? Broken blood vessels/bruising after ear pokes

[TurkeyCat]

Hi all,

My cat Turkey just got diagnosed yesterday. I've been doing research leading up to the appointment as my sister is a vet tech and a Type-1 diabetic so she was familiar with the signs and suspected a diagnosis of diabetes. Since I kind of knew the diagnosis ahead of time, I had all my testing supplies ready to go, complete with a spreadsheet (modeled after those here) and am able to actually plot the BG curve in Stata (statistical software I use for work).

Anyway, I've been doing home testing for the past 24 hours and I'm awful at it- I probably average 4 pokes for every viable sample. My hand shakes too much to freehand so I've been using a lancet which has helped a little. I shined a light behind Turkey's ears and noticed bruising all along the edges of both ears where I've been trying to draw blood. It's not visible on the surface, just when there is light shining behind it.

He's done being poked for the night but I'll have to start again tomorrow morning before giving his insulin. I'm worried about re-testing on already bruised areas but I want to stick with the ears for testing as he was partially declawed by his previous owners (I adopted him about 8 years ago) and he hates to have his feet handled.

Other than the pressure and Neosporin with pain reliever, is there anything else I can do to make this more comfortable for him until I get better at it? Feeling so bad because he's being such a good boy about everything.

Thanks,

Katie (the bad poker) and Turkey

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Are you heating up his ear good before you try to poke? Having them really warm will help bring blood up into his ears and (hopefully) allow you to get a sample on the first try.

A small sock with some rice in it microwaved for 20 seconds or so or a small pill bottle filled with warm water (test against your wrist like a baby bottle) are both good ways to apply heat before poking.

The ears will "learn to bleed" as you continue testing....new capillaries will grow in where you're poking now and make it easier and easier to get blood.

Other than that, as long as you're applying pressure for a good 20-30 seconds, that's about all you can do.....but it will get better!

 

[TurkeyCat]

Thanks, Chris and China - I didn't realize how much the warm rice sock would help but I was able to get a sample on the first try this morning! Thanks for calling my attention to it.

I'm going to try to test on other parts of his ear today so I don't further bruise the tender places. I just hate the repeated attempts - it gets so frustrating and I know it's uncomfortable for him! The insulin shots are easy peasy compared to this.

 

[jayla-n-Drevon]

here is something that may help as well.....also I have found using a tiny bit of salve lessens the "poke" and helps to let you feel better so you don't go thru the ear.... it is ok if you do but the more you do it the less it will happen

 

[TurkeyCat]

here is something that may help as well.....also I have found using a tiny bit of salve lessens the "poke" and helps to let you feel better so you don't go thru the ear.... it is ok if you do but the more you do it the less it will happen

View attachment 21473

Thank you! That photo has been really helpful (I saw it on here a few days ago)- unfortunately that's where most of his bruising is but I'm going to be moving up/down the edge of his ear to test on new locations.