Best Lancet Size For Ear Pricking

[Happycats]

Hi. I need to order more lancets soon. Right now I use 30 but I am thinking about something thinner. Is 33 gauge good? Thanks.

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

If you have no problem getting blood, the thinner is fine. Newbies sometimes start out with a fat gauge until the ear "learns"to bleed.

 

[chriscleo]

haven't heard anyone say 33 gauge worked for them. i think i see 26-31 gauge mentioned more often but many of us like the 30 gauge. maybe just try 31 if you want something thinner?

 

[squeem3]

Hi. I need to order more lancets soon. Right now I use 30 but I am thinking about something thinner. Is 33 gauge good? Thanks.

The best gauge lancet to use is the one that will always give you a good drop of blood :smile: The really thin ones may seem better (less pain/discomfort) but they are so thin that they don't make a large enough prick for enough blood to come out, even with ear warming.

Are you using a lancet device? If so, there may only be a specific lancet that you can use for the lancet device. Some brands of lancet devices can only use matching lancets (example, the SoftClix lancet device only works with SoftClix lancets). Here's a lancet comparision chart: http://www.walgreens.com/marketing/libr ... ancets.jsp

 

[janelle and Nomad]

I tried 33 gauge lancets once thinking they might be less painful for my cat. However, I often had to prick him two or three times to get enough blood. Sometimes they would just bend without breaking the skin. I ended up throwing them out. I would just stick to the more standard gauge.