Testing question

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paul

paul

Member Since 2014
Hi all,

I just started a new thread for this question rather than my old one to get some new opinions on a new problem with my home testing.

This morning I tried 6 times unsuccessful to draw blood from my cats ear (3 attempts each ear). His ear was nice and warm as he had been laying in the sun but I still did not get any blood. I tried at the top of the ear, on the vein, below the ear, on the edge and nothing...

I even put the syringe right through his ear and nothing. Needless to say I was extremely frustrated and annoyed with myself (not annoyed with Julius he didn't seem to mind).

Anyway after berating myself and making sure I had done everything right I started thinging that perhaps I am piercing the ear wrong.

At the moment I am peircing his ear at an extreme angle, almost so that the syringe is flat against his ear and I am peircing under the skin.

Can someone tell me if this is correct? Or do people pierce the ear with the syringe/lancet straight up and down, as in vertical into the ear rather than at an angle.

Hope that makes sense and thanks
 
I'm a newbie but I pierce straight up with a lancet device. My cat has been poked all over the ear and often thru the ear by accident. My lancet device does not have a clear tip and I'm often amazed about where the blood shows up....not where I though I poked? It also seems that he bleeds more easily than when we started two month ago. And he clots almost immediately.
 
Ohhh you know I think that is my problem that I am going in at a flat angle rather than up and down. It doesn't make sense that I pierced his ear 6 times and there was no blood it shouldn't be that hard. I do have a lancet pen but I'm pretty sure that the click of the pen will freak out Julius (he's sensitive to noises) and he will bolt and flick the blood off so I am just using a syringe at the moment but I supect I have to go and up and since you do that and get blood that will have to be my next attempt. I'm already holding gauze on the inside of his ear so if I pierce up and down it should go into the gauze if it goes right through but I am going to have to give it a go.

Its just so frustrating not getting that blood it really ruins my whole day because his glucose levels are on my mind and I worry.
 
Lancets - 26 to 28 gauge - may be somewhat thicker than your syringe, which probably is 29 -31 gauge. Get the lancets marked for alternate site testing to get the larger diameter shaft.
 
I was so nervous at first but now it's no problem. Luckily Gadget does not mind testing at all. He does not mind the click the ReliOn Lancet device makes. It is pretty quiet. I have an Alphatrak lancet device but I only used it a couple of times the ReliOn was easier for me.
 
I didn't start home testing until 2 months after I started insulin injections I couldn't work up the nerve to do it. I just had the vet come to my place to do blood tests but I knew I would have to learn for myself.

Than one Sunday I decided it was time to learn and it took a few hours to build up the courage and then both my hands were shaking so badly and my heart was pounding I couldn't even hold the syringe anywhere near his ear so I had to stop and calm myself. No matter how hard I tried to stay calm nothing worked my hands still trembled badly for days every time I tried it. And of course my cat picks up on my anxiousness. I still remember the first time I managed to steady my hand and get a drop of blood to do a successful test I rang every single one of my family members to tell them I was so excited haha.

Now my hands don't shake anymore obviously from lots of practicing and getting use to it. So the way I look at it when I'm unsuccessful with drawing blood I got a bit more experience and confidence with pricking the ear so every attempt has helped in a small way even if I didn't get blood.

BJM - I will try those lancets, the syringe I use is teeny tiny (I can't remember the size off the top of head) which is another reason I may not be too successful. My vet left me with some larger lancets but the needle looks enormous I'm a bit scared to jab his ear with them.
 
Maybe if you get a lancet device (very cheap at WalMart) and do not cock it or put the cover on it but just use it as a lancet holder it might make it easier? I use 26 gauge thin lancets from ReliOn which is the WalMart brand. Maybe you can work up to getting him used to the click? I never ever imagined my cat would let me do this to him multiple times a day! Treats were and are critical!! Freeze dried chicken!
 
Hi Paul,

I have an Alphatrak lancet device but I just use it as a holder most of the time (so no clicking noise). I have PTSD and my hands are very shaky. Were it not for that, I'd just use the lancet on its own.

With the lancet device, I don't bother with the cover. That way I can see exactly where the lancet tip is in relation to Saoirse's ear. I have the lancet just slightly off the perpendicular. I also use a narrow strip of kitchen paper (folded in four) that I put under Saoirse's ear for support.

Know exactly what you mean about how exciting it is to get things right! :D (I get even more excited to find good poops in the litter box. Joys of critter parenthood, eh? ;) )
 
Hello Paul,
It took me months to work up the nerve and 2 or 3 weeks before I could test Mitz without getting shaky. A few of my failed attempts were because I couldn't hold the test strip steady enough to get a reading. I use the lancet without the holder. No click and I can see exactly where I'm pricking. Upright or at a slight angle. I probably poke all the way through her ear about half the time :oops: but I'm getting better.
 
Mitzelplik's mom - starting out learning to do the blood tests has been the most difficult thing out of everything that has come with his diabetics diagnoses. I just keep reminding myself that there was a time I said there was no way I will ever be able to do two insulin injections and there was no way I would ever be able to change his eating habits and there was no way I would ever learn to do the injections 12 hours apart and now I easily do all of that - I did learn and the same goes for the ear prick tests. I just need to tweak my technique I know I'm almost there, its just going to take a bit more time and patience.

The good thing is that people have said and I have read that their ears get easier to bleed over time so I will just keep on going. I know in a month or two I will be an expert like everyone else on here.

Critter mom - What lancet device do you use?

BJM - I just checked the lancets the vet left me and they are 25 gauge. The needle doesn't look too bad now that I've looked at it again. It may be worth a shot when I retry another test tomorrow.
 
Hi Paul....I'm a "newbie oldie" here...my sugarplum, Gobbles, went OTJ May 2013 and then back ON TJ a few weeks ago. Your syringe needle is probably 31 gauge -- a better lancet gauge is 28 or 30. Also, have you considered paw pad testing??? I test Gobbles way more on his back paw pads than his ear (he abhors it). And he is horrified of a lancing device, so I freehand. It's pretty simple to do if you cat will tolerate it (Gobbles has always loved his paw pads rubbed although some cats don't like their feet touched). There are less nerve endings in the pawpad and I truly believe it does not hurt Gobbles when I do it--he just lays there, like "would ya hurry up so I can eat?" If you are going to attempt it, be sure you are using a 28 or 30 gauge lancet. Rub the pawpad first for about 15 seconds....especially if it is cold (or you can use a rice bag to warm it), then poke quick and slightly deep....squeeze outer rim of pawpad to draw up some blood, wick up the blood on the test strip, then apply pressure to the pawpad for about 15 seconds. Works like a charm here. And I always (even if I don't draw blood) put an antibiotic + pain relief cream on the pawpad when I'm finished; I get worried that he might get an infection when his cute little feet are in the litter box.
 
I find paw pad testing easier if I'm half asleep or Rosa's being wriggly - it's way too easy for her to shake her head and send that drop of blood flying if I test her ear when she's in that sort of mood! Most of the time, she'll lay curled up on her back on my lap and offer me the paw she wants me to test. And this is a cat who would never tolerate her paws being touched or held until recently. The days she's being tested often and is being wriggly, hubby just sits next to me so she can lean her head on him - she's got to the point where she'll actually reach out to him with her front paws if she wants to lean her head! She flinches just a tiny bit when the lancing device clicks, but I'm still not sure if that's the noise or the needle. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get the hang of testing without the device. The thing that seems to bother her the most is me using the Neosporin - for some reason she doesn't like the feel of that being rubbed into her paw. I use 26 gauge lancets which mostly means I can get a good blood drop at the first attempt, but if it looks like I'm not going to get enough, I just do a second poke right next to the first one.

When I test her ear, I use a piece of folded up paper kitchen towel behind where I'm going to poke - I know some people use cotton wool, but Rosa absolutely detests the feel of that and won't allow it anywhere near her (nothing to do with the testing - she's always hated it for some reason).
 
Vet told me the home meter I have may not give accurate readings. She sd to get alphatrak2. They hv at vets. I made apptmt to hv them check Salems level & I'll bring my meter also. Or test him at home befr we go. Have any of u heard this before??
 
Yeah, my vet said that too. But I think that's because they're told that the alphatrak is the only meter we should use. Most of the human glucometers are also fine - you just have to read the results slightly differently. @BJM has a link on her signature that shows you how to do this - it may appear elsewhere too, but that's where I've seen it. The alphatrak is expensive and so are the strips to go with it - as far as I can tell it's an unnecessary expense.
 
manxcat419 said:
When I test her ear, I use a piece of folded up paper kitchen towel behind where I'm going to poke - I know some people use cotton wool, but Rosa absolutely detests the feel of that and won't allow it anywhere near her (nothing to do with the testing - she's always hated it for some reason).
Click to expand...
I do the same with Saoirse! I started by using cotton wool (as I was taught by our vets), but Saoirse couldn't abide the lump of fluff in her ear.
 
Glucometer Notes in my signature link.
Note: the reference values are based on research by Dr Rand of the Tight Regulation protocol, The Merck Veterinary Manual, and experiences by members here.
 
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