Need Home Testing Tips

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I was wondering if anyone had home testing tips. Scratchy does not like having his ears touched and doesn't sit still while being fussed with. I was once able to successfully test using the paw pad, but since then I've only been able to draw blood from myself and get hissed at. The people at the vet even have trouble getting blood from his ear. I am wondering if there is a good position I could get him in that would make it harder for him to escape, but I don't want to traumatize him so that he won't come to me for his shots. He is so good for his shots.

I want to be able to home test because he is on a high dose of 4 1/2 units of Lantus twice a day. He is a big cat. His fructosamine test last week showed that he is "fairly regulated" not "well regulated" and the vet suggested I go up half a unit, which I have. The one home test I was able to accomplish was high at peak time (419), even though he was home. Meanwhile his symptoms are entirely gone and he is the old Scratchy again. I think he's even gained some weight back. I also haven't left town since he was diagnosed and I'll have more peace of mind if I am able to home test and know he is being properly dosed. I bring him back for another fructosamine in 2 weeks, but I spent $150 on an alphatrak and want to be able to use it.

Any tips would be welcome! Thank you.

Janine
 
So you have two issues - getting him to be still enough for the test and getting enough blood,right?

For the sitting still - have you tried the burrito or the clothespin trick? http://www.felinecrf.org/giving_sub-qs_ ... _peg_trick

Do you warm his ear or is he fussy about that too? The clothespins would keep him still while you warm it.

You can feed him treats while you mess with his ears rather than wait to give him them after.
 
not sure if it's an option or not given his not wanting his ears played with but there's lots of members in your area. i'm down in orange county myself so a bit of a drive but perhaps someone can help with figuring out technique? some names that come to mind....gator & h, michelle and ? (scrabble i think, or it could be eeyore), holly and spader, karen & dB but i think she might be out of town at the moment, sherry and squirt. those are what come to mind immediately but i know there's a few more. perhaps someone can hook you up with one or two of them. i know holly has helped several people and i know sherry has helped a ton, even teaching michelle if i remember correctly
 
I'll check out some of the videos tonight. Right now he won't even let me massage his ears, which I tried to do to warm them. They don't warm them at the vet, so that might be part of the problem. They also use the middle of the ear, rather than the edge which is what I read is best to do. Giving treats during the process might work if I can keep my other cat away. I haven't tried the burrito. I assume that means to wrap him in a towel. I don't know how he'd feel about that clothespin trick. Maybe that can be a last resort. I think he'd run as soon as he saw the clothespin! The thing is he is so good for his shots. I hold up the syringe and he comes right to me and quickly gets in position.

On the subject of treats, what is good for a diabetic cat? I have some salmon flakes at home which he likes, but I can't really hold a handful of it.

I am hoping I can learn this without someone there to help but that might be what I need. He is very shy around other people, but for some reason he's less shy since he's become diabetic. The one up side to this.

If I only had 4 hands!
 
We did the burrito like this. We put a towel down on the couch next to the arm. Then plopped him down and wrapped him up with only his head showing. (Giving treats here wouldn't be a bad idea.) I could gently press him into the arm to hold him still.

No wonder you had trouble at the vet. The middle of the ear is not the place. You want the edge where all the blood is.

Oliver loved bonito flakes. We also cooked up chicken breasts -just plain, no spices- and then cut them up in tiny pieces. Other people like the freeze dried meat treats.
 
Thank you all for the tips. I was able to prick the ear last night, but didn't get any blood. I may not have poked hard enough. I'm afraid I'll go right through. He can still pull his head away in the burrito, but I was able to hold onto his ear for a few seconds. That's some progress at least. The lancet is so small, I wonder if a larger one is better.

What do people think of using the lancing device? I tried it but I'm not sure the needle even hit the skin.

The cats in the videos are all so good.
 
I always use a lancet pen. The point is only out (below the cap) when your click or release it. It is not out just laying around. You have backup the ear very firmly of the ear will deflect instead of being penetrated. I would start with the deepest setting and work down. I frequently go through the ear so do not worry about that.
 
The video cats do make it seem easy. Believe it or not, most cats who have had their ears poked for several months do act that easy, though. They get used to it and are most interested in the treat.

Do you have something behind the ear to poke against? We used a small make up sponge; other people use a folded kleenix or the rice sack. If you ever get blood as he is moving again, get it on your fingernail. You can test it there.

The 29 gauge lancet is the favorite for newbies as it makes a bigger hole. I like the lancet but took off the clear cap - it was easier to see where I was going to poke.

Keep trying. Keep asking questions. It will happen!
 
not sure if this video will help or not but it's an up close shot of me testing one of my cooperative non-diabetic kitties. http://s138.photobucket.com/albums/q270 ... 0_0826.mp4

the cottonball is to keep the ear from moving away as the lancet hits it. plus it protects your fingers. don't worry about going thru. it happens sometimes but their ears will heal just fine. Mousie's been pricked a minimum of twice a day for over 4 years now and you can't see one mark on her ears from it.
 
It looks so simple. I wish Scratchy didn't hate having his ears touched. I think I need to distract him with treats, but somehow stop my other cat from stealing them. He is very disruptive if he's locked out of a room. I'll try tonight with the pen and cotton ball. I never thought I'd want to make my cat bleed to badly.
 
it's definitely not simple in the beginning. that is actually my late Spazzie in that video as she was my most cooperative cat ever. :-) when the vet told me Mousie had diabetes and I asked ok, what do i have to do....he replied "do you have a nicer cat you can bring in? we'll teach you how to give her insulin shots". So Spazzie was the guinea pig for my learning to give shots. unlike Mousie, Spazzie didn't care what you were doing to her, as long as you were doing it to Her. LOL!!

when Mousie was diagnosed, I had never even touched her before. but when we got her diagnosis i basically told myself her life depended on me doing what had to be done so that dang cat ran me ragged for the first month or so. round and round and round and round my house we would go for anywhere from 30-45 minutes until she ran out of steam and i could corner her and then scruff her and somehow manage to make my hands little contortionists while i held onto her so she wouldn't get away, all the while trying to shoot her and then trying to test her when i learned about that. ay yai yai!

so just keep trying. it really does work it's self out.
 
Thanks. I managed to find a good position to hold him in last night and managed to stick him with the lancing device 3 times and once without. No blood. Not even a speck. I know I stuck him because he yelped. My cat has bloodless ears. I gave him his treat anyway so he'd associate it with treats. I've tried that lancing device on myself as well and I really didn't bleed much at all. I think I will go to the pharmacy tonight and see if I can get something better. I'll try another heating method. He wouldn't sit still for the pill bottle. Maybe a hot towel will be better. He is really a very good cat and I'm sure he will eventually cooperate. He has been so good for his shots its amazing. When they taught me how to give him the shots they brought a "practice cat" into the room. It was a cat who lives at the vet's office. I felt so bad, but he didn't seem to mind.

I think my other cat Itchy is starting to get jealous of all of the extra attention Scratchy is getting. It doesn't help that he's tearing up the house while I try to test Scratchy! Itchy is a crazy cat, but very sweet. Perpetual kitten.
 
which device are you using? Some are better than others; I like the softclix pen, and I set it on a deep setting. I also use a ricefilled sock, lightly warmed in the microwave and it is much 'nicer' than a bottle I think.

Also, what part of the ear are you testing?

Jen
 
I tried the outer edge of the ear from the back about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way up. I can't really poke him from the front because he gets too scared when he sees me coming toward his head with it. I am using the device that came with the AlphaTrak meter. The softclix seems to be a favorite. I'm going to run by CVS tonight to see if they have it. I'll get some rice too. I'm determined to be able to do this. I hope he doesn't end up hating me.
 
I like the SoftClix, too :smile: If your local pharmacy doesn't have the Softclix (sometimes they sell the Softclix lancets but not the lancet device), you can order it online from various places.

You *may* be able to get one directly from AccuChek customer service. I got a free replacement SoftClix after the one I had been using broke. It won't hurt to call and ask. Just do not tell them that you are using their product on a cat.

If you don't have rice, uncooked oatmeal or dried beans/peas will work just as well. You just want to use something that will absorb and retain heat well.

Have you seen the picture of where to prick? http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m267 ... etspot.jpg
 
i've always used the Freestyle line of glucose meters which happens to be made by Abbott Laboratories, the same maker of the AlphaTrak so not sure if they package the same lancet device with the Alpha as they do the Freestyle but when my vet recommended the Freestyle to me, she taught me NOT stick the lancet all the way into the device and to set it on 4, it's deepest setting. i used to be addicted to my camera as many here can attest to :lol: so i made a video of that too showing what she meant by not sticking the lancet all the way in the device. basically you put it in only so deep that you can rub your finger across the end of it and just barely feel the needle, then set the spring part of it. oh, and use the clear cap if yours has that option. you can see where you're aiming with a clear cap :-)
http://s138.photobucket.com/albums/q270 ... 0_0827.mp4
 
Sit on the floor, legs in a v. Put him between them, facing away from you. Put a warmed rice sock in one ear and hold it with your left hand, grab tester etc with your right hand. This way you poke from behind....
 
I have made some progress on the testing. I am now able to hold him, warm his ear with the rice sock and prick the ear with the lancing device. I bought the Accucheck multi-click which I set at the deepest setting. There was blood on the cotton ball after using the device which means it must have gone through the ear. Unfortunately, the cotton ball must have gotten all of it because I still couldn't get enough blood for a test. I am going to try the vaseline and see if that helps. I know it hurt him when I did it because of the noise he made and his ears are now bruised, but he doesn't seem to hold a grudge and was happy when I gave him salmon after trying the test. I'm glad I am at least making progress. Hopefully soon this will work.
 
Ease up on the setting........too deep and the blood goes down instead of up......a lower setting will work because it really is only a tiny stick you need to do and make sure it is always the edge of the ear.
 
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