Re: 4/22 Rory AMPS 317, +3 284, +6 212, +9 234, PMPS 257, +2
Ok, a slight review for you since it looks like we forgot to tell you a couple of things.
1. Pick a consistent place and position for doing the test.
2. If the ears are really dark and furry, you could shave a tiny spot on the ear to help you see better. I did with Wink because he has long black
fur and the edges of the ears are black also.
3. Get all your supplies set up in advance, including the low carb treats. Halfway load the strip in the meter, not enough to turn on the meter but just to have things ready to go.
4. Find the cat and take him to your testing spot.
5. Take a couple of deep breaths to calm yourself and help calm your kitty. Feel the zen moment. ;-)
6. Talk to your kitty in an upbeat, positive voice and the kitty seems to listen and know you are doing something good for him. Wink did.
7. Warm the ear, microwave warmed rice sock, small pill bottle with very warm tap water or rubbing the ear vigorously to get the blood flowing.
8. I always knew the ear was warm enough because I could actually see the vein raised up a little.
9. Load the strip fully into the meter now since the ear is warm and you are ready to poke.
10. Apply a small dab of triple antibiotic ointment with pain relief or petroleum jelly. Either of these help to blood droplet to bead up and not soak into the fur.
11. Hold the ear firmly, with something behind the ear to protect your hand. Squirmy cats will shake their head just as the blood drop gets big enough to be sipped up by the test strip. Murphy's law number 283.
12. Use the lancing pen or freehand the lancet, whichever is more comfortable for you to do.
13. Hold the ear firmly just below the poke spot, and poke straight down if using the lancet pen, at a 45 degree angle if freehanding the lancet.
14. Bigger lancets, meant for alternate site testing, are easier to use at first. The box will usually say "for alternate site testing".
15. Sip up the blood drop with the strip. I always found it easier to hold the strip at an angle to get the sipping action to work better.
16. Press with your kleenex, tissue, cotton ball, with one finer on one side of the ear poke spot and one finger on the other side of the ear. This presure on the ear after the poke and sip routine actually helps to prevent bruising of the ear.
17. Alternate ears if possible. I liked to do right ear (sunrise side) in the am and left ear (sunset side) in the pm). Your choice.
18. Give low carb treat, cuddles and tell your cat what a good job he/she did. Remember the treat for yourself, a piece of dark chocolate is my favorite.
19. Don't give up. It does get easier.
20. Stay positive and know that you are doing your very, very best to help your cat feel better.
21. 3 attemps and then stop. Always give a treat even if test is unsuccessful. Try again later that day. It takes time to get the hang of this.
22. Do 2 pokes quick together, side by side, is good. You should keep the lancet close to the ear after your first poke so you can do the second poke close to the first. This can give you 2 small blood drops that will merge into one large enough for your meter to sip up.
Here is the link to a very good review of more ear testing tips.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/13c_CPZVKz27fD_6aVbsguadJKvjSrSAkD7flgPPhEag/pub
I bookmarked it and put it in my new Feline Diabetes folder. I have
a lot of links in that folder now! ;-) Also printed out a hardcopy and reviewed it alot when I was first starting out.
And his numbers are a little better today than they have been. 
I was doing so well getting blood draws before with ease.. I have the finest lancets and normally only needed one small poke.. now I struggle getting blood draws.. no wonder he is so agitated now :sad: