Ear pricks not healing

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Becky Young

Becky Young

Member Since 2017
Hi all!

We are in our second week of home testing and insulin and my poor cat's ear isn't healing at all from the many ear pricks I'm doing. I'm almost running out of places to poke! They are all just scabbed over and never seem to heal. Is this a diabetes symptom? Not healing? He has a scratch on his nose (courtesy of his brother) that has been there for 2+ months. What do I do when I run out of places to poke on his ear? Pull a scab off (ugh, I shudder at the thought!)? Any advice? Help! I hope all of this gets easier in time...it still feels impossibly hard
 
Hi Becky,
I'm pretty new here too, so I don't have all the answers.
What is your process/steps you take with the ear pricks?
I checked out the YouTube videos they have posted on this site. I haven't had one scab up though.
I know @JanetNJ has one of the videos I watched initially in her signature, if you haven't seen them.

Even though I haven't had any scabs you can see my Fabby's ears are rough looking, especially after I did a curve. I began using Neosporin plus pain relief, that was really helping... but then Fabby had a reaction and began throwing up. (Apparently not everyone reacts adversely.) So, now we are off the Neosporin and looking into other options to keep her ears healthy while I test 4x a day.
 
AlphaCat said:
Hi Becky,
I'm pretty new here too, so I don't have all the answers.
What is your process/steps you take with the ear pricks?
I checked out the YouTube videos they have posted on this site. I haven't had one scab up though.
I know @JanetNJ has one of the videos I watched initially in her signature, if you haven't seen them.

Even though I haven't had any scabs you can see my Fabby's ears are rough looking, especially after I did a curve. I began using Neosporin plus pain relief, that was really helping... but then Fabby had a reaction and began throwing up. (Apparently not everyone reacts adversely.) So, now we are off the Neosporin and looking into other options to keep her ears healthy while I test 4x a day.
Click to expand...

I've been trying to do things the way I've seen here. I warm up a rice sock, massage his ears for a bit, use a 28 gauge lancet in the "sweet spot" and then I will attempt to milk the spot for a drop of blood. Afterwards I wipe away any excess blood with a paper towel. His poor little ears just look mangled. Sometimes I have to poke him 2 or 3 times to get any blood at all and every time it seems to hurt him. I've been holding the lancet at a 45 degree angle and I've been trying so hard to be gentle! Poor guy is just not healing up very quickly
 
Oh goodness! Poor kitty!
I use a smaller lancet, a 30 gauge. I don't use heat, but I do massage and I do milk to get the blood drop.
Are you using the pen to use the lancet or just the lancet?
Also, I don't wipe away the blood after, I cover the spot with a paper towel and pinch for 15-30 seconds while petting her with her other hand.
You really are doing all the things you can. I'm curious why your not getting blood on one poke with a larger lancet.
I wonder if someone else can come along with kitty ears that are difficult bleeders...
 
I've just been free-handing it up until now and I think that's part of my problem. I'm so afraid to poke him too deep or all the way through (did that yesterday and it wasn't pretty!) that I get scared and I do it too shallow, thus needing to do multiple attempts. I might try the lancet device tonight with some neosporin after I pinch the area with a paper towel. I think that would probably help a lot, thank you for your input!
 
I do hope it helps, I'm glad I could offer suggestions to try.
Perhaps it will help your poking confidence, but I poke just with the lancet too, and have a couple of times went through to the other side. But with holding the pressure of the paper towel it wasn't an ordeal, and Fabby never seemed to mind (she was laser focused on the treat packet, lol). So we've all done it. :)
One of the videos I watched said they free poke and they do what they are told not to, and put their finger on the other side of the ear where the poke will be. I do this also and it helps me gauge the depth, and I've not poked my finger yet. But I also was very shy about poking at first so had to use the pen only.
And if nothing else, bribe your kitty for all they put up with from us learning with the extra good treats! ;)
My kitty is VERY food motivated, I think she would forgive me almost anything as long as I have a salmon packet in my hand... plus it makes me feel better too. ;)
 
Becky Young said:
Hi all!

We are in our second week of home testing and insulin and my poor cat's ear isn't healing at all from the many ear pricks I'm doing. I'm almost running out of places to poke! They are all just scabbed over and never seem to heal. Is this a diabetes symptom? Not healing? He has a scratch on his nose (courtesy of his brother) that has been there for 2+ months. What do I do when I run out of places to poke on his ear? Pull a scab off (ugh, I shudder at the thought!)? Any advice? Help! I hope all of this gets easier in time...it still feels impossibly hard
Click to expand...
After the prick squeeze it for about 10 seconds with the paper towel /cotton pad. Then apply a bit of neosporin ointment with pain relief on it.
 
The pressure from holding the poke spot after testing seems to really help the ears heal better and bruise less. May not be a standard but one tech told me if the ear poke spot does scab you can flick it off, not peel or pick, so you don't need to poke again. When milking the ear, move from base of the ear to poked spot too. Also, just an observation on my part, I think I read more about orange /buff kitties who seem to have thinner skin (maybe?) that causes their ears to look worse when starting pokes. Hope the tips help Davis :)
 
If you haven't tried the lancet device, it's definitely worth a shot! I've had poor luck freehanding it but am doing fine now with the device.
 
Squeakycats said:
If you haven't tried the lancet device, it's definitely worth a shot! I've had poor luck freehanding it but am doing fine now with the device.
Click to expand...

I am going to try the device for the first time this morning. I tried it on myself a few times yesterday and the poke is so quick, I'm certain it will be less traumatic than my free-handing attempts at the moment!
 
Becky Young said:
I am going to try the device for the first time this morning. I tried it on myself a few times yesterday and the poke is so quick, I'm certain it will be less traumatic than my free-handing attempts at the moment!
Click to expand...

Inquiring minds.... how did it go???
 
Becky Young said:
I've just been free-handing it up until now and I think that's part of my problem. I'm so afraid to poke him too deep or all the way through (did that yesterday and it wasn't pretty!) that I get scared and I do it too shallow, thus needing to do multiple attempts. I might try the lancet device tonight with some neosporin after I pinch the area with a paper towel. I think that would probably help a lot, thank you for your input!
Click to expand...
Try practising in yourself, you'll learn the pressure best.
 
Squeakycats said:
If you haven't tried the lancet device, it's definitely worth a shot! I've had poor luck freehanding it but am doing fine now with the device.
Click to expand...

I agree. Free hand was horrible. My ReliOn came with a device. We use the second shallowest setting 2 or 3 clicks over from littlest line.
 
Becky Young said:
Hi all!

We are in our second week of home testing and insulin and my poor cat's ear isn't healing at all from the many ear pricks I'm doing. I'm almost running out of places to poke! They are all just scabbed over and never seem to heal. Is this a diabetes symptom? Not healing? He has a scratch on his nose (courtesy of his brother) that has been there for 2+ months. What do I do when I run out of places to poke on his ear? Pull a scab off (ugh, I shudder at the thought!)? Any advice? Help! I hope all of this gets easier in time...it still feels impossibly hard
Click to expand...
I know everyone here suggests the 28 guage, but from day one I used the 33 guage, because I didn't know to get bigger ones. With that being said, I've never had an issue getting blood and her ears look exactly like they did before I started testing.
 
GinnyBarr said:
I know everyone here suggests the 28 guage, but from day one I used the 33 guage, because I didn't know to get bigger ones. With that being said, I've never had an issue getting blood and her ears look exactly like they did before I started testing.
Click to expand...
Ha! ECID. I was given several boxes of 25 gauge lancets when Alex was diagnosed. Used them for over 8 years. Never had an issue getting blood and one couldn't find a mark on her ears. They were as perfect as they were pre-diagnosis! :cat:
 
AlphaCat said:
Inquiring minds.... how did it go???
Click to expand...
It went GREAT!! I mean, it went as well as stabbing your cat in the ear all day while attempting your first glucose curve can go:smuggrin: He didnt mind the click at all and it made the entire process much faster. I managed to get 5 blood glucose readings today! We both got treats for our hard work(chicken for him, ice cream for me!)
 
Becky Young said:
Yep, we're at 3 clicks over the shallowest setting and it worked like a charm!
Click to expand...

Awesome! ❤️
If you want you can even try going one depth (click) shallower next time. That trial is how we found our "sweet spot" depth for our device. Not too deep and not too shallow. I notice I need to be at the third line. It works best for us if his ears are warm. :cat:

Again awesome job! I remember how much better that made me feel, just having a quick efficient draw. :bighug:
 
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