Advice about home testing

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Barb and Lance

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Sorry it's been awhile since I've last posted! It's been hectic both at work and getting a schedule down with Lance.

We have not been home testing him....it seems like every time we try, Lance get's finicky and squirms and we can't get the ear warmed up enough to poke him :YMSIGH: I've heard that you can test on the paw, so I was wondering if there was a video on that that someone can share? It may be easier for him and the vet would love to see some numbers outside of when we take him in in a few weeks while we're out of town for a wedding overnight and will be boarding him so he can get his shots/food and the vet can see how he's been doing.

We switched him over to Special Kitty and Friskies wet a few days after he was diagnosed and he's gained weight back (at least 3 lbs probably a bit more) and we do have a low carb dry cat food from Blue Wilderness that was on the list as well for when he's still a bit hungry. Between 3 cats we feed 2 cans of wet a day and one cup of the dry is left out for them to nibble on if hungry. Funny thing is, the 2 non-diabetic cats barely touch the dry!

Today is the first day I haven't had to give Lance his evening shot. I hate blindly shooting but have been closely monitoring his behaviors to see how the insulin is working. He got really active a couple weeks after we switched foods and outside of the last couple of days, has seemed like his old self. I noticed though that he's been lethargic and had a small accident in the bathroom for the first time ever. I decided to not shoot to see how he does without insulin and so far he's gone 15 hours and seems much better, more active, social and affectionate.

I appreciate any and all advice!!
 
I basically "sit" on Podo to test her ears. I kneel on the ground with one leg on either side of her. Use my feet and butt to keep her from backing out. Then both my hands are free to test an ear. There is no weight on her, but she is "surrounded".
 
Lori-I actually watched that before we got the home testing kit and tried it....but he's so squirmy and my husband even had a hard time getting him to keep still enough to free hand lancet the ear. :YMSIGH:

I also tried sitting on him when I would try without my husband there to no such luck. I used to be able to do it well when he was 21 lbs and he needed ear mite treatments in the ear.

We'll try to test him again today since it'll be 24 hours at 8am with no shot so far and he's gotten even more social, playing with his brother and giving me a 'bath' on one of my arms which he hasn't done in over 2 months.

As for the food we keep the carb % between 7-9% with the wet, I believe the dry food is 18% but I noticed that he only ate that yesterday about an hour or 2 after his shot and not very much.
 
Barb,

Have you tried the burrito or the clothespin trick? The burrito involves wrapping the kitty up in a towel so only his head is sticking out. (We put a towel on the couch next to the arm so we could lightly press him into the arm and keep him still.) The clothespin trick uses the same idea that mommy cats use to immobolize their kittens when moving them: http://www.felinecrf.org/giving_sub-qs_ ... _peg_trick

If you want to post your city and state, there is a chance that we have someone who lives nearby and might be able to help you the first time.
 
barb, i know the video makes it look so easy! eventually your cat might get that way. they really do grow to enjoy the ritual.
have you tried relaxing him first with head scritches, lovey talk, maybe his cat nip toy.
have you given treat after, even a failed attempt. (he doesn't know that!) sooner or later he needs to think of this as good times with mommie.
i also sit on tom as earlier described, no weight, just surround him. i probably don't need to at this point but this is how we've always done it. he always purrs, sometimes he wiggles but i try to do it quick on those days. once you've done a few hundred (!) times you'll be in and out in 30 seconds, treat in the cat!
your good with the food.
 
Lori-Never thought about using any cat treats for him.

Tried testing him this morning on the paw, but he squirmed enough I couldn't get a big enough blood spot to get a reading :YMSIGH: so frustrating. I tried petting him and that helped before, but while trying to get the sample is when he freaks, probably b/c he was tired of sitting there and not getting any attention lol. It doesn't help that his brother came over and started attacking his tail right after the poke!

My husband told me to call our vet to see if they had any ideas for me to get it and the vet who was helpful and knowledgeable about feline diabetes is on maternity leave :cry: and so the person I ended up talking to was a total retard, telling me that she didn't know if human meters read as well as their specially ordered machine and that she's never had anyone of her patient's do home testing on their dog/cat. She also told me to just keep giving him his normal dose of insulin. :YMSIGH:

He goes in for his curve on Monday, but I'm also worried about his weight gain...it looks more like bloating than anything so I wonder if he's constipated too, which would explain the sudden accident in the bathroom the other morning.

So far, he's gone over 24 hours without insulin and he's doing pretty good, but I'm also monitoring him closely so we'll see what tomorrow morning brings.
 
why is he sitting there waiting so long without any attention?
first get everything ready to go, put the strip in the meter, have the lancet out and whatever else you need so that when you finish praising him he's barely has a second to know what hit him :lol:
are you free handing or using the lancet device. i find the free hand easier.
you gotta get this down.
treats after every try, praise after every try, he does'nt have to know it was a failed attempt.
just be totally prepped.
 
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