FIRST DOSE OF PZI

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sweetmelissa444

Member Since 2013
Gave Squeak his first dose of PZI last night, 1 unit. Does anyone have experience with PZI? His BG was 533 last month, tried to regulate with Fancy Feast Classics to no avail. Took back to the vet Fri., BG 588 - so now it's Insulin City. I've tried to check his blood - got all equipment from Walmart but he's a wild cat. Any suggestions? Thanks to all!
 
Are you testing at home? Or is he being difficult?
Carl
 
Did you post this am on PZI about this? Did you have a chance to read the responses before the board switched and they all disappeared? My ideas were to spend some time working with the ear warming before poking, lots of praise and treats. And be sure your lancet is large enough (25-27 gauge) And have something to poke against.

The trick to this is to find what works for you and Squeak. For you two, it could be the kind of treats that he gets after the poke (and ONLY at that time) Or it could be finding a place where he is comfortable and will stay while you warm his ears with lots of petting before you poke.

And you can always get a drop on your fingernail if he is leaving, and test that.
 
See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for some options while you work on Home Testing. Definitely do ketone testing at those glucose levels.

There is a protocol for using these less specific tools to adjust insulin, it is this file by Dr Rand, at the bottom.
 
Re: THIRD day of PZI

Thanks to all - Yes, my post got lost on the 'old' site. I can't test Squeak. I've tried and tried. He's a wild cat PLUS I cannot get ANY blood out of his ears. I've tried like 3-4 times using the warm rice sock, which he loves and he was SO good but I don't want to torment him. As for the snacks, what kind and where do I get them? We have a local Petsmart in VA. He's on 1 unit BID but the vet wants to retest him every week until he's at the right spot. BUT - I have to go there and buy a pill from them and sedate him, which it never knocks him out completely and he SCREAMS bloody murder the entire time so I KNOW she's not getting the right numbers. And, I don't have $35 a week to spend for nothing ($10 for a pill and $25 to check his blood.) I"m taking him back next week, along with the glucometer (ReliOn) I bought at Walmart and I'm going to have her show me how to do it. Then I'll home test (or try.) And, the lancets I have I think are in the 30-33 range size. Is that too small?
 
ok - don't panic ~O) ~O)

We all had problems at first - the cats ears do not bleed easily to begin with but after a while they develop more capillaries and bleed better.
It does get easier!

My cat wasn't a wild cat but did hate it at first - hid under the bed, I had to pull her out, she hissed/spat etc..
Now when she hears the treat bag, she (and my 2 civies) come running. It will get better!!

Treats - most cats love PureBites Freeze Dried Chicken - Petsmart there should have it and you can by the dog version (same, just bigger pieces that you break up).
Start with giving Squeak a treat while rubbing, holding etc.. his ears - let him realise you're not hurting him and its actually yummy as well.
When both of you are calm - maybe an hour or so later ?? - try to warm his ears. If he doesn't like the rice sock, try an old pill bottle with warm (almost hand hot, but don't burn him) water in it, otherwise, just rubbing his ears for a bit should stimilate the blood flow.
Then if all's going well and both of you are still relaxed, try to poke.

Have everything ready - put a smear vaseline on first to help the blood bead, have the tissue/cotten ball folded ready, have the strip part way in the meter, have more treats out and more you can easily get to...

Then try to poke - if you get blood great, if not try again in the same place - it might stimulate it.
Otherwise, you can try the other ear - give more treats (very small sprinkles/pieces).
If you get blood try to get it on the strip, if not get it on your finger nail and then transfer to the strip afterwards.

No matter what, stroke, talk to Squeak etc.. -

It took me about 2 weeks to be really comfortable - first few days were pretty awful but you just have to keep trying. And, its better that at the vets!
 
30 - 33 gage lancets are really, really thin. It might be best to start with a larger one (25-27 gage) until his ears "learn" to bleed a bit.

Hang in there, you'll get there. Its really hard in the beginning but with a lot of patience and love, you two will get there!
 
I agree. Take it slowly, one step at a time. That rice sack and a treat. Then rice sack and putting the lancet next to his ear and pushing it so he gets used to the noise, then treats.

The 25-27 gauge lancet should help. Where exactly are you poking? If you put a flashlight up next to his ear, you should be able to see the vein running down the side. You are aiming for the capillaries that run off that vein to the edge of the ear. And you have to really poke, with the lancet up tight against his ear before you engage it - with something behind the ear to poke against. I found it hard to see where I was poking with the clear cap on the lancet. If yours has one of those, you might take it off. Have you seen the videos? (Yes, he has been doing it a long time with his cat and the cat sits still, but you do get the whole idea.) Video for hometesting

You have time to keep trying, one step at a time, until you see the vet again. It would be so nice if you could get it done without having to medicate him to go to the vet. If you want, you can post your city and state. It's possible that we have a member nearby who could come help, or demonstrate on their cat.
 
Thank you ALL! This has helped tremendously. I think my lancets are too thin. I bought the most slender, thinking they wouldn't hurt him as bad - not realizing they wouldn't work. I live in South west Virginia. And, a PZI question. Is human PZI the same as cat PZI? I looked at the bottle I got from the vet and it said human!
 
I do sympathise with your having a difficult cat to test.

I never thought I'd be able to test my cat, Bertie; not because he's wild, but just because he doesn't like to be held or restrained at all. But I found that if I crumbled a few freeze dried treats for him I could test him quickly while he was scoffing those. And he very soon learned to associate tests with treats.

Very few people get a successful test the first time they try. But you will learn more with every test you attempt, and you will suddenly just 'get the knack' of how to do it... Always reward your cat for attempted tests, even if unsuccessful.

A teesny smear of vaseline on the outer edge of your cat's ear will help the blood to 'bead up' and stop it disappearing into the fur. And two ear-pokes close together will often give enough blood for a test where a single ear-poke might not.
 
Thank you ALL! I've been testing in the middle upper part of his little ear, not near the veins as suggested. I'll try again tonight. Thanks again. This site is a GOD SEND!
 
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