Frustrated with Testing success.

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Pfflier2008

Pfflier2008

Member Since 2019
Hi everyone, I am new to all this.
I received my home testing supplies and I have been trying. It is NOT easy. I have yet to get one sample and test done. The first time I tried I poked right through his ear and punctured my finger. So, I was bleeding everywhere. The second time I actually drew some blood from his ear, but by the time I could get the testing strip to it, I had smeared it in his hair.

I did the "pre-conditioning" with low carb treats, rubbing his head. ears, etc with the warm rice filled sock, he was fine with all that. But does not want the lancet holder near his ears. He twitches and moves his ears so much I cannot get a good puncture to draw blood. I tried with just the lancet and without the holder so it wouldn't be so big, and still could not get blood. He does not want me messing with his ears.

I've watched videos of sample blood draws. These nice, quiet cats sitting on their owners lap while they calmly, slowly puncture the ear and get some blood. First of all, he is NOT a lap cat. And secondly, in the morning, he wakes me up at 4:30 to 5:00 am and all he thinks about is wanting his food. He is in the kitchen by his bowl begging. I have tried doing his test while he is sitting there. NO LUCK. I tried while he is preoccupied eating (thinking if I do it quickly, his food intake will not affect the glucose levels) NO LUCK. I tried a couple of hours after he's eaten and is asleep on the bed... NOPE.

I am not sure what to do next.

Patti
 
Put a cotton cosmetic round behind the ear when got poke to protect your fingers. It will get easier when the capillaries grow. Also use a 26 or 28 gauge lancet
 
Hi Patti, welcome. Sorry you’re having trouble testing, sometimes it does take practice to get it right. Be sure to have everything ready to go and within reach before you start. You may want to smear a tiny bit of Vaseline on his ear just before the test to help the blood to bead. Some also scoop the blood drop on a fingernail and test from there. Be sure to use the larger lancets that Janet suggested, that can make a big difference. As for the 5AM wake up call, my cat did the same. I got a timed feeder and had it go off a few times during the night so that he wasn’t totally starving by morning.
 
I also found I had more control using the lancet freehand instead of using the device. The cats seemed more comfortable with doing it that way
 
First, take a deep breath and relax; believe you will be able to do this, because you will. M'row has always been a nibbler, so I just leave food out for him all the time--now that he's diabetic, he's still M'row, the nibbler. I use a lancet freehand; I read it's easier to see what you're doing this way. Suggest U check out Janet NJ's really excellent video, link is above in this thread ( thanks Janet!!) I don't like to deal with a lot of things at the same time, so here's what I do: 1) put out lancet, meter, and strip on my left side on the couch. (Am left-handed, if this matters). The big bright floor lamp is over on the left too. 2) Put on reading glasses. 3) find cat, pick him up, cuddle him exactly next to me on my left. 4) often give him a treat now, too. All this is to help him get calm and happy, or at least non-hysterical. It gets better, it really does! 5) put strip in meter, so it starts counting. 6) put right thumb behind rubbed ear, so outside of ear is on thumbnail, inside of ear is facing me. 7) Note ear-flapping and such can B controlled by your right fingers. 8) poke ear at correct spot with lancet. See Video for this. 9)I've taken to poking twice, at spots close together; seems to improve chances of success. 10)rub ear edge up ( or down) towards puncture spots until blood appears. 11) touch blood with strip, and see meter register. The display on mine changes when the end of the strip has sucked enough blood. Your meter may be different. 12) Amply praise, reward, and cuddle your Brave and Noble kitty, even if the test failed. 13) Wait a bit, say 15-30 minutes, before doing again. Love & luck! Watch more testing videos, too.
 
And I forgot to mention that some folks prefer to poke paw pad rather than ear; there are good videos on this too. Please let us know how you are getting on; thanks!
 
JanetNJ said:
Put a cotton cosmetic round behind the ear when got poke to protect your fingers. It will get easier when the capillaries grow. Also use a 26 or 28 gauge lancet
Click to expand...
If you don’t have cotton handy, I have been taking a small piece of paper towel ripped off a sheet ( about 1x4 inches) folded up into a little square and put over end of finger then I take a bandaid and wrap that to hold it and add extra protection, it is manageble enough to easily hold ear , but thick enough to keep lancet from going through my finger. I just rip strips of paper towel and have a box of cheap generic cloth bandaids on hand. I also use the extra strips of paper towel to hold ear to stop bleeding after getting blood.
 
I test while my cat is eating his regular meal. Snacks don't last long enough and most of the no carb ones he is not interested in. I wait for him to fold his ears back because he never keeps them upright. The capillaries go all around the outside edge so I don't aim just for the sweet spot since that area is closer to the head after folding. I do hit the vein sometimes since I am using the lancet pen (more than enough blood then) - just put pressure on it after to stop the bleeding and minimize bruising. I tried free hand but I could never figure out how hard to push and my cat was never bothered by the click. I don't get much luck when the ears are cold, but he will not let me warm them up. I hope you find a good routine that works for you both.
 
Hang in there, it gets easier with practice and eventually with him getting used to you handling his ears, most of us when we started our cats were not really like the ones on the videos, getting there takes as I mentioned time and patience.

When I started I had to wrap Babu taco (or burrito) style with a towel before testing now I still use the towel but is more for psychological effect that actually holding him he knows that when he's put on the towel is testing and med time

If the handling of his ears bothers him much you could try getting him used to that first, you grab him, take him to the testing area you have selected and hold his ear in your hand then he gets a treat and you let go once he accepts the handling and putting a bit of pressure with your hand you go to step two that is grabbing his ear and warming it up a bit and putting some vaseline or neosporine (this will prevent the drop from being absorbed by the hair ) and finally when he is used to this too you start actually poking .

I poke free hand since Babu and my cyvies ( used them to practice too) hated the sound of it and I couldn't really see very well where I was pocking, and don't worry too much about how much pressure you put into the lancet, if you do go through some times at first is not nice but it does heal so not such a big deal you will, with a bit of practice learn how much pressure you need
 
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