Pin Cushion Ears and Feeding Question

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Kacie and Sadie

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Hi-
We have just started home testing Sadie quite a bit in the last couple days and her ears look slightly bruised. We are holding a kleenex on the back and we are using the Relion lancet device with the clear cap (30 gauge). After drawing the blood, we are holding pressure to stop any bleeding. Are we doing something wrong? We're concerned that we're making her ears look like pin cushions.

Also, we switched over from canned Hill's M/D to the classic pate fancy feast on the list. Sadie is about 11.5 lbs. How much should we be feeding her? If we feed her a can in the morning and one at night, she's hungry during the middle of the day but I don't want to over feed her. She's on 3 units morning and 3 units at night (PZI). Today at 2:20pm her numbers were 200, 308 before dinner at 4:30pm, and 230 at 9pm. I plan to do a blood curve test on Monday since I will be home all day.

Thank you for your support


Kacie and Sadie
 
Good job on testing! Sounds like you are doing it right. Are you having trouble getting blood? I really like the clear cap, if you hold pressure on a few seconds before and after you shoot, it seems to bleed better. Some use small rice sock warmed in the MW to increase circulation. I think over time their ears toughen up a bit and definitely bleed easier.
Changing the lancet more frequently can help, if it gets dull it leaves more of a mark.

I feed 5.5 ounces 2x/day to my 11 lb cat, but "every cat is different". Maybe you could add 1/2 can /meal and see if she's happier. Cat's really are creatures of habit and if she's used to a midday feeding that might be part of it, or maybe she's just hungry... My vet has always wanted me to stay on 2x/day, so he always eats at shot time.

Good luck and welcome!
 
Thanks for the reply!! No trouble getting blood. Sadie does not like the rice sock but tolerates the prick. I guess we are feeling really bad that we're doing this but know it's for the best. She has light ears so we can see the small pink spots where we have done the pricks. Thanks so much for the feeding advice. She's hungry as we speak and I'm feeling guilty! I'm giving her 1 can of fancy feast for the morning and 1 at night- I was afraid to give her anything else so I will be adding 1/2 can in the afternoon.

This site is so wonderful...thank you so much from a nervous kitty mommy!
 
Kacie,
It might be better if you give her 1 1/2 cans every 12 hrs before the shot. A midday snack is going to mess up the curves you do. I had a really hard time with that because mine were free fed, but eventually we transitioned to bigger meals 2x/day. Now I never have to worry if he's going to eat so I can give the shot.

On the other hand, some folks free feed, but it add a big variable to the curve you are hoping to see.
 
Hi Kacie welcome to FDMB

It may well be at the moment because Sadie isn't regulated her body still can't process the food she's eating and therefore she's constantly hungry.(Left untreated diabetes causes kitties to starve to death even if they are eating shed loads of food, along with other nasty complications)

One way to monitor this is to monitor her weight but let her eat what she wants. If she does start piling the weight on you know her body is processing the food and you can cut back then.

I don't have experience of PZI and maybe it's worth doing a cross post in that ISG to ask about food and curves.
Lucky was a free feeder and it never messed with her curve. I just made sure she hadn't eaten in the preceeding 1 1/2-2 hours so I knew it wasn't a foodspike number. I had the reassurance that she had food availabale if she went low, but as I said different insulin so I don't know how PZI works.
 
To help her ears look and feel better, you can put a dab of Neosporin on them (with or without pain reliever is fine).

You are doing great. Keep asking questions.
 
A midday snack is fine as long as you consistently do it. You want the curve to represent what you do (e.g., how you feed) everyday.

Nancy and Cody said:
Kacie,
It might be better if you give her 1 1/2 cans every 12 hrs before the shot. A midday snack is going to mess up the curves you do. I had a really hard time with that because mine were free fed, but eventually we transitioned to bigger meals 2x/day. Now I never have to worry if he's going to eat so I can give the shot.

On the other hand, some folks free feed, but it add a big variable to the curve you are hoping to see.
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