Newbie - Kathy and Maisey

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Kathyh

Kathyh

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Like another resent poster. I've had Maisey & her brother Vinney since 3 weeks old, bottle fed them. They will be 12 in a month and a half. Maisey was just diagnosed with diabetes. She has always been the tiny one of the pack and is now less than 8 pounds. I have been trying to get drop of blood from her ear, I have read all the notes and watched the videos and picture demonstrations and just not getting blood. Had my daughter the nurse try yesterday, and even she didn't have luck. Vets wanted me to start her on 2 units of PZI 100 but I had already started switching food to fancy feast classic mixed with home poached chicken and a touch of chicken liver brazed in butter (her favorite treat) I started with 1/2 unit twice then 1 unit. Until I get blood to test, I'm terrified of trying more. Would travel to someone for help. I live in Southern Maryland. I also tried to test Vinney and Pumpkin (who is 11.5 years) as Pumpkin started loosing weight about the same time as Maisey. Pumpkin has always tried living up to her name-sake in rotundness so had started modifying diets for all in December. So was not initially concerned about weight loss for both. Haven't taken Pumpkin to the vet yet as Maisey's diagnosis was $274 and initial visit on insulin was $174. They wanted me to spend $240 on vet monitor and said no. Got the Wal-mart Micro and all supplies for $33. HELP
 
Did you warm the ear? That was very important for us. You can use the rice sack or a pill bottle filled with hot water.
Have something to poke against - the rice sack or pill bottle works. We used a small make up sponge.
Double poke - just a second quick poke in the same place.
Milk the ear - gently pushing from below the area you poked
Are you sure poking in the right spot: Where to poke Put a thin smear of vaseline where you want to poke so it will help the blood bead up.

The most important thing is to not quit. It will work. We all have tricks that worked for us.
 
Even though Maisey is a tuxedo, with black ears, her vein is visible, even without extra light. I will try keeping the warmed sock at her ear when I poke. Was contemplating trying to get a butterfly needle to go in at an angle, what do you think?
 
Kathyh said:
Even though Maisey is a tuxedo, with black ears, her vein is visible, even without extra light. I will try keeping the warmed sock at her ear when I poke. Was contemplating trying to get a butterfly needle to go in at an angle, what do you think?
Click to expand...


If you want to freehand poke, just use the lancet by itself.
You can go in at an angle. It's just harder not to over-poke
(I think) doing it freehand.


You need Reli-On brand (Walmart) 'fine' lancets, not 'ultra-fine'.

After warming the ear well with the rice-sock, remove the rice sock then
hold something firm behind the ear, like a folded piece of TP or a folded
cosmetic square. Press the lancet device firmly against the ear and the
backer. Hold hour other finger(s) behind the backer.
 
Hi Kathy,

I don't know what you mean by southern MD, but I am assuming below DC. There are folks with experience in the DC area who you could travel to. I am in Wilmington DE. If you are on the eastern shore, I would likely be closer, but then I doubt Southern MD encompasses the Eastern shore.

If you want to PM (private message) me with a more precise location, I will see what I can do to find an experienced caregiver nearby for you to visit. Would you be taking Ms. Maisey with you, or would you want the person to demo on his/her cat?

Venita
 
Yes, don't give up. Testing was hard for me at first too. When I first read about it on FDMB, I was very skeptical (could it really work). It does! With a little practice, you and your kitty will be doing it in no time. My tricks are nothing new. Definitely warming the ear helps a lot. Max's ears will hardly bleed when even just a tiny bit cool. Also, he's a big fluff, so I use vaseline every time or his fur will absorb the blood before I even see it. My last trick helped the most. I rub his ear gently in one direction (base to tip) before poking, seems to help get the blood "flowing" a bit. I used to just give his ears an all over rub before seeing a how to video where the person rubbed based to tip. Doh! Good luck.
 
Success at last!! Needed to warm ear much longer than I had anticipated. Thank god the meter only needs the tiniest spec of blood. Did all three kitties. Maisey was 269 last night and 289 this morning. I didn't manage to get the full 2 units of insulin in last night, she hadn't moved when I did the trial at the vets with saline, don't think she felt a thing when I did it. Until I got her blood tested I was only giving 1/2 unit for 2 days and 1 unit for 2 days. I was terrified of too much insulin, since she's so tiny and eats so little, besides the fact that I moved the kitties to canned food as suggested and home made and I was already seeing progress in reduction of her drinking.

She wasn't happy with me this morning, but didn't fight me. I think we can actually get through this. Thanks so much to everyone.
 
Hurrah! Welcome to the Vampire Club! :RAHCAT :RAHCAT

Did you see Venita's offer of help?

What kind of insulin are you using? Two units is still a high starting dose. Be sure to get a test about 6 hours after the shot to see how low it takes her.
 
Yeah! That first time when you finally have success is the best. Then you know you can do it and it gets easier. I'm with Sue. Your pre shot #'s don't seem super high on the 1u, hard to say when you're just starting the insulin, but you may find Maisey ends up somewhere between 1 and 2 units, especially with the diet change. The change in diet made a huge difference in dose with my cat Max. Depending on your tests today, you may want to increase the dose in smaller amounts as you fine tune what Maisey needs (e.g. increase the 1u to 1.25u or 1.5u and test), or you may find the dose needs to go lower as the diet change continues to take affect. Let us know how things go.
 
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