Need to home test, but I'm failing miserably

[Swannieq]

My boy Abu was on Vetsulin 1 unit twice daily for about a month and we switched to Prozinc 1.5 units twice daily. My vet said I could increase it to 2 units, but without home testing I am very nervous to do so. I've been trying the home testing (Relion meter w/26 gauge lancet) for a couple of days and have had success just once. The reading was 490 about 2 hours before he was due for an injection. Since then I cannot get blood although I've tried a few times each day. He's getting skittish and anxious and I know that won't help! He doesn't want me near his ears now. I tried again this morning at 4:00 am, was able to poke, got no blood. I try to gently massage the area to draw up some blood, but he moves away and won't let me. He looked like was ready to bite this morning. Restraining him will never work. I do the test while he is eating treats just as I do his insulin as he is eating his twice daily meal. I bought urine glucose test strips as a "better than nothing" option, but they register almost no glucose in his urine, which I know can't be right! He drinks a lot, urinates a lot and his urines are big and sticky! I'm at my wits end. Any tips, guidance or valium would be most appreciated. Many thanks, Lisa

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

I cannot help you with dosing, choice of insulin or your meter but here goes. No matter how easy (?) we make it sound there are thousands of us that all started the same way; wondering why me, am I killing my cat, is it supposed to be this hard? I had it easy with two cooperative cats and a vet who called me twice a day for 14 days straight, vets like that are out there as well as hundreds of people here willing to help.
I'm assuming you've seen lots of Youtube videos on this, some are helpful and some are useless. Through all this you must remember no two cats are ever the same, poking holes in cats while they're awake is just not natural. Restraining or "cocooning" never helped me either. At the bottom of my reply are two images, one of the ear and another about where to inject. In Windows you can right click those images and save them as pictures so you don't have to keep coming back to this thread.
This is what worked for me. Nigel was our first sugar cat and was very patient. I laid out a big bath towel on the kitchen table for his traction and comfort and for better light. I had always used a human Aviva AccuChek meter because it needed a very small dose of blood. Before we go any further check your strips for an expiry date and then put a new battery in your meter. Meters often come with a no-name battery that can't be trusted. I always laid out all my supplies so nothing would be a surprise to the cat, there's nothing worse than searching the basement for a cat that doesn't want to be found. Would you volunteer for this?
Our second cat Noah was a piece of work, beyond nervous with some feline PTSD. Once the house was quiet and there was a sock in the doorbell I had him lay on his side in the only basket he felt safe in. Only one ear ever worked and it was as thin as parchment paper. One day things would go textbook perfect, the next day I would shred is tiny ear. I did the same with him as far as laying everything out and since he was a daddy's boy he trusted me, they all do in spite of what you might think.
Testing is so important and no matter how emotionally hard it's just something that has to be done. It never gets easy but eventually you'll stop tearing your hair out.
Since you've just joined remember this; we're all volunteers who want to help, we've all cried over this and there is no such thing as a stupid question here.
Whether you want it or not you've just made a bunch of new friends.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I had responded to your post on the Welcome forum but I'll offer a bit more info here.

A big factor in getting your kitty acclimated to testing is treats! (It seems like you've sort of figured this out so forgive me if you're already doing this.) You want to set up a positive reinforcement paradigm. The first step is finding a low carbohydrate treat your cat really, really likes. Many people here use freeze dried chicken (or other protein) or even some cooked chicken. Whatever you use, it needs to be something Abu really wants. Start by scratching/playing with his ears -- give him a treat. Taking him to your testing spot, play with his ears -- give him a treat. Tell him what a good boy he is, lots of praise, give him a treat. Poke his ear -- regardless of whether you get any blood, give him a treat. I suspect you get the drift -- any behavior that is even close to testing is treat worthy.

Also, it takes a couple of weeks for the capillary bed along the edge of the ear to develop. As a result, it's harder to get blood at the beginning of this process.

One other factor is that you need to be calm. If you are anxious or feeling pressured, Abu will sense this. Cats are very good at picking up on our emotions. The calmer you are will signal Abu that all of this is normal vs something to be afraid of.

 

[Swannieq]

Thank you very much Noah and Sienne. I am already doing much of what you said, but there were a couple of things in there that I will definitely try. My daughter and son-in-law were just over to try to help me get a good drop of blood and between the three of us we couldn’t get it. I didn’t want to freak him out anymore or associate the procedure with something stressful so we stopped. The key like you said above is to just keep trying. It’s so hard not to be discouraged, but I know I have to do it. I’m just going to keep trying. I really do appreciate the encouragement.

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

Your cat will pick up on your stress and will also be stressed. One suggestion is to sing to him. Sounds silly but it's hard to be stressed out when you are doing something silly.

Also when petting him, massage his ears towards the tip. This will help him get used to having you hold is ears to test and also get the blood flowing.

Even if the test is not successful, give him the treat and praise him for being a good kitty.the positive reinforcement will also help him get used to the testing.

 

[Swannieq]

Your cat will pick up on your stress and will also be stressed. One suggestion is to sing to him. Sounds silly but it's hard to be stressed out when you are doing something silly.

Also when petting him, massage his ears towards the tip. This will help him get used to having you hold is ears to test and also get the blood flowing.

Even if the test is not successful, give him the treat and praise him for being a good kitty.the positive reinforcement will also help him get used to the testing.

I like the singing suggestion!

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

It's a cliché but this is one of those things that are more art than science. I sang, I rubbed his ears, I had to make sure no other cats would wander by just to have a look. You can read books about this, then suddenly one day it all works out and often the exact opposite of what the science say. Have you looked into getting a blood sample from the paw pads?

 

[April & Quincy]

I had to make sure no other cats would wander by just to have a look.

Hahahahahaha!!!!! My (is it civie??) other cat always and I do mean ALWAYS comes in when I'm testing Quincy. Quincy is such a good sport that he just lays there and let's me do what I have to do but every once in awhile, the other cat will walk around him, try to sniff Quincy's butt, try to give me kisses, etc, and I have to put an end to that asap; especially the butt sniffing, Quincy gets really upset with that! But for real, WHY are the other cats so curious?? haha

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

Because that's just what cats do. Does that help?