? Ear Testing Troubles

[Bibi and Kira]

Hi all, Been home testing for about three weeks, just switched to 30 gauge lancet from 28 in hopes of creating lots of slightly smaller holes instead of lots of bigger holes. My problems were the same with the 28 gauge. Only in about one in ten tests do I actually get a proper drop of blood to form on the outer ear flap, where I want it. The rest of of the time I have the following snafus: No blood at all; insufficient blood for test strip to read; too much blood for test strip to read; blood forming on underside of ear flap instead of outside of ear flap. This last one really bothers me. I try to poke at a shallow enough angle so that I won't pierce through the ear flap, but apparently it's still not shallow enough? Do other people have this issue? How do I get a nice drop of blood - preferably on the first poke - without poking through the ear flap? How long do you wait for a blood bead to form before you poke again? When you poke again (in the same test) do you aim for the same spot or move to a different one? Should I still need to warm her ear up at this point (approx. 3 weeks into testing)? That's the part she hates the most is the rubbing her ears to get them warm. I almost never get away with one poke per test, usually more like 3, sometimes more. I feel like the Spanish Inquisition by the time I'm done with her. And of course I've also poked myself a couple of times. Then the cat and I compare our BGs. I've watched every video a bazillion times. They all make it look easy.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

How are you warming the ear? Are you using some rice in the toe of an old sock and warming it in the Microwave ? Check it’s warm not hot.
Before you prick the ear try milking the ear up towards the tip. You can milk it after the prick too.
If the prick is going too deep you may have to adjust the setting on the lancet.
Are you holding a piece of cotton wool behind the ear while pricking it?
Keep persevering. You will get there.

 

[Myrtlesmum]

A handy hint I got recently and it seems to work - poke at a 45 degree angle to the ear - more like to get a drop and less likely to poke through. Don’t worry about poking through- it happens to everyone and the blood on the othyside is just as good to test as the one on top. I use a 29 gauge syringe instead of a lancet - I find it easier to control and easier to see where I’m poking..
If I poke in the same test, I try to poke in the same spot but I wait up to 20-30 seconds to see if a blood droplet forms first. Hope that helps

 

[Bibi and Kira]

How are you warming the ear? Are you using some rice in the toe of an old sock and warming it in the Microwave ? Check it’s warm not hot.
Before you prick the ear try milking the ear up towards the tip. You can milk it after the prick too.
If the prick is going too deep you may have to adjust the setting on the lancet.
Are you holding a piece of cotton wool behind the ear while pricking it?
Keep persevering. You will get there.

Yes, I use the warmed rice-sock and massage the ear towards the tip, and I hold cotton pad behind the ear. I use either a 28 or a 30 gauge lancet, free-hand (I started out using a lancing device, but had even less luck). It seems like either I get nothing, or, when I poke a second or third time I suddenly get a gusher, so maybe I'm not waiting long enough for the blood to form. I guess I need to wait to push the test strip in to activate the meter too, otherwise it will time out while I"m waiting to get the blood.

 

[Bibi and Kira]

A handy hint I got recently and it seems to work - poke at a 45 degree angle to the ear - more like to get a drop and less likely to poke through. Don’t worry about poking through- it happens to everyone and the blood on the othyside is just as good to test as the one on top. I use a 29 gauge syringe instead of a lancet - I find it easier to control and easier to see where I’m poking..
If I poke in the same test, I try to poke in the same spot but I wait up to 20-30 seconds to see if a blood droplet forms first. Hope that helps

Yes, I've been trying to poke at a 45 degree angle (freehand with either 28 or 30 gauge lancet) specifically so as not to poke through, but I still get the blood forming on the inside of the ear flap instead of the outside where I'm poking. Happened again this morning. I'll be waiting for some blood to appear where I poked, applying gentle pressure from underneath with the cotton round to try and help a drop form (or should I not do this?), and then suddenly I'll see blood on the cotton round, coming from the underside of her ear flap but not the topside. It's bizarre. And since the blood on the underside has now been absorbed by the cotton round there is no way to collect that blood, so I have to poke again, and then I'm likely to get a gusher, like this morning. Aargh.

 

[Bibi and Kira]

I wait up to 20-30 seconds to see if a blood droplet forms first. Hope that helps

Or maybe I just need to wait much longer for a drop to form. I think I'm trying to "beat the clock" before the meter times out. So at what point do you activate the test strip into the meter? Thanks.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

A few more suggestions to hopefully help you out....
1. With a dark coloured cat, it's easier to see the blood bead on the underside of the ear flap than the top so you could try to test from that side.
2. Put a very light skim of Vaseline on the spot you intend to poke. This helps the blood bead up rather than spilling into the surrounding fur.
3. Generally you should have sufficient time if you push the strip into the meter right before poking the ear. I put the Vaseline on, push strip in and then poke.
4. If you get a bead of blood but the meter times out, catch the bead on a clean fingernail and test from there.

 

[Bibi and Kira]

A few more suggestions to hopefully help you out....
1. With a dark coloured cat, it's easier to see the blood bead on the underside of the ear flap than the top so you could try to test from that side.
2. Put a very light skim of Vaseline on the spot you intend to poke. This helps the blood bead up rather than spilling into the surrounding fur.
3. Generally you should have sufficient time if you push the strip into the meter right before poking the ear. I put the Vaseline on, push strip in and then poke.
4. If you get a bead of blood but the meter times out, catch the bead on a clean fingernail and test from there.

Thanks. She does have dark, tortie ear-fur, but she is difficult to handle even when using the outside of her ears (I can only test and shoot when she has food in front of her), so I can't really imagine trying to poke the underside. I will try the vaseline tip and also keep in mind the fingernail trick if the meter times out

 

[CandyH & Catcat]

depends on how fast your meter times out, you may wait until you get a blood droplet before sliding the strip all the way into the meter -- I had one which timed out and the strip could not then be re-inserted, had to carefully half-insert it, wait for the blood, then shove it the rest of the way in -- hard to do while trying to restrain a cat who only wants to get AWAY

 

[Bibi and Kira]

depends on how fast your meter times out, you may wait until you get a blood droplet before sliding the strip all the way into the meter -- I had one which timed out and the strip could not then be re-inserted, had to carefully half-insert it, wait for the blood, then shove it the rest of the way in -- hard to do while trying to restrain a cat who only wants to get AWAY

Yes, that's exactly what I have to do is put strip part of way in, then all the way in when I think I'm about to get blood, which is clearly not very reliable and requires more juggling.