IDK if I can do this.....

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Mara1022

Member Since 2016
First, this is Mara and Ace. We had a followup with the vet and Ace's blood sugar was down, but not enough. So we're working on the diet now and home testing of blood sugar.

If you recall I have another cat, a 13 year old named Casino. She and Ace have been together all his life (he's 8). I bring this up because what we feed Ace is food for Casino and vice versa. So I've moved their eating station into the livingroom where I can see them and hopefully try to keep them out of each other's dish. It's hard from my wheelchair, but so far they are responding to my calling their name and they stop. The problem is Ace seems to be doing ok on wet food but Casino has developed near diarrhea. (Her stool is pure mush.) So I feel like I have to ease her back to dry food but keep Ace on wet. What a nightmare that's going to be.

Now for the blood testing. This is the reason for the title of this post. I have been trying for a week. The first couple times it was just getting him used to the pen clicking. Then I had two failed attempts at just getting a hold of his ear. When I did finally and used the pen, I didn't have it properly positioned. Then twice I did all that right and achieved a drop of blood but when I tried to draw it up on the test strip the first time he wriggled free and the second I got an error message from the meter.

I'm dealing with too many limitations. I have to have him on my lap (or my lap table) because I can't get out of my wheelchair and down on the floor as shown in all the videos I watched. Secondly, my left hand has diminished senses and strength and coordination. So I don't know if I can do this for him at home. :(

My older sister came home for the holidays and she was telling me about her experience with her cat who also had diabetes. I listened to her talk about she and her 2 sons discussing how they knew they'd never be able to monitor the cat's diet or test blood on a regular basis, etc., because of their busy schedules, so they all resigned themselves to the fact that their cat wouldn't survive diabetes. I was appalled!!! I could never resign myself to that, but I'm feeling so inadequate right now I want to cry.

Ace is walking with more and more difficulty and my heart breaks for him as he tries to play with his little mouse toy. I don't know what to do. :'(
 
Hi Mara, please don't loose the faith! We all had problems in the beginning. I remember many, many times sitting there in tears because I couldn't get blood or I gave a fur shot, or left dry food down for my other cats and Colin got into it.
I test Colin on my lap, so that's fine. Try holding Ace in your lap several times a day and rub his ears, give him a treat and let him go. This will help him to start looking forward to ear rubs and make it easier for you. Even when you test, always treat!
As for the feeding, I find the easiest is to feed everybody the same food. What country do you live in? We can give you some great suggestions on low carb , affordable food.
For the walking problem, that may be neuropathy. Try some Zobaline for cats. That, along with getting his glucose down will help .
https://www.ilifelink.com/zobaline-for_diabetic_cats-3_mg_x_60_tablets.html
Please keep asking questions! There are lots of us that have had the same problems you are having and there will be plenty of suggestions.
 
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Hi Mara,
I second the things Sharon has said. Keep trying! Every one of us struggled with testing blood glucose at first! Eventually you'll find a method that works for you. I do the test with Shenandoah on a table in front of me, not the floor. So you can certainly find other positions. Have you looked into some of the swaddling methods of restraint, to make it harder for Ace to get away? Basically you make them a little blanket burrito that keeps all their feet together. If absolutely nothing else works, maybe ask a vet tech (vet nurse, depending on your country) to come to your place once or twice to help you get started.

What food are you feeding now? Like Sharon said, it's easiest to feed them the same food. It seems odd to me that changing to wet would give Casino diarrhea, as most of us have the opposite problem where the high protein/low carb causes constipation, and then we have to add pumpkin to soften their stool. So perhaps there's something odd about the food you are using? If you tell us what it is, maybe someone can help.
Another possibility is just that you made the food change too quickly and Casino's body wasn't ready for it. I've usually tried to make food changes take at least a week or longer, slowly reducing the portion that's old food and slowly increasing the portion that's new food. If you didn't do that, you might add in some dry right now and then slowly wean her off it.

And I feel like a parrot, but sometimes it helps just to hear confirmation - I also second Sharon's recommendation for Zobaline! Shenandoah has been on it since her initial diagnosis over a year ago and she went from barely walking and stumbling around to just having a slight wobble (some of which could also be arthritic pain). Zobaline is magical stuff :) Even now if I take her off of it I see changes in about a week, her coat looking oilier, her stumbling a bit more, her spending more time in dark places - so my vet and I have agreed this is a permanent supplement for the rest of her life, even though she is in diabetic remission. You can order it online, and it's really easy to feed, you just crush the pill and mix it in a little bit of food.

You can do this. We've all been where you are, and know how hard it is, and we're here to support you through it. Ask your questions, vent your problems, and post when you need confirmation that you're on the right track.
 
Oh, Mara, I'm so sorry this is rough! Don't lose hope! You and Ace are at the beginning of your FD journey, when it all seems most overwhelming and there are so many things to learn at once. It will get better, though, as you chip away at each of the aspects and figure out what is going to work best for you and your kitties. There's no single "right" way to do any of this-- the testing, the food choice, whatever-- so don't let the setbacks on your first attempts discourage you. We will try to give as many options as possible so that you can figure out the methods and procedures that are going to work for you. We all just do what we can for our cats, depending on our circumstances-- we test at different frequencies, have different goals for treatment, manage food with multiple cats in ways that are the best solutions for us and our cats.

On the testing: you are definitely not alone-- I don't know anyone who was successful on their first few attempts. It's not just you, and it's also not just your technique, it's just flat-out difficult to reliably get a drop of blood from a cat's ears in the beginning (later, after they've been poked a few times, more capillaries grow and the ears "learn to bleed"). In the beginning, one thing that can help is just to use a larger-size lancet to do the poking (28 gauge is a good place to start-- smaller numbers are larger lancets). There are also lots of different ways people do the actual poking. I personally can't manage to use the device to do the poking, so I just hold the lancet itself in my hand and poke that way.

For food, I'll echo Sharon+Shenandoah-- there are lots of options for low-carb wet food, we can help find one that both Ace and Casino can eat. Casino may need a slower transition to wet, or she may need a different brand/flavor of wet, but there will be something that works for her. We'll find a way to keep from having to switch her back to dry and having you have to be "food police" on Ace to keep him away-- you have enough to deal with without that stress!

I know it all seems overwhelming because there are so many things to deal with at once, but hang in there! You are already way ahead of the game in getting Ace to feel better by learning to home test, it's one of the best tools to help manage this disease and keep Ace safe during treatment. You can do this!

Let us know what low-carb wet foods you have tried, and where you live (country) so we can think up alternative suggestions, and ask away on any questions you have on testing or anything else!
 
I can tell you from experience that in the beginning I had a cat that hid from me when it came time to test or give the insulin, and I felt pretty overwhelmed with the whole process. It's been 2 months now, and it's to the point now where HE tells me when it's time to test/feed/poke by going to the same spot in the kitchen and being vocal, demanding his poke and follow-up treat! :) Others told me this would happen and I thought, "No way!"

Cliff has also had issues with the back legs/walking. I find that when his #s are lower, he feels better and is able to jump/move more freely.

Sending lots of encouraging vibes to you and your kitty!
 
Hi Mara, sorry the testing has been such tough going. So much good advice from everyone who already posted!
Just wanted to add a couple of ideas and thoughts regarding testing because I had some of the same issues in the beginning as well.

I just couldn't get ANY blood to come out unless Uncles ears were warm. So now I put hot water in an old vitamin bottle and hold it on the ear I want to prick. Sometimes I will rub it around on his face and under his chin too and go back to warming the ear because he seems to like that. There is also a "rice sock warmed up in a microwave" method that some use , but I don't have one so I use the water bottle method. I will send a link at the end of this post that discusses this. I mean it is night and day for me to heat his ear up!

He also was disturbed by the click sound at first. I started giving him bonito flakes after testing and maybe he made a positive association because he is used to it now. I know that a lot of people do it without the lancing device as Woodsywife mentioned.
Oh, also I use a 28 gauge lancet. Those devices usually have a dial where you can set the depth of the prick. I'm using the lancet that came with my AlphaTrak kit and set it at 3. That depth setting can really make a difference as well.

Also, Uncle can become very wriggly when testing sometimes. So, what I have done when he's in that kind of mood is prick his ear, scrape the blood on to the top of my fingernail and release him. So now I have the blood sample. Then I just put the test strip to the drop on my nail to suck up the blood. The only downside I can tell with this is sometimes I want to hold him long enough to press his ear with the cotton pad to stop the bleeding especially if I accidentally hit the little vein. I would say make sure your hand are clean and dry before using this method.

Here's the link I had mentioned:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

Please let us know how things are going with you and Ace. I know how hard it can be especially in the beginning!
 
Thank you so much everyone, you are all so kind. Critter Mom, that video was like watching Ace. Thanks for sharing. I have ordered the Zobaline and will try it. My vet told me the problem with Ace's legs was that his ligaments were thinning and it probably isn't reversible. I have a type of neuropathy from my M.S. so I understand what it can do. I didn't think Ace was in any pain but from what I know of neuropathy it IS painful. I hope I can get a handle on that quickly.

The food I'm giving him is Friskies Classic Pate. It was on that list that you all recommended I use. I bought a case of a variety of flavors to see what he liked and recognizing that he and Casino may like different kinds. Well they both like all flavors so that's good.

I've been transitioning them to the wet food slowly (over a week to 10 days, depending on how they tolerate it). Ace is adjusting fine but Casino isn't doing so well. However, Casino has some other medical issues so I probably need to take that into consideration. Nevertheless I'm backing here off the wet food for now (slowly of course). Once I get Ace into a good routine then I'll be addressing Casino's problems (they are with her anal glands).

I AM using a 28 gauge lancet.

Sharon, funny you should suggest the holding and rubbing his ears because that is exactly what I did for many days before actually attempting the real thing.

Barbara, I'm going to try what you suggested, putting the blood drop on my finger nail. That sounds like it would be good. My husband can take Ace from me and give him the treat and hold the cotton on his ear when it's done, so that is covered.

I know this is doable and what I really need to do is just stick with it. It helps having the encouragement of you all here... I can't find words to tell you how much. I'll keep you informed on how it's going. Thanks again and God bless you! *✞¯`*•.¸¸.•*
 
Mara1022 said:
and it probably isn't reversible.
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That's what my (old) vet told me, too. Said the damage was done and we couldn't do anything to improve it, just stop the progression.
After a couple months on Zobaline it was clear that my (old) vet was very wrong.
Hope it works as well for Ace!

It sounds like you're doing a great job! It was tough for all of us in the beginning, but soon all of this will be part of your regular routine and you'll barely think about it anymore.
 
Hi Mara and extra sweet Ace! I echo everyone else's comments - just keep trying. I have a friend in your situation, diabetic cat and wheelchair. It took about 2 weeks of working between the 2 of them to work out the best way for THEM to test. Her kitty gets on the arm of a overstuffed 'living room' type chair putting him at the right height. He now runs to the chair when he hears the meter or she tells him 'test time'. They use the same position for shots too. Treats help with that training - low carb like freeze dried chicken/shrimp.

HUGS! You CAN do this! You really can...
 
Mara1022 said:
Now for the blood testing. This is the reason for the title of this post. I have been trying for a week.
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I understand having problems testing BG. I have extremely weak hands and have had to adapt my way of injecting and testing to work around that. I don't use the spring trigger mechanism in the lancing device. I put the lancet into the device so it acts as a large holder because I can't hold the lancets properly on their own - too small. I then free hand the poke and find this easier because I can see exactly where the needle point is.
 
My first diabetic Triton (now in remission) was diagnosed in 2013. When the vet told me he was diabetic, I thought I'm an EMT. I will have no problems testing blood sugar and giving shots! I quickly realised I was trained on humans and not cats. Boy did I feel like and idiot. Fortunately Triton was very tolerant of all my Mis-pokes. It took some time, but eventually I could test and shoot in under a minute.

Now Triton's younger brother Orion is diabetic. I've gotten to be a pro at poking, but Orion is large (16 lbs) and doesn't like being messed with. He often makes me play catch the kitty which isn't fun because I too am disabled. I can walk but not very fast, and Orion is much quicker than I am.

I believe you can do this. It just takes some persistence and patience. One thing I thought about when reading your post is whether or not it would be possible to put Ace on a bed, chair, or table in front of you and wheel yourself to him. It might be easier than having him on your lap? I've never gotten on the floor either. I'm afraid I'd never get up again! I usually put Orion on the bed and stand or sit next to him.
 
I just wanted to check in. Still working on getting my first reading of Ace's BG level.
I'm worried because he sleeps almost all day and night now. It's not like him. Plus he just threw up his supper. IDK if that food is going to work. It was on the list of wet food to use. I might just go to cooked chicken and whatever. I'm so beside myself. I can't wrap my head around all this, it came on so fast. Anyway... on we go.
 
I hope that this makes you feel better rather than worse -- but it may not have come on fast. I thought that I was super tuned in to my babies, but our first diabetic had very long hair so was very fluffy, and he wasn't a "pick him up" cat. By the time we caught his diabetes he had lost over three pounds!

I believe that you said in your other thread that you are giving insulin now, so it is really important that he eat. And until you can test, you might be better off just sticking with his old food if he will eat it and can keep it down. If you switch to chicken or something super low carb, and keep the dose the same, the insulin dose might be too much. I am worried when you say he is sleeping a lot now.

Sandi.
 
Sorry you are having problems testing, hang in there, I just wanted to say that I always test George on my lap, he loves his freeze dried treats, so just rattling the packet has him come up for a cuddle and a poke.
At first I got him just to come for a cuddle and an ear rub, then I'd give treat, then slowly introduced the like.

With regards to the food, it's ok to make home food for him, but if you go down that route, you need to think about adding supplements, cooked chicken in itself doesn't have all the essential nutrients for a cat.
I hope your other kitties tummy settles.

As for the zobaline, it's not immediate but I have seen many folk here have amazing results with it but it can take a while to start to see its effects.
 
Sandi & Whisper said:
I believe that you said in your other thread that you are giving insulin now, so it is really important that he eat. And until you can test, you might be better off just sticking with his old food if he will eat it and can keep it down. If you switch to chicken or something super low carb, and keep the dose the same, the insulin dose might be too much. I am worried when you say he is sleeping a lot now.
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I, too, am worried about the sleeping, Mara, and I second Sandi's suggestion about sticking with the old food until you get the hang of the home testing. I also recommend you give your vets a call ASAP to let them know about your observations and Ace's other clinical signs.

FYI, here is a useful nausea checker so that you can assess whether that might be behind the vomiting (it's definitely something that needs to be addressed promptly - especially as vomiting can be a symptom of hypoglycaemia):

Nausea symptoms and treatments


Mogs
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Hi Mara,
I am just chiming in with truckloads of support. FD is difficult but it does get easier and you will be more confident after you get "in the groove"
Here is a pic of the "sweet spot" on the ear... when I first started I aimed for the vein and my Dre was not pleased:eek:
The slim area between the edge of the ear and the vein has less reaction I think it may have less nerve endings or at least less sensitive.
Good luck to you! You will get this down in no time:bighug:
laur_danny_famoussweetspot.jpg
 
Well, this just isn't going to happen because Ace won't cooperate at all!!!! I appreciate everyone's help and encouragement but he just isn't having any part of it. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'll call the vet tomorrow and ask her what I can do since he won't let me do any testing at home. :(

I'm not sure when I'll be posting again. This is a great place but it seems like I'm not able to do what you all are doing. Thanks again an God bless you all and your lucky fur babies. :bighug:
 
Like Sharon said, there's still lots you can do, and lots of helpful information here even without the direct bg monitoring. Please stick around!

How is Ace doing in general lately?
 
Mara1022 said:
Well, this just isn't going to happen because Ace won't cooperate at all!!!! I appreciate everyone's help and encouragement but he just isn't having any part of it. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'll call the vet tomorrow and ask her what I can do since he won't let me do any testing at home. :(

I'm not sure when I'll be posting again. This is a great place but it seems like I'm not able to do what you all are doing. Thanks again an God bless you all and your lucky fur babies. :bighug:
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Just curious as to how it is that he not cooperating? Also, something I have to remind myself of too sometimes, our kitty's feed off of our emotions so he may be more restless, anxious, or scared if you are. Even though it can be difficult, just take a couple deep breathes and try to calm yourself down before trying again.
Don't give up though!:cat:
Kitty burritos normally work very well but you should reward when unwrapping the "Furrito" hehhe.
 
Please stay around. It is a place for support like no other, as much for general kitty health questions as for feline diabetes.

And know this -- I test Whisper usually 5 or more times a day. He loves it. But if my Homer were to become diabetic, there is literally ZERO chance that I could test him at home. He is turning 17 this year, rescued from a Home Depot parking lot at 4-6 weeks of age along with his sister Poe (hence their names...hardy har har), he has been indoors the whole time. He is loved like there is no tomorrow. But I can't pick him up. I cannot walk towards him without him running away. It almost takes arm length leather gloves to get him into a kitty carrier. I am always afraid that the stress is going to literally give him a heart attack (he does have an enlarged heart, heart murmur and high blood pressure).

My long and drawn out point is this. You can only do what you can do for your particular kitty. I just wanted to show you that I don't have any magical secrets as a caregiver, I just lucked in to adopting a super compliant diabetic kitty in Whisper that I was literally able to test in my car 5 minutes after adopting him, before a 6 hour drive to our home. But there are no tricks that I could ever use to cast a spell on Homer to be able to test him at home.

You've gotten great suggestions above for secondary monitoring, and maybe just try testing once in a while. First get him used to handling his ears, and then do baby steps. It might happen given enough time. But if not, then you'll adapt to other methods.

Huge hugs to you and to Ace! You are clearly a great kitty mom since you came here to help your boy.

:bighug:

Sandi.
 
Don't leave because you can't home test. Honestly, lots of people don't - most vets don't seem to suggest it either.

This site is about more than your cat's numbers although it doesn't always seem like it :)
 
Mara1022 said:
Well, this just isn't going to happen because Ace won't cooperate at all!!!! I appreciate everyone's help and encouragement but he just isn't having any part of it. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'll call the vet tomorrow and ask her what I can do since he won't let me do any testing at home. :(

I'm not sure when I'll be posting again. This is a great place but it seems like I'm not able to do what you all are doing. Thanks again an God bless you all and your lucky fur babies. :bighug:
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Don't give up. Spend a few days just fondling the ears then give a treat so he associates it with good things. Do you have someone that can help? If you towel him and have someone hold him still and then test (then treat) maybe you'll have success?
 
I think I did it!!! But IDK if I got a good reading. IDK how to translate from the human meter to cat numbers. I got a reading of 94 mg/DL. What does that even mean???? I have to go back and see how to put it on the spreadsheet now. He's due for his shot shortly and I want to figure it right. Since we changed his diet the numbers might be lower so less insulin. I need to know. If anyone is here that can give me an idea if that number even makes sense, I'd appreciate it.
 
Great! Congratulations!!! 94 is a normal number, did you give insulin?

ETA I see you got help on your other thread. Great! So happy you kept trying
 
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Mara, keep trying, don't give up!
For all of us the beginning was terribly difficult, there were people like you who really struggled but with encouragement from members of this board they succeeded.
I was in a terrible state myself despite the fact that Rocky was very easy and I have a medical background. It is very hard at the beginning but I promise you it will get easier.
Keep trying, we will help you through it, just don't give up.
Sending lots of hugs to you and your kitties.
Marlena:cat:
 
Mara,
One of the things that helped me in the beginning also was making a rice sock to warm Flame's ear. When the ear is warm, the blood flows easier and it's easier to get the blood drop to come out. Believe it or not, you actually have to "train" their ears to bleed. Making a rice sock is easy... you just put some uncooked regular white rice in a sock (preferably a smallish sock) and either sew or tie up the end of the sock. You heat in in the microwave for a few seconds (till it's warm to the touch - NOT hot). Test it on your cheek and see if it feels too hot before you use on kitty. Then all you do is hold the warm rice sock on kitty's ear for a few seconds to warm it and then poke. It should make the blood flow easier.
Sometimes they really like the way the sock feels. Like with everything else you're doing, let him sniff the sock, rub it on him, rub it on his head, his ears, pet him with it then hold it on his ears for a bit till he gets used to it. This may help and I hope it does!

I'm so glad you're still here!! Keep trying! Every cat is resistent at first. Heck my Flame was off insulin for 8 years before we came back here in December and I had to start the whole process all over again with training him to accept tests and shots, etc. I think Flame is FINALLY getting the idea that this is actually helping to make him feel better and he's pretty good about it now.

Sending you and your kitties loads of :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
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