Any BG testing tricks for the mornings?

[Chrisa Hotchkiss]

Hello again.
Jackson's mum here. I have 2 questions:

1. I want to make sure I'm clear on this: is it the recommendation of the folks who run this forum that we test our kitties before every shot? So twice a day?

2. When I test Jackson in the morning, it generally takes several pricks before I can get a blood sample. I use the warm sock method (heat up a sock in the microwave that has rice in it, then hold it against the cat's ear) to bring blood to the surface of his ear, but it doesn't work nearly as well as it does later in the day. I suppose that's because he is more active and blood is already circulating later in the day, so it's usually only 1 prick for the evening test.

I am using FreeStyle 28-guage lancets. (He is a big cat.) Should I consider moving to a slightly thicker needle for the morning prick? (I'm not sure if that would mean a higher gauge or a lower gauge.)

Thank you!

 

[Toeknee]

Hello again.
Jackson's mum here. I have 2 questions:

1. I want to make sure I'm clear on this: is it the recommendation of the folks who run this forum that we test our kitties before every shot? So twice a day?

2. When I test Jackson in the morning, it generally takes several pricks before I can get a blood sample. I use the warm sock method (heat up a sock in the microwave that has rice in it, then hold it against the cat's ear) to bring blood to the surface of his ear, but it doesn't work nearly as well as it does later in the day. I suppose that's because he is more active and blood is already circulating later in the day, so it's usually only 1 prick for the evening test.

I am using FreeStyle 28-guage lancets. (He is a big cat.) Should I consider moving to a slightly thicker needle for the morning prick? (I'm not sure if that would mean a higher gauge or a lower gauge.)

Thank you!

Hi Jackson's mum, I am a newbie as well so take my reply with a grain of salt. That said the two tests are minimum and more are better. The pre-dose shots are to make sure you aren't dosing when the blood glucose isn't suddenly/unusually lower than expected. Other tests after the dose are to check effects of dose and help to establish a pattern over time as well.
As far as using a bigger lancet for pm shot, another way of interpreting that is whether you need to make a bigger hole in the morning. That doesn't seem right. I just replaced my meter and the new one (Contour Next Gen has made testing so much easier because the sample size needed is much smaller and allows you to add more blood to sample within a minute if it indicates sample is too small. These 2 improvements over my old meter have given me the ability to go ahead with the sample even if it appears to be a small one and I haven't wasted a strip so far on a couple of small samples. Less frustration for the cat as well. I was just looking to buy strips and was switched over to this new meter on pharmacist's advice and was unaware how much better this one works. Sorry I didn't check to see what you are using and may be going off topic but I have noticed that not much is said here about meter features and user experiences and I think that would be a great thread for people to educate others on the different meters out there.

 

[Melinda and Kitkat]

Hi Chrisa, for 1. Yes. The very minimum recommended here is to do a preshot test in both the am and pm cycles, before administering the dose. You want to know Jackson is in safe numbers to dose him. You will also see the recommendation that a few midcycle tests (within these 12 hr periods) are also recommended. The more information you can gather throughout the day will help everyone here see how the insulin is working throughout the cycle and better able to guide you. You are using Lantus so most will recommend getting a +2 test. This can be a good indication of how the cycle will go. The more data you collect, at various times, the better. Many recommend getting a test before bedtime, kitties can exhibit different trends while active in the day verses a sleepy evening cycle.
For 2. You may be on to something about morning blood flow, especially if he is all sleepy and not a 'morningcat' You may need to milk his ear a bit more to develop the drop, and I always warmed my hands up under hot water so my fingers were toasty warm for this. Also you could consider doing 2 quick pokes on the same spot in rapid succession, I found that worked better for me than trying a poke, milking, then trying again.
As for the guage, I think you are ok with those, they are a very good starting size, but if you do want to go thicker you would get a 26. The lower the number the thicker it is.
You'll get there!!! Keep asking everything.
And Toeknee is right about the meters, there is quite a variety, all with different user friendly options.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

I never noticed that am versus pm issue with Minnie. I’d warm up the ear more then in the am if that’s the case for you. The only time I noticed it was overall easier was summer as opposed to winter

 

[tessa's mom]

When I test Jackson in the morning, it generally takes several pricks before I can get a blood sample. I use the warm sock method (heat up a sock in the microwave that has rice in it, then hold it against the cat's ear) to bring blood to the surface of his ear, but it doesn't work nearly as well as it does later in the day. I suppose that's because he is more active and blood is already circulating later in the day, so it's usually only 1 prick for the evening test.

I've definitely noticed this with Tessa because we keep our home cooler at night than during the day so her ears are often extra cold in the morning. What helps us is to warm the inside of the ear first, then put the warming pad down while pulling out the test strip and lancet, and then put the warming pad on the back of the ear and hold it there while poking with the lancet. I usually get a nice big drop of blood that way.

 

[Chrisa Hotchkiss]

I've definitely noticed this with Tessa because we keep our home cooler at night than during the day so her ears are often extra cold in the morning. What helps us is to warm the inside of the ear first, then put the warming pad down while pulling out the test strip and lancet, and then put the warming pad on the back of the ear and hold it there while poking with the lancet. I usually get a nice big drop of blood that way.

Great. Thank you! I only put it on the inside of the ear. I'll try moving it to the outside, too.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Previous post
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...ch-14-2023-low-blood-glucose-question.275281/

Don't k ow if you saw this already
Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand not the lancing device
I find it better to see where I'm aiming
Look at the lancet under a light and you will see one side is curved upward, that's the side you want to poke with