she can sense your anxiety and feed off it. So see if there is some way you can make a game out of it. Some people have found talking or singing helps. Though, some cats just don't tale well to testing. My civvie is one of them. I am glad she was not the one with diabetes!

Here are some tips by on testing. Maybe something here will work for Tessa?
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/9-9-bailey-amps-117-5-62.252712/#post-2851043

 

[tessa's mom]

Do you plan to get another sensor? Looks like this was Day 12 on this sensor and you would have needed a new one in another couple of days?

She will probably bounce today and considering that she was flat and high at +2, I suggest you give it a break till PMPS. She might have an active cycle tonight if she decides to clear the bounce, but I won't be surprised if she bounces a little longer from green. A +2 should tell you if you need to get more tests later in the cycle.

I do plan to get another sensor, I really like having all the data it gives and I can afford the cost. The vet is closed today and we're out of "refills" so we won't be able to get another one until Monday at the earliest. The one that just came off should have been good until Tuesday evening. I think I'll order some vet bond so that the next time her sensor feels even the least bit loose I can put some vet bond around the edge to hopefully keep it on longer.

Are you using a lancing device or freehanding with the lancet? If it's the device, do you think the clicking sound is startling her? You cold try a 26G lancet to poke a bigger hole. Warming & massaging the ear before a poke can help with blood flow, but sometimes you have to "milk" the ear after a poke to increase the size of the blood drop. Most importantly, she can sense your anxiety and feed off it. So see if there is some way you can make a game out of it. Some people have found talking or singing helps. Though, some cats just don't tale well to testing. My civvie is one of them. I am glad she was not the one with diabetes!

Here are some tips by on testing. Maybe something here will work for Tessa?
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/9-9-bailey-amps-117-5-62.252712/#post-2851043

I tried with the lancing device first, she doesn't seem scared of the clicking, she's mad at me for messing with her ear. I've tried to get her used to it over the past few weeks but she just HATES anyone touching her ears. I kept missing with the lancing device (I got it once but didn't get enough blood) so I tried freehanding and I must have hurt her because she yowled when I stuck her. Still didn't get enough blood either so I hurt my poor baby for no reason.

I will try again at PMPS. I'll give her some food to distract her while I try to test her. Hopefully she'll let me do it then. I will look through all the tips and try to relax in the meantime.

 

[tessa's mom]

Do you plan to get another sensor? Looks like this was Day 12 on this sensor and you would have needed a new one in another couple of days?

She will probably bounce today and considering that she was flat and high at +2, I suggest you give it a break till PMPS. She might have an active cycle tonight if she decides to clear the bounce, but I won't be surprised if she bounces a little longer from green. A +2 should tell you if you need to get more tests later in the cycle.

Are you using a lancing device or freehanding with the lancet? If it's the device, do you think the clicking sound is startling her? You cold try a 26G lancet to poke a bigger hole. Warming & massaging the ear before a poke can help with blood flow, but sometimes you have to "milk" the ear after a poke to increase the size of the blood drop. Most importantly, she can sense your anxiety and feed off it. So see if there is some way you can make a game out of it. Some people have found talking or singing helps. Though, some cats just don't tale well to testing. My civvie is one of them. I am glad she was not the one with diabetes!

Here are some tips by on testing. Maybe something here will work for Tessa?
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/9-9-bailey-amps-117-5-62.252712/#post-2851043

I know you said to wait until PMPS but I wanted to try again when I had a couple hours before her PM shot so I could get some feedback. I just tried again and failed miserably. I got an old pill bottle full of hot water (not too hot) and put it against her ear and tried again, still NOT ENOUGH BLOOD. My meter claims that it only needs a tiny drop but that's a lie!! I had more than what the box claims it needs but I get an error and when I look up the error, it's for not enough blood. UGH.

So if I cannot get a test tonight before her evening shot, what should I do? Skip the dose? Do a lower dose than usual? Go with 1.5u and just watch for signs of hypoglycemia?

Or should I go buy another meter and strips since this one keeps giving me errors? Should I go buy some bigger lancets?

I thought for sure that 28 gauge would work so I bought 200 of them. I thought I was saving myself some time and money by stocking up on items when I had a coupon and got over the free shipping threshold but I feel like I'm going to have to give away about half of what I bought because it doesn't work for her.

 

[Skye & Jackson]

Some thoughts from another newbie with a Libre:

28 gauge should be plenty big enough, normally. I use a 30 and do okay, though I’m sure ears can be different. 26 would allow a surer blood droplet, but also hurt more, and they’re harder to find too.

I had a hard time getting Jackson to let me test him manually too. He is another probably-long term-Libre cat. He is also another that gets mad if I have to stick him more than once. And I had to stick him a few times each time to get blood, the first few events. What I finally found that helped was not only to warm up the ear - with rubbing and breathing on it, if he wouldn’t allow anything larger close - but also backlighting it. After the first few tries I realized that I could get much more precise pokes doing it “freehand” - although I still use the lancing device as a handle, I find that easier than just holding the lancet in my fingers; I just took the cap off so that I could see the lancet clearly. But to freehand it, you either have to hold the ear taut between separate pairs of fingers on one hand (thumb and ring finger, and fore- and middle fingers), or you have to put something behind the ear. I used my finger just once, and got a sample from myself too! (Heh, and ouch.) I then found that a small flashlight, or even the light from my phone flashlight, works well. Then I can see where I’m aiming. Also, though the ideal is to prick between the vein and and ear edge, a couple of times early on if I knew I was only going to get one shot at it, I went for the vein just to make sure I got any blood. (The bleeding stopped pretty fast even there, with about 10-15 seconds of Kleenex pressure held on it.) The more times you poke, the easier it becomes to get blood from the median area… it doesn’t take long either, just a few times really, at least in my experience.

It’s also possible that you’re getting enough blood technically, but that it’s spreading out, not beading up, which makes it hard for the strip to wick it up. I’ve seen instructions here suggest to put a little Vaseline on the ear to help beading. Another suggestion I’ve thought of if the ear is really furry, is to keep a patch of it trimmed super short for emergency testing. I’m lucky in that Jack’s ear hair lies very flat, but I can see how any fluff would cause difficulty.

As for Vetbond, having a bottle around is handy. I’ve had mixed results with it though, depending how I use it. It’s downright essential to put the sensor on with it (because the sticky pad alone doesn’t last long even on non-furry humans). But if an edge starts coming up, I’ve had better luck with poking the nozzle in underneath a little to give just a drop on that side, rather than gluing down the edges. The edges seem an obvious target I know, but I’ve learned that they tend to ruffle up stiffly as the glue dries, and that annoys Jack who then can’t leave it alone and finally ends up yanking the sensor off - fur and all - eventually.

Speaking of fur, for removal, I’ve found dousing the old sensor with coconut oil helps. (Look in the grocery aisle with other cooking oils for refined coconut oil, the liquid not the solid stuff; it’s a lot cheaper than the exact same kind of oil when labeled for skin care.) I guess most vegetable oils will help break down the glue bond, but for some reason coconut is really good at it? Or so I’ve read. I happened to have some around, so tried it, and it does help. I syringe some around the edges, and under where it’s lifted at all, and also a little in the hole in the middle (where you wouldn’t want anything to go if it were still working). If you let it sit for a while that way, it helps keep so much fur from being pulled away when the sensor is.

 

[tessa's mom]

Some thoughts from another newbie with a Libre:

28 gauge should be plenty big enough, normally. I use a 30 and do okay, though I’m sure ears can be different. 26 would allow a surer blood droplet, but also hurt more, and they’re harder to find too.

I had a hard time getting Jackson to let me test him manually too. He is another probably-long term-Libre cat. He is also another that gets mad if I have to stick him more than once. And I had to stick him a few times each time to get blood, the first few events. What I finally found that helped was not only to warm up the ear - with rubbing and breathing on it, if he wouldn’t allow anything larger close - but also backlighting it. After the first few tries I realized that I could get much more precise pokes doing it “freehand” - although I still use the lancing device as a handle, I find that easier than just holding the lancet in my fingers; I just took the cap off so that I could see the lancet clearly. But to freehand it, you either have to hold the ear taut between separate pairs of fingers on one hand (thumb and ring finger, and fore- and middle fingers), or you have to put something behind the ear. I used my finger just once, and got a sample from myself too! (Heh, and ouch.) I then found that a small flashlight, or even the light from my phone flashlight, works well. Then I can see where I’m aiming. Also, though the ideal is to prick between the vein and and ear edge, a couple of times early on if I knew I was only going to get one shot at it, I went for the vein just to make sure I got any blood. (The bleeding stopped pretty fast even there, with about 10-15 seconds of Kleenex pressure held on it.) The more times you poke, the easier it becomes to get blood from the median area… it doesn’t take long either, just a few times really, at least in my experience.

It’s also possible that you’re getting enough blood technically, but that it’s spreading out, not beading up, which makes it hard for the strip to wick it up. I’ve seen instructions here suggest to put a little Vaseline on the ear to help beading. Another suggestion I’ve thought of if the ear is really furry, is to keep a patch of it trimmed super short for emergency testing. I’m lucky in that Jack’s ear hair lies very flat, but I can see how any fluff would cause difficulty.

As for Vetbond, having a bottle around is handy. I’ve had mixed results with it though, depending how I use it. It’s downright essential to put the sensor on with it (because the sticky pad alone doesn’t last long even on non-furry humans). But if an edge starts coming up, I’ve had better luck with poking the nozzle in underneath a little to give just a drop on that side, rather than gluing down the edges. The edges seem an obvious target I know, but I’ve learned that they tend to ruffle up stiffly as the glue dries, and that annoys Jack who then can’t leave it alone and finally ends up yanking the sensor off - fur and all - eventually.

Speaking of fur, for removal, I’ve found dousing the old sensor with coconut oil helps. (Look in the grocery aisle with other cooking oils for refined coconut oil, the liquid not the solid stuff; it’s a lot cheaper than the exact same kind of oil when labeled for skin care.) I guess most vegetable oils will help break down the glue bond, but for some reason coconut is really good at it? Or so I’ve read. I happened to have some around, so tried it, and it does help. I syringe some around the edges, and under where it’s lifted at all, and also a little in the hole in the middle (where you wouldn’t want anything to go if it were still working). If you let it sit for a while that way, it helps keep so much fur from being pulled away when the sensor is.

Thank you for the tips!

I did manage to test her for her PMPS but OMG it was an ordeal. It took 4 or 5 tries and a lot of crying (me) but I finally got it. I do think fur is part of the problem with getting the blood, it wicks away the blood before I can get it onto the test strip or my fingernail. I tried vaseline after a couple tries and I'm not sure if that actually helped or not. So I guess I'll be shaving part of her ear, that's gonna be fun lol.

I will have to add a flashlight to her kit. I wanted to order the Illumavein but their website is broken (won't take any orders) and they never responded to my email. I guess they don't want to actually sell any products. It's a bummer because it seems like a really useful little tool.

I'm trying to calm down and just get through the weekend but I can't help but panic because I am suddenly without all the data I've had for weeks now. I feel bad for feeling like this but I'm kind of hoping her numbers stay on the high side until I can get a new Libre so I don't have to test her over and over again.

 

[tessa's mom]

Managed to get a +2 test in. Her numbers aren't dropping fast so I'm not going to get any more tests overnight. I kept missing with the lancing device so I pulled out the lancet and did it manually. That got a lot of blood so I may have hit the vein. She wasn't happy (lots of growly noises) but I held her ear firmly with some gauze wrapped on either side until it stopped bleeding.

 

[Skye & Jackson]

Good job doing it though! Especially with an unhappy cat!

I totally empathize with the worry of not having the data for multiple days. I panicked the first time I put a new one on (after the ER vet one) when I flubbed it (didn’t pull the applicator away carefully enough and tugged out the filament, gah). Of course I did this on a Saturday, and my vet had only written me one prescription without any refills. I ended up calling the ER Jackson had been at to start with, and begged; they sent one more prescription to the pharmacy for me. I think I got to pick it up an hour before the pharmacy closed. And Jack was very unstable then, so yeah I freaked out a lot that day.

Needless to say, the next time I called my vet for a prescription, I asked specifically for refills to be written in!!

And lesson learned - I’m happy to pass it on if it helps prevent stress, pain, or other problems - if you ever decide to put one on yourself, first hold the injected applicator down on the cat for a count of ten to get a decent seal, then have a pair of tweezers handy to grip the edge of the sensor pad and hold it down while you carefully lift/tug away the applicator. (You will probably need a human helper to hold kitty still.)

By the way, another lesson learned: feel around first and do your best to inject it between ribs, not over one. The needle jabbing bone could be very painful for kitty… that happened to us just once so far too. Poor Jack.

 

[Bandit's Mom]

Do you keep some cotton or tissue between her ear and your finger (holding it) to act as a support? Maybe some treats before and after and some high praise might also help?

It will get easier with practice. You're doing a great job. I think you can just feed her till you go to bed. Don't bother with any more tests. She might give you some action in the second part of the cycle because that's what she does and she's due to clear the bounce. Even if you can't test then, I suggest that you set an alarm to feed her at +8 or +9.

 

[tessa's mom]

Do you keep some cotton or tissue between her ear and your finger (holding it) to act as a support? Maybe some treats before and after and some high praise might also help?

It will get easier with practice. You're doing a great job. I think you can just feed her till you go to bed. Don't bother with any more tests. She might give you some action in the second part of the cycle because that's what she does and she's due to clear the bounce. Even if you can't test then, I suggest that you set an alarm to feed her at +8 or +9.

I have been holding the warm pill bottle behind her ear while I poke, it's a little unwieldy but it keeps her ear warm and gives a firm surface behind (and I won't accidentally stick myself). I've been trying while she's actively eating because she's much more tolerant while she is stuffing her face lol.

I didn't see this until this morning so she didn't get fed overnight but we woke up to 303 so I don't think she had an active cycle last night. I'm hoping and praying she clears that bounce today instead of tomorrow because I don't have any plans today but I have to work tomorrow. I work from home so I can monitor her but I can't be taking 5-10 minute breaks every hour trying to get a test out of her if she has an active cycle.

The first poke today produced enough blood but I collected it on my nail and it ran off under my fingernail (stupid short fingernails) so I had to poke her again (twice) to get enough for the test. Next time I'm going to try just dipping the test strip directly in to see if that works.