Introducing Nico

[Tyleete]

Another photo
View attachment 74380

Oh no! That's what I was told to aim for in the first cast they suspected of diabetes many years ago.
Crap. I've been doing it really wrong all this time? I was told (don't remember if it was office or some other site): Heat up the east by just rubbing lightly, take some kind of light to show where the veins are and you know where to aim.
I do remember in the past, poking my girl's ear a few times, and nothing coming from the stab. No blood. So how do you go that? Stabbing them hurts me probably as much as it hurts them. It's more something I want to do several times at once. Heck, one of my girls that was in kidney failure needed fluids, and I had to get her 3x before she'd sit still (came out once, once poked through), and at sun as she was finished, I laid down on the cold floor for a few minutes cause I felt so sick. Needles and I are not now, nor ever will be friends.
Ok so testing before sounds more important than after. It's the after only something I do occasionally though at least?
And will it be ok if I wait just a few days before starting to stab him 3-4x a day?
He's having his ups and downs with this and I don't want to throw it all on him at once. It feels like traumatizing him. Yesterday when I had to collect pee for the strip, we sat together in the bathroom for
1 1/2hrs, where he would walk around some and holler, wanting out. I picked him up and placed him in the special litter box and he was having none of it! So I emptied and cleaned his regular one just without the litter. Nope. I left him in there alone for a half hour after all that. Just cried a lot. Finally let him out and he went and peed in a regular litter box within 3 minutes. I was able to get a sample though then. I'm just tired of tormenting this cat. And believe me, pulling his butt out of his cubbies while he desperately clings to anything and everything to stay? He's still shivering every time I place him on the floor and bundle him in a towel for his treatments.
In fact, I don't know how I'm going to poke his ear, hope & pray he eats after that (which he probably won't because he'll be so upset about this), feed him, insulin (& inhaler), then shot within half hour (I try not to do it right away so he doesn't relate it to eating), then wait what? 6hrs to do the glucose test again?
My poor little fella

 

[squeem3]

You just want to poke between the edge of the ear and the vein. If you hit the vein, no big deal.

Testing mid cycle is important. It gives you an idea of how the insulin is working until you can do a curve. A random spot check or two between insulin shots is fine. A test before bedtime is ideal so you can be sure if your cat won't hypo while you're sleeping.

A curve is testing approximately every 2 hours from one insulin shot to the next. It's easiest to do this during the day. Most people do a curve on a day they have free, like a weekend. If the cat won't cooperate, just get as many tests done as you can.

Take a look at other members' spreadsheets to see how often people spot check levels. Some are obsessed with testing, others not so much. Do what works for you and your cat.

 

[Tyleete]

Thanks! So essentially looking anywhere on the ear would draw blood? Cause I remember doing it before to my other cat, and getting nowhere. I can't belive I was specifically told to hit that vein along the outside. I don't want to do paws, because that sounds awful. They have to walk on those. And do you like all the way through? I was told to do that, that "They'll be fine and heal". I hate doing that, but seems real hard to try not to.
Thanks!

 

[squeem3]

Anywhere along the edge is fine but there's usually a sweet spot. See the picture Suzanne posted in this thread. Every cat's ear is different so you might have to test various spots to find the sweet spot.

The lancet doesn't need to puncture completely through the ear. You just want to poke deep enough to get enough blood for the test strip. Most lancet devices have adjustable depth settings. Try each setting to find what will give you enough blood on a warmed up ear.

 

[Tyleete]

Those really work? I got the Advocate Pet Test meter. But didn't see how it was going to written so never bothered. It's not like it gives me a viewing area.
Thank you for the tips!

 

[squeem3]

Most people here use a Human blood glucose meter. The test strips are way cheaper than the pet ones, depending on brand, and any store pharmacy sells the test strips of major brands like FreeStyle and AccuChek. A plus if you typically order online and forget to order more and have run out of test strips and your cat is in hypo. It happens. Relion is a Walmart brand so you can only get those from Walmart, maybe on the Walmart web site too. No store pharmacy sells pet meters or test strips.

The lancet device doesn't have to be the one that comes with the meter. Some just don't work well enough on a cat. There are some (Human diabetic) lancet devices that have clear caps so you can more easily see where you are poking. Some people just freehand the lancet without the device.

 

[Tyleete]

It took forever to get a blood sample, but when I did so very less than impressed.
No, I did not get it in the morning. But I think it's safe to say with this result, he's in no fear of being hypo anytime soon.
Doc said test 2hrs after, was told here 6hrs. So went with the 6 and got 401.
I mean, lowest reading so far, but still so bad.
The test strips said they expired in May, but they're all individually wrapped. Would that really make a difference? And yes, I ordered fresh ones the other day. I have a vial of control solution and it's within range. But guess what? It's expired even longer ago.
My poor baby. He's on 1 unit twice a day for a week, as of tonight. He's not always easy about eating, as in on time. But I'm trying my best. He doesn't seem to want to eat breakfast the last 2 days, and so late in the shot. But I've found sprinkling watered down fancy feast pate juice over his food makes him want to eat.
Yes, he might eat just that. But I don't care what anyone says. The worst wet food is NOT better than the best dry. And fancy feast is made with "Meat by-products" (they're not even specific! Could be road kill for all I know), fish, and all sorts of other things like gums and other useless fillers. That's not what's best for any cat.
Feeling stressed.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Personally, I never used a lancing device to prick my baby’s ear. He was a good boy but I didn’t want to spook him with that noise so near his ear. I simply held the lancet in my hand and I could see what I was doing and where I was aiming. Try not to go in at a 90 degree angle, but try holding the lancet at about a 45 degree angle. Perhaps a bright headlamp would help or something like this that I bought (not for my cat, but it would be great for that