MaxwellSilverhammer
Member Since 2019
I have been seriously struggling getting blood samples from my cat Maxwell. I watched so many Youtube videos and they just make it look super easy; the cat stays perfectly still and a gorgeous drop of blood comes out of the ear with one easy prick. I, on the other hand, would very occasionally get close to that but most of the time I ended up with no blood and a cat who wouldn't stop scratching his ears or when I got blood Max would shake his head and blood would fly everywhere except on the reader. I was about to completely give up a few nights ago after stabbing Maxwell so many times I could see all of the bruising inside of his ears with the flashlight, yet absolutely no blood was coming out of the ear! I iced his ears and gave him lots of treats to make up for it and he was fine.
But I was super frustrated and ready to quit. I spent all night and the next couple days reading these forums. Found out I was not alone. This in itself was comforting. I also learned a few tricks and tips. Using a bigger gage (26), set up a desk lamp on the table that lights up his ears and leaves my hands free while I find a vein, warming the ear up for several minutes until the ear was warm to the touch, and more massaging of the ear before and after the injection. I also used a different kind of lancet that is just a small thing to hold instead of the bigger lancing device so it can line up easily over where the vein is. Then you just slightly press the lancet against the ear and the needle pops out and right back in. Keeps it safer for us so we don't stab ourselves with the used needle afterwards since the needle goes right back into the little holder.
After using all these tips tonight we got blood right away! And Maxwell keeps going back to his table wondering why we aren't doing it a few more times.
I wanted to share in case there are others struggling so they know they are not alone and to thank all of you who post and share and give us all of this amazing advice!
But I was super frustrated and ready to quit. I spent all night and the next couple days reading these forums. Found out I was not alone. This in itself was comforting. I also learned a few tricks and tips. Using a bigger gage (26), set up a desk lamp on the table that lights up his ears and leaves my hands free while I find a vein, warming the ear up for several minutes until the ear was warm to the touch, and more massaging of the ear before and after the injection. I also used a different kind of lancet that is just a small thing to hold instead of the bigger lancing device so it can line up easily over where the vein is. Then you just slightly press the lancet against the ear and the needle pops out and right back in. Keeps it safer for us so we don't stab ourselves with the used needle afterwards since the needle goes right back into the little holder.
After using all these tips tonight we got blood right away! And Maxwell keeps going back to his table wondering why we aren't doing it a few more times.
I wanted to share in case there are others struggling so they know they are not alone and to thank all of you who post and share and give us all of this amazing advice!
