Poked through cat's ear D:

[Ever & Holly]

I feel so awful right now. My cat started insulin this week. The injections haven't been bad but trying to test BG has been rough. Holly doesn't stay still long enough for me to aim properly, but I'm patient and let her walk around before trying again.

This morning we had our first successful test and I was so excited. It was still high (264) but I want to take it low and slow. But this afternoon we tested again. At first I thought the jab didn't do much as it took a second to bleed. When it did start to bleed to my horror I saw it was bleeding through both sides. I cleaned her up, used neosporin which I'm now reading I shouldn't use so I've got vaseline on my grocery list, and gave her plenty of treats.

I don't know how I'm supposed to keep doing this. I don't want to damage her ears from continuously poking them especially since I'm not doing it right. And she's very squirmy in general so I don't know if she'll ever sit still enough for me to be careful with it. This is very hard, and it's not made any better that I'm recovering from surgery so my limited mobility makes this trickier. Any helpful advice? Will her ear heal alright from this?

 

[Oscar and Carrie]

Hi Ever, don't worry, I'm sure we've all done that by accident, I know I have!
Are you using a Lancet device or freehanded? You may find it easier to poke freehand, and you'll learn to know the amount of pressure you need to apply to get deep enough to bleed, but not to poke through.
Do you use a towel to wrap Holly? This may make it easier to keep her still, and then make sure you give a high protein treat after testing, whether it's successful or not. Freeze dried chicken or cod is good for this. Hopefully she'll learn that the treat is coming and will wait patiently for you to finish.
Trust me it gets easier, when I started it took two of us to hold down my cat and now he just sits between my legs and doesn't budge at all. I can even do it now whilst he's just sleeping on the couch he's so used to it.

 

[Ever & Holly]

Hi Ever, don't worry, I'm sure we've all done that by accident, I know I have!
Are you using a Lancet device or freehanded? You may find it easier to poke freehand, and you'll learn to know the amount of pressure you need to apply to get deep enough to bleed, but not to poke through.
Do you use a towel to wrap Holly? This may make it easier to keep her still, and then make sure you give a high protein treat after testing, whether it's successful or not. Freeze dried chicken or cod is good for this. Hopefully she'll learn that the treat is coming and will wait patiently for you to finish.
Trust me it gets easier, when I started it took two of us to hold down my cat and now he just sits between my legs and doesn't budge at all. I can even do it now whilst he's just sleeping on the couch he's so used to it.

I'm using a lancet device but only the handle part so I have a larger grip, otherwise I'm freehanding it. I may try using a towel, my cat just doesn't like to be held so I don't want to make this awful for her by forcing it on her. I have been giving her freeze-dried chicken afterwards. She loves it so much she has started waking me at 3am reminding me that I could be feeding her treats right now lol

 

[Red & Rover (GA)]

Will her ear heal alright from this?

A cat's ears are designed for cat fights and they don't have as many nerve endings as one would think. We've all poked holes. The ears will heal.

 

[Oscar and Carrie]

I may try using a towel, my cat just doesn't like to be held so I don't want to make this awful for her by forcing it on her.

Neither did mine, he would thrash in the towel even with two people holding him. It takes time for them to become used to it and associate it with treats.
It may help to just start slow by placing the towel on, taking it straight off and then reward? Build up the amount of time the towel is on, and then start to include you holding her.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

I use cotton ovals as a backing so it’s harder to poke through but it still happens sometimes. Also press the spot for a few seconds after so the bleeding stops and it avoids bruising. Are you warming up the ear first? I also use a flashlight I aim at the ear so I can’t really see what I’m doing

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

Oh and what size gauge lancets are you using?

 

[Ever & Holly]

I use cotton ovals as a backing so it’s harder to poke through but it still happens sometimes. Also press the spot for a few seconds after so the bleeding stops and it avoids bruising. Are you warming up the ear first? I also use a flashlight I aim at the ear so I can’t really see what I’m doing

I have cotton pads on my grocery list too. Was trying to use a cotton ball but it's hard to keep in place. I'll try holding it for a second too. I tried using a flashlight but she has so much hair on her ears I can't see much of anything

Oh and what size gauge lancets are you using?

I'm using 26. I was thinking I'll try 30 once I'm more comfortable with this

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

I always freehanded with two cats. I would sometimes shred Noah's ear because he'd flinch if a car drove by. They get over it quicker than we do, it's mostly guilt on our part.
I used these BD lancets because they have a fat grip like the pens made for people with hand problems.

 

[Pabs&Ro]

I have gone right thru many times. Pabays ears get very red with all of the testing and when I can rest them I apply a little arnica cream. Just the human one you buy from a drug store. I use ointment not gel. It seems to help and makes me feel better!

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

You can try a 28 gauge before the 30 too. Some folks will ask their vet to shave the hair on the ear to make it easier to test. The main thing for me what this happens is to apply pressure long enough so the bleeding stops. They heal very fast

 

[JanetNJ]

I feel so awful right now. My cat started insulin this week. The injections haven't been bad but trying to test BG has been rough. Holly doesn't stay still long enough for me to aim properly, but I'm patient and let her walk around before trying again.

This morning we had our first successful test and I was so excited. It was still high (264) but I want to take it low and slow. But this afternoon we tested again. At first I thought the jab didn't do much as it took a second to bleed. When it did start to bleed to my horror I saw it was bleeding through both sides. I cleaned her up, used neosporin which I'm now reading I shouldn't use so I've got vaseline on my grocery list, and gave her plenty of treats.

I don't know how I'm supposed to keep doing this. I don't want to damage her ears from continuously poking them especially since I'm not doing it right. And she's very squirmy in general so I don't know if she'll ever sit still enough for me to be careful with it. This is very hard, and it's not made any better that I'm recovering from surgery so my limited mobility makes this trickier. Any helpful advice? Will her ear heal alright from this?

Eh I poked my cats ears all the way through so many times. As a matter of fact in the video in my signature I poked through. She didn’t even flinch. No biggie.