still no luck getting blood from ear

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jose and tracy

jose and tracy

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has anyone had success with the urine strips for testing glucose? i know the timing will be an issue, but i would at least have some idea of how she is doing.

i have the rice sock, i got the bigger lancets, she is very tolerant, i am not squeamish, i can see the red lines in her ears. i have not completely surrendered, but would like to feel some progress is being made.
 
Have you tried a quick second poke in the same spot? Have you poked the vein? It isn't ideal, but it won't hurt one time. What are you using to poke against?

One thing that newbies often do is to be too tentative. Don't be afraid to really POKE!
 
have not tried the two pokes. am using a folded up paper towel behind her ear. when you say vein - do you mean the one in her leg? that just makes me nervous for the potential mess & also how off will the numbers be. am i supposed to be hitting a red line directly, or should her ear bleed as long as i am near the edge?

saw on an old post in the think tank group that someone mentioned the tail area. she will let me shave her if that is worth a try.

thanks so much!
 
No, I mean the vein running down the edge of the ear. You are normally aiming for the little capillaries that run off that vein out to the edge of the ear. But if you are getting desperate, aim for the vein.

Have you put a flashlight behind her ear so you can see the vein and capillaries? Then put a thin smear of Vaseline on the spot you are aiming for. It also helps the blood bead up.
 
jose and tracy said:
... when you say vein - do you mean the one in her leg? ...
Click to expand...

On the outer edge of the ear, you should be able to see a small vein going around the edge. That is the vein to aim for directly, if you can't get it any other way. If you hit it, it will bleed readily. Be prepared to blot immediately after getting the sample, as many cats will shake the head to get the droplet off. If necessary, get a droplet on your fingernail to test (wash hands first, before doing this!) and then press the area to avoid getting droplets everywhere. (I'm not always coordinated enough to get a tissue on it, so sometimes my finger is what stops the bleeding and I have to wash off the smear after testing!)
 
i do use a flashlight. all i see are bright red lines running around the edge of her ear. maybe i am confused by the vein/capillary. veins are blue & capillaries red, right? the lines around the edge of her ear are RED. maybe the flashlight makes them red?
 
You've probably gotten a ton of great advice already but when I first started home-testing, I found this website helpful because it had pictures. Seriously. :mrgreen:

There is a lovely photo of the kitty's ear vein which runs all the way around the outer edge of the ear. The capillaries are the much smaller branches that run out of the main vein and are much harder to see. The vein is what you are aiming for until you and your kitty get the hang of it. You will get more blood than you need, but that is better than not getting enough and wasting the strip and then having poke you little guy again.

I use a spring-loaded lancet device which is set to 1, or the shallowest depth setting and that works well for me because I don't have to worry about applying the pressure myself.

I gave up on the warm cloth thing quickly because I was getting blood on them and that stuff is hard to wash out. If Lucy's ears feel cool, I just rub the one I am planning to test until it feels warm. It also seems to relax her. When I go to make the prick, I just fold up a tissue and roll it around my finger and use that to position her ear. I have not pricked myself yet.

Hope that helps.
 
I had a lot of trouble at first. Boo was patient - I wasn't. Boo wasn't scared (he's a fierce panther, ya know) but I was. Sometimes having to poke three or four times to get a drop of blood, and sometimes not successful at all. Then someone here (I think Sue) suggested using the rice sock warming for way longer than I had tried the first few times, maybe a good four to five minutes minutes v. one or two minutes, and rubbing the ear that whole time. It worked like magic. Some kittehs are more difficult than others though - best of luck, and be assured you'll find the way to get it done!
 
FINALLY SUCCESS! & the first two test strips gave me error messages! another ear poke, one more strip & TADAH.

thank you everyone for words of encouragement.
 
I use the heating pad out of this toy of Cedric's to heat up his ear:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=3469936

I must have worked wonders last night (or hit a vein) as on the 2nd poke the blood came out like a flood. A tiny bit got on the carpet, a little got on his white part of his coat and most of it got on my hand. I do keep napkins there, as the pad goes in the micro on a paper napkin, and I do keep a piece of napkin there to wipe his ear when I am done. Made quite a mess but got a reading of 67, which is more normal for him (he's bee a little high since Dallas came to live with us, but still well within the normal range for a FD remission).

Giving the insulin injections were so much easier for me. Cedric is very patient (and I was apologizing up and down a bean pole last night) with the BG procedure! I hope yours is too!
 
jose and tracy said:
... all i see are bright red lines running around the edge of her ear. ....
Click to expand...


Those are veins. That close to the capillaries, they may not be de-oxygenated completely, so are red.
 
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