Testing at nail bed?

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Monica and Atticus (GA)

Monica and Atticus (GA)

Member Since 2011
Atticus (10 years old) was diagnosed 12/28 with glucose at 484. Yesterday he was at 411 (I think I erred giving him his shot yesterday morning, though). He's been getting 1 unit of Lantus twice a day since 12/31. We're in the process of switching him to wet food (we're at 60/40 wet/dry now).
I plan to get a glucometer this weekend and start testing when I bring him back to the vet on Tuesday (she wants me walk me through it the first time and compare my meter with hers). I'm weighing the different options on testing sites.

I'm leaning toward foot pad since I'm worried about the difficulty of testing at his ear (I think he might have trouble with that). The vet's assistant has a diabetic cat, and she says that since her cat's foot pads are too calloused to bleed, she cuts his nail to the point of the quick and takes blood from there.
Atticus is front-declawed (not my choice!), so he only has 10 nails. Obviously this wouldn't work for frequent testing. TR isn't going to be an option for us anyway; I live alone and work 8-5. Though I do worry about testing frequently vs testing once a week (I think that's what my vet said she'd recommend).

Has anyone heard of this method? Thoughts? Anyone else have a cat whose footpads don't bleed? If I can get blood from his foot pad, I think that'd be my first choice.
 
I would use nail bed testing as a very last option as I think it's going to be more painful than any of the other methods. Is there any particular reason you think you won't be able to do his ears? If I were you I would start playing with his ears now to see if he gets used to it. Vyktor didn't like me touching his ears at all to start off with but I spent a few days giving them rubs at every opportunity and telling him what a good boy he was before attempting to test him. Although he's still not a big fan of the ear rub he tolerates me rubbing them to get the blood flowing before we test now. I think the way you introduce your testing regime is essential to getting a cat to tolerate it. It's only a month or so later and Vyktor often purrs through the whole ear test now and he even does that when he's not interested in the treat offered afterwards!

However you decide to do it, good on you for doing it and you are right about needing to test more that the vet suggests. I don't think there's many on the board who would ever inject their sugar cat without testing first. I notice on a lot of spreadsheets that when someone has had to inject without testing for some reason they usually reduce the dose to be safe.
 
I'm pretty new to this myself (as of last 12/31) but even in that short a time I am seeing my cat going from being really annoyed at the ear pricking - loud yowls - to , in the last day, no reaction at all. She may be getting used to it. And the treats afterward REALLY have helped. She looks around for her bit of chicken now after the test. I'm encouraged by the accomodation to what was initially pretty stressful (for me probably more than for her.)

I find it interesting that the ear pricking video linked from one of these threads shows the "sweet spot" which is not in the vein itself but between the vein and the edge of the ear.
 
I wouldn't use the nail bed to test...it's going to be way more painful than the ears or the paw. It doesn't hurt cats to prick their ear--cats resist at first mostly because it's new and they don't like being restrained, but if you give a low carb treat with every test, even fractious cats learn to tolerate it without a problem. When I started testing, I was in tears because Bandit fought me tooth and nail, but after a couple weeks he chilled out and even started coming when he heard the meter beep. Now, when he hears the meter turn on he comes running from wherever he is and jumps into his testing basket, lays down, and purrs like crazy.

When he fought me, I restrained him by putting him in a basket a little bigger than him lined with soft fleece blankets, and used another blanket to tuck him in like a burrito so just his head was sticking out. I dabbed a little neosporin ointment + pain relief (not the cream) on his ear after each test and in a week he was fine. Also, getting a lower gauge lancet (26-28g) helps a lot, because it's more important to do the test quickly than it is to use a higher gauge lancet and have to prick 3 or 4 times to get a drop of blood. It really doesn't hurt them--to put it in perspective, cats have a much higher tolerance for pain than people, and people prick their fingers with no problem to test all the time.

You mention that you wont' be able to to TR because of work, but I wanted to mention my experience, because I work a full time job with an hour commute in either direction, and a second job on weekend nights, while going to grad school, and I was still able to do TR successfully. It just takes some creative scheduling for tests and shots. For example, I shot at 7am and 7pm, and then set an alarm to get his mid-cycle check at around 1am (got up and went right back to bed). I did curves during the day on weekends. If you can afford it (and believe me it doesn't cost much if you find the right person), you might be able to find a student or friend to bribe to come over during the day a few times a week and get a test so you don't have to get up half the week. I know testing seems intimidating and hard now, but believe me, in a few weeks you'll be a pro, your cat will be cool with it, and you'll have no problem teaching someone to do it. This wasn't an option for me because of my commute, but if you live within a reasonable distance from work, you also have the option of going home on your lunch breaks and getting a test. Or you can use any combination of these--it doesn't matter if you get the mid-cycle test in am or pm cycle, just that you get one. In fact, it's good to get some from both cycles if you can.

The reason why I'm urging to to evaluate your schedule and options is because with TR, your cat has an 84% chance of going into remission, and as someone who's super busy with a crazy schedule, I can tell you it is WAY easier to care for a diabetic cat off insulin than on insulin. It was completely and utterly worth the minor inconvenience of having to get up to test for a while. Without TR, the chances are much smaller. The sooner you start the treatment the better your chances are.

One last thing--since you're going it alone and will be gone during the day, you'll definitely want to get an auto feeder. You just freeze the portion of wet food, and put it in the feeder to release halfway through your cats cycle--that way if your cat goes low when you're not home there's food available to give him a boost. I have This one and I love it, but a lot of people here use the petsafe feeder and love it.
 
The vet was kind of discouraging me from using the ear, saying the vein is very small. But after reading up here and watching some YouTube videos, I'd like to try the ear first. I'm just going to tell her that on Tuesday, and bring a rice sock and everything Atticus will need to his appointment. They're good at putting him in the burrito there at the vet's (I can never manage to get it tight enough), so I think we'll try that. I've started to massage his ears in our downtime- thanks for that suggestion!
 
I think the ear is the best bet. I was scared and didn't think it would work, and frustrated with the whole process, at first. Now, J.D. comes to me, when he hears the testing kit being readied. He sits/lays on his tummy in front of me, and is very patient with me. He always gets a reward, everytime, and I think that's what he's actually looking for.

The nail bed idea, sounds like it would really hurt a lot.
 
the couple of times that i've cut my cats nails too short have had my cats screaming at me, obviously hurt. i felt like a scum and would never do that on purpose.

the ears - think about how cats get in fights - their ears always get torn up. punkin will purr through getting his ear poked. he also will come to the testing spot and ask to be tested because he knows food is the next thing. and punkin loves his food!

regarding the schedule - most everyone following the TR protocol works - or has a life besides their cat. there are things we do to compensate. many people will test right as they come in the door at night and before they go to bed. and honestly - in the 10 months we've been doing this i've probably set an alarm to test at night maybe a dozen times. you will be surprised at the ways to out-smart this system! :lol: we have lots of tricks and can help you brainstorm to find something that will work for your life. an auto-feeder is a great tool. once you are using lantus regularly, we'll begin to see patterns on how atticus' body responds to the lantus and help you understand what is needed to keep him safe. it's do-able. promise. we are all just regular people, well except for a couple of us who are a little crazy. ;-) :YMHUG:
 
Neither of my diabetic cats are life long companions they were both adopted from DCIN because their previous owners either couldn't (Maxwell) or wouldn't (Musette) treat their diabetes and had them scheduled to be put down. Neither of these cats had any reason to trust me as far as they could throw me when I first started to test them. Literally minutes upon first meeting them. Yet 6 months later Musette will be waiting for me in her testing spot and usually purring if I'm running a little late. And Maxwell even though he has been OTJ for over a year, still comes running to his testing blanket when I call him and tell him it's ear time. We had no history together when I started poking their ears yet both of them cuddle with us at night, and wake us up in the morning with purrs and head butts. If it hurt them, I'm sure they would avoid us like the black plague.

Testing at the nail bed...bad idea, not only does it hurt, think about when you cut or tear one of your fingernails back far enough to make it bleed. It hurts, and it hurts for awhile. You also run a greater risk of infection from walking and using the litter box, because you are using a part of the foot that is weight bearing. When you test the paw pad, you use the big non-weight bearing pad, not one of the smaller 'toe' paws.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Madrigirl78 said:
The vet was kind of discouraging me from using the ear, saying the vein is very small. But after reading up here and watching some YouTube videos, I'd like to try the ear first. I'm just going to tell her that on Tuesday, and bring a rice sock and everything Atticus will need to his appointment. They're good at putting him in the burrito there at the vet's (I can never manage to get it tight enough), so I think we'll try that. I've started to massage his ears in our downtime- thanks for that suggestion!
Click to expand...

How's he tolerating the ear play? If you are planning to use the lancing device (which I would recommend) the next step is to click the device near his ear while/just after you have been rubbing them to get him used to that noise, some cats are a bit nervous of it to start off with some aren't fussed at all. You can also give his ear a gentle pinch when you do that and see how he responds.

Not many vets have experience testing from the ear so you might be better off trying at home first when Atticus is relaxed and you may have no need to burrito him. I strongly suggest you try the meter on yourself first to so you can see that it doesn't hurt and how it all works in practice.

Vyktor wasn't fussed by the clicking of the lancing device at all so the first time I tried clicking it in his ear I went for the test. If Atticus reacts to the noise it's probably best to let him get used to it first. I know it seems pretty scary but once you have done it a few times you will wonder what all your worries were about and if you're not successful the first time so what, give Atticus a nice low carb treat (Vyktor gets a couple of pieces of raw chicken) and then try again later.

The most important thing is that you are both relaxed when you are doing it.

Just to be clear you generally aren't aiming for the vein you are aiming for the gap between the vein and the edge of the ear, you want to get as close to the edge of the ear as you can. If Atticus is very furry and/or black a small torch held in your mouth can help you see better.
 
torch = flashlight

Ear is better -- nail bed is painful and more prone to infection

I had to show my vet how to do it -- she always taps a vein in the leg or neck.
 
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