I tried but no success Update Small success

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Rockpea

Rockpea

Member Since 2013
I tried and tried to poke kitty with lancet and it didn't work. I did notice to small red marks on his ear but blood never came out. Then when I was going to try free hand he had had enough. Maybe the needle is too small or maybe I'll try free hand first tomorrow. He wasn't nearly as bad as I thought he would be. If I was experienced it may have even worked. I think I'm going to try again just to try to get a reading but once again no insulin shot. I can't keep not doing this. It's too late now because during the weekday at this time I would be getting kids to school. I tried for almost 30 minutes. I'm happy he wasn't bad as I thought but sad I can't do the insulin injection.
 
Re: I tried but no success

Congrats for trying! A bigger lancet is good although it sounds like you either didnt poke deep enough.. which I dont blame you as you are likely scared to hurt him.. but trust me it doesnt! So try a deeper setting and make sure the ear is warm and he gets a treat!

A few days of no insulin wont kill him. A hypo will. But keep trying with the testing. If you arent shooting yet then its a good time to change him to wet canned food if you havent already! Lets start bringing that BG down.
 
Re: I tried but no success

Thanks Wendy&Tiggy! I have already switched him to canned food. He's been eating the canned food since Monday.
 
Re: I tried but no success

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=12846

Check out the link above, and it will take you to a list of foods you could try plus there are lists by Janet and Binky, and also Dr. Lisa Pierson, I believe.

What kind of food are you using now for your boy?

You will get the hang of testing. I used a small sock with regular rice in it, and I never had to warm it, although some folks here do, when they test. I tested in my bathroom window and kept the door shut, and had my cats on a towel. They sometimes get so good at tolerating the test and the shot, that you will be able to do both the test, and the shot in a matter of minutes. I always kept a little notebook with records in it for each of my two diabetic boys I had. I do it for my other cats also, that have other health problems. The spread sheets are good too.

Best wishes!

Jean and Charcoal (GA)
 
Re: I tried but no success

has anyone asked your location yet? to see if one of us is close enough to help? just your city, state is enough, not your street address of course since this is the internet.
 
Re: I tried but no success

I'm feeding him Friskies, the pates and I switched his treats to Pure Bites. I finally got him to eat the chicken flavor. I looked on one of the food lists to choose. I'm in TX.
 
Re: I tried but no success

Thats great! His BG may already have dropped a bit. Am looking forward to seeing the numbers once you get some tests in!
 
Re: I tried but no success

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=88162

Here is the other list by Dr. Lisa, in case you had not found it yet.

You are doing great, and just feeding him the wet food will be such a big help!

So many folks on this website have been around for a long time, and you will usually always find someone on here, most any time of the day, if you run into any problems or need to ask questions.

I once thought I would never learn how to test or give insulin, but like I said, I think it is easier to treat a diabetic cat than my girl I have that has Chronic Renal Failure, and Fibrosarcoma (cancer on the outside of her skin, most likely due to a vaccine related area).

Take care!
Jean and Charcoal (GA)
 
Re: I tried but no success

we've got several members in TX, I want to say around Dallas/Ft Worth there's several. I can think of at least two near Houston. There's Kaufman, Alvin, Euless, Arlington.........

you close to any of those?
 
Re: I tried but no success

A spot of Neosporin ointment (not cream) w/ pain relief may be applied to the ear a few minutes before testing, then wiped off to test. It reduces the annoyance of testing and helps the blood bead up.

If you absolutely must get blood, you may poke the vein directly. Be prepared - it is likely to bleed profusely! Get a drop on a clean fingernail and apply direct pressure on the vein to stop the bleeding while you test the drop on your fingernail.

Urine testing for ketones, a by-product of fat breakdown, is important. Ketones may indicate diabetic ketoacidosis, an expensive to treat, potentially fatal, severe complication of diabetes. My signature link on Secondary Monitoring Tools has tips on that as well as some additional methods for assessing your cat.
 
Re: I tried but no success

Rockpea, I live in Arlington. If you need some assistance, I'm glad to help. Just message me. It took me a while to get used to testing Zoozey, and he's still not terribly cooperative, but I can get a reading no problem. It does get easier!
Also, there's someone on FDMB from Alvin? That's my home town!
 
Re: I tried but no success

Thanks emchic. I think I may getting closer to getting a sample. I'll paste what a message that I sent to another member who offered to help.
I managed to get a successful poke this morning. Actually two but I didn't get enough blood on the monitor. I tried at first with no success with the lancet device. Then I decided to free hand it (put on some leather gloves which came in handy later in this story) and managed to get a nice drop of blood. He was getting fed up with me at this point and started moving. I got some blood on there but of course metee said not enough. Changed out stick but then no more blood would come out. So I went to try to stick him again. Then this little joker turns over locks all four paws around my arm and proceeds to kick me with his hind legs on my arm and is biting on my gloved hand, not hard. We used to play with him like that when he was a little kitty. So I did get another stick but by this time he's like okay I'm warning you. So I just let him go. So my success is I managed to draw blood but still no testing.
 
I was so hoping to hear that you had succeeded. Remember treat after every test, no matter what.
I do hope you'll take up one of the offers of help from one of our members, to get you started.
I know it's hard in the beginning, but soon you'll be an old pro like the rest of us ;-)
 
yay its progress! now you know how deep to go and what to aim for...LOL on him playing with you!

Next time

1. try two small pokes beside each other.
2. poke at 45 degree angle remember.
3. hold the ear below the wound to help dam it (and stop him flicking the blood drop off!)
4. try milking the wound

Wendy
 
If you think he's going to wiggle or shake, you can also try to transfer the blood droplet (if it's big enough) onto your fingernail, and then test the droplet from your nail.
 
Are you still using the lancing device? If so, you want to hold it flat against the ear since it's supposed to do all the work of managing penetration depth so you don't have to. Test it on your finger first, using the lowest setting and working your way up till you can get a drop of blood. You don't want it too high as this will cause it to poke through the ear, which usually doesn't give enough blood and the cat might feel it more. When I use the lancet pen on my cat, I actually slightly fold the tip of his ear down onto my thumb and press the base of the lancet pen firmly against the top of the ear before triggering it. Basically like I'm testing myself on my thumb, except his ear is in between. :lol:
 
Thanks KPassa. I did actually mange to get to test him tonight. I used someone's advice and used the clear cap on the lancet device. The blood drop was bigger than I'd like to see, but I guess it's because I used a 26G lancet.
 
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