New: problems getting blood, bruised ears

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Steph

Steph

Member Since 2013
After two months of easily getting blood, the past three days, I have failed miserably. Don't know what has changed. I thought it was the equipment, so...

I'm using AccuChek FastClix; changed out the rotating lancet holder today, and still, four tries and just little drops. The PRIME glucometer needs more blood, and I get the E13 reading. The cat is over it.

His ears with light behind, are bruised, too. What do you do about this? Especially after failed tries?

I am using Peroxide to clean them, and Neosporin to help heal. I feel like his ears hurt.

This is a new wrinkle among the other unstable numbers wrinkle.

s.
 
Are you using the Neosporin with pain relief? It has a little anesthetic in it that will numb it a little.

You might want to get a Relion Confirm or Micro...the strips are a little more expensive, but they take incredibly tiny amounts of blood to get a good reading. After you've been doing the testing awhile, the ears will "learn to bleed" and then maybe you can go back to the Prime to save money on the strips.

What size are the lancets? Most that come as part of a package are 31 gauge and those can be hard for new people to get blood. They have "alternate site testing" lancets that are 26 or 28 gauge that are a little "bigger" and make a little bigger hole....again, once the ears learn to bleed, you can go back to the smaller lancets.

Also, you can try "freehanding" the lancets instead of using the FastClix...I've found it much easier to control myself.

When you poke, try poking twice really close together (quickly)...the two pokes can "run together" and form a bigger droplet of blood. Once you've tried 3 times, give kitty a treat and take a break.

There are also some people who do paw pad testing. I think they usually use the back paw, prick it, massage to get a drop and test..but you'd want to make sure you have alcohol wipes and neosporin...don't want any "litterbox infections"
 
After getting the test, apply pressure to the wound for a minute, give or take. This will allow the clotting process to proceed in a smaller area, rather than allowing the blood to seep into other places.
 
Are you using fresh lancets every time? Maybe try a different spot on the ear. Sometimes my cats ears just decide no more and i have to try a different spot for a while.
 
Thanks everyone, so much! Will try all of this. I have to figure out the BIG problem: crazy numbers.

Will do as you've suggested. Tonight, four tries again.

Stubbie (Mick) is being incredibly patient.
 
Looks like he is bouncing a bit. Can you get a few nighttime tests? Might reveal a lot since many (if not most) cats drop low at night.

Wendy
 
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