Got us a glucometer! And a ? about Cat Grass.

[Jeanne & Dottie]

Today when I tested Dottie's urine, a half hour after she'd eaten, her stick was at normal range. But I know this is not as accurate as a meter, so I freaked, since it's Saturday and my vet is not on call. I decided that for us, the meter is the way to go. We got a generic brand...our CVS pharmacy's "store brand", and the pharmacist said it's giving reliable results. My sister-in-law is diabetic, and using the same brand/model.

I'll surprise the doc on Monday with the news that we got one.

Today she's up and looking brighter than I've seen her in weeks. And no bad breath! Yay! No teeth, no plaque, no stinky mouth.

And now, a question about oat grass, the kind commonly sold in Walmart. Gizmo, our other cat, loves his cat grass. He's long haired and I guess this somehow helps his digestion?

My question is, can I keep cat grass about, as I've always done, or must I put it out of Dottie's reach? I don't know if cats actually digest the cat grass they eat. Gizmo's grazing usually comes back up, pretty quick, but I've never seen evidence of grass in the litter box 'leavings'. (Not about to pick apart their poo unless Absolutely Necessary)

Dottie isn't obsessed with the grass but I have seen her take a casual nibble of a blade or so. Is that going to be a problem?

 

[Squeaky and KT (GA)]

Great on the meter!!!

Cat grass - nope, no carbs...may make her throw up which that could affect it by losing the food but the grass is fine. If you go to your local feed store, you can buy a LOT of 'wheat' seed dirt cheap and REALLY easy to grow...

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

We have other sugarcats that enjoy a taste of grass now and then...as long as it doesn't cause her to vomit (which we don't like to have happen since food is such an important part of the sugardance), let her enjoy it if she likes!

 

[LaraB]

So glad to hear that wheat grass is no carb. My cats love this stuff.

 

[Jeanne & Dottie]

Heh...I learned to use the meter tonite. I have a forearm that looks like a pincushion. I have a very slow learning curve Scary at first, but it's worth it.

Ears are one of the best sites, for poking, huh? Does the scar tissue build up fast? Those little lancets are sooo tiny..almost like hairs, the needle parts are so fine.

Wheat grass...thank you...I'll make the switch. And thanks for the HeadsUp about the vomiting. I didn't even think of that...it would sure mess with food volume. My poor hubby...he's not exactly a patient guy but he's doing his best to learn about the meter and record-keeping, too. We both want Dottie with us for a long long time.

I don't think Gizmo will notice the difference in grass..he mostly likes to draw that stuff through his teeth like floss before he chomps it down. Gotta watch him around brooms, too..he does the same thing with broomstraws. I'm afraid he'll chew those up and poke a hole in his stomach. He makes a funny kind of pfffft sound when he pulls the straws through his teeth...I used to hear him attack the kitchen broom, from my recliner in the living room. If I began to scold him, he would pfft faster, like he wanted to get his teeth flossed at double speed before I could reach him and take the broom away.

So now that broom is in the laundry room, up on the wall so he can't get to it. Perhaps I can point to toothless Dottie and tell him, "See? That's what'll happen if you floss with broomstraws. All your teeth will have to come out!"

Worth a shot, right? Like he'd listen to me. HA! He's a CAT.

 

[Critter Mom]

Not about to pick apart their poo unless Absolutely Necessary

One of the joys of monitoring a kitty with chronic pancreatitis. If someone had told me beforehand that I would someday find fecal exams to be a source of joy and great gladness I'd have I'd have thought their cheese was in imminent danger of sliding off of its cracker.


Mogs
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[Shenandoah]

Heh...I learned to use the meter tonite. I have a forearm that looks like a pincushion. I have a very slow learning curve Scary at first, but it's worth it.

Ears are one of the best sites, for poking, huh? Does the scar tissue build up fast? Those little lancets are sooo tiny..almost like hairs, the needle parts are so fine.

It gets better. Even if you have a cat like mine, who hates it, it gets better. She now comes over to our testing spot on her own when I get the supplies out. And she grumbles, but just sits there.
Shenandoah and I do best on the ears. Some people use the pad on the paws, and you can read around here to get info on that if you want to try it.
If you hold it firmly (but not tightly) until the bleeding stops, you should be able to prevent scarring.
You can get larger lancets. Many people prefer to start with larger needles until the ears learn to bleed. They're usually called something like alternate-site testing lancets.

 

[LaraB]

Ears are one of the best sites, for poking, huh? Does the scar tissue build up fast? Those little lancets are sooo tiny..almost like hairs, the needle parts are so fine.

Except for a few mishaps on my first couple of tries (or when Joshi decided to move her head RIGHT when I poked ), her ears look fine. Even if they do happen to bruise from those mishaps, it does seem to heal. If that happens, I just try to avoid that area. I alternate ears each time I test...this also helps. I keep a tube of the Neosporin ointment with pain relief nearby to rub on her ears after. (Some people rub it on before to help the blood bead-up better).

It took me a couple of weeks before I coukd work up the courage to try testing on Joshi -tried it out on myself several times then took the plunge. Joshi can get a little restless sometimes, but she's otherwise good about testing - because I'm totally loving her up, she's usually purring through the whole ordeal.

I live with my mom, and she's still relunctant to do it (her eye sight is not the best, which makes her nervous), so I might teach her how to do it on the paw pads. She does do the insulin shots at least.

 

[Critter Mom]

I live with my mom, and she's still relunctant to do it (her eye sight is not the best, which makes her nervous),

I use a second, slightly weaker strength pair of reading glasses to help me see what I'm doing. You need to lean in a bit to get the focus 100% right, but it offers a little bit of magnification to assist with aiming the lancet tip at the right place on the ear. There's a very handy diagram of the 'sweet spot' for ear testing at the following link:

Testing and Shooting Tips


Mogs
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[Jeanne & Dottie]

Ok, when I look at the veins using a small flashlight, I can see that I am spot on. It's like her vein has suddenly developed a little lake inside the ear. But I'm not getting much at all, even though I am warming her ear first, and massaging gently.

 

[Jeanne & Dottie]

Ohhhh thank you. So I can do it all along the ear! I thought for some reason that I had to stay within a half inch of a specific spot on the edge. That was how I interpreted "sweet spot".

Thanks muchly for the diagram link. that's going to be a big help.

 

[Critter Mom]

Try warming the ear for longer than you thought might be necessary. (That's where I went wrong in the early days. )