Tried four times poking and the blood won't register. Supposed to dose. Now What??

Give Sidney a treat.

Take a break. Breathe!

When you go to test, if you need to double poke at the same time, it may help you get enough blood. Remember to warm the area either by rubbing Sidney's ear or using whatever you use (rice sock, a damp washcloth in a baggy that you briefly microwave, whatever)

Try the other ear.

If you're a little late, it's OK.
 
Never mind. He's not eating much because all he wants is fresh baked chicken and it's not enough for a meal. I'm going to take a deep breath, wait for my Lantus -knowledgeable vet to call me tomorrow morning, and try to give him his dose again tomorrow at 7. It was a total mess and everyone is stressed out. I tested him earlier for ketones, he's negative. I don't think another 24 hours is going to hurt him. It may kill ME, however. UGH.
My husband was screaming at me, Sidney was running away. It was worse than I could have even expected.
 
Do not put the strip all the way into the machine until you have a big enough drop of blood. Any blood you do get, slide it onto your fingernail.

Breathe. Sidney can pick up on your stress. Singing while you do the test helps.
 
Thank you for asking about me, RR. It's very kind of you to remember.
It actually didn't go at all. My vet called me, and it has been one disaster to the next, quite frankly. He is absolutely insistent I don't use my Freestyle, since it was bouncing around at the vet. He told me to get the One Touch Ultra 2, get a few tests in on Sidney this weekend, then call back Monday and we can put him on on the Lantus after discussing readings.
Well, I looked at the sample blood size for the OneTouch and I am not impressed at all. It's going back tomorrow. Frankly, I'm upset he'd even recommend it, especially for a person new to ear BG readings. I haven't even been able to get a sample size yet with the freestyle. I'll never get consistent tests with needing that much blood.
I bit the bullet and went ahead tonight and ordered the pet monitor kit...the AlphaTrak 2or whatever it is. I can get the strips from the local vet nearby, and that's what I am doing to start. I am so tired of this back and forth over the monitoring system. I understand he wants an accurate monitor as do I, but this is giving me more anxiety than I can stand.
He told me in one breath that the other vet saying to do the one dose of Lantus for the weekend is not ideal, and I get that. Then he told me in the next breath if I want to get him started I can do the 1 dose until we get the monitor situation and readings done on Monday. Well why would I do that if it's not ideal? It's dumb, quite frankly. I want to do this the right way.
The ultimate thing is that Sid has to wait a few more days until the AlphaTrak arrives. (likely Tuesday we will start). But until then, everything is on pause. I'm monitoring him, giving him his medication, and checking for ketones. Its all I can do right now.
I would move to a different vet if I didn't have to get the tests all redone, but I can't afford that. To say this has all been a stressful experience with the back and forth of these two vets has been an understatement. I don't trust anything. I know that I CAN trust the pet monitor to help me accurately monitor Sidney so I don't feel like I'm losing my mind in the process, and that's what has to be done. It just sucks, frankly.
I've been trying to do everything right, and it's falling apart on me. Sorry for venting. I'm not trying to be dramatic. It's just frustrating, and I'm worried about my fur baby. I want the best for him.
 
Jen --

Don't let the vet's preferences for a meter throw you. If you like the Freestyle, stick with it. (And you didn't hear me say this, tell the vet that you're using the OneTouch. And "Oops, I forgot to bring it with me to the vet appointment. Silly me!!") The vet probably has no idea how much blood either meter requires.

If you can afford the AlphaTrack, that's great. There are 2 issues that most people have to contend with. The bigger issue is that most people can't afford $1.00 per strip that AT@ strips cost. The strips are prohibitively expensive if you are having to aggressively monitor should numbers be running low -- you can burn through a lot of strips! I used a Bayer Contour and strips were around $0.25 each and that was far more economical. The other issue is the one you alluded to -- you can't get AT2 strips at a brick and mortar store. If you are running low on AT strips, you are out of luck. Most vets do not stock the strips (and if they do, I'm betting you'll end up paying a lot more than $1/strip.) While buying strips for a Freestyle meter over the counter can be pricey compared to buying online, at least you can find the strips! When I unexpectedly ran low, I knew I could get Contour strips at Walgreens even if they did cost twice as much as what I would pay online.
 
Thanks, S&G. I appreciate the advice.
I actually don't have any feelings one way or the other for it. I was upset how it kept bouncing at the vet using the same exact blood sample.
I probably *can't* afford the alphatrak, but I think I will feel more comfortable doing side by side testing of the alpha / freestyle to see what the ranges are for myself and how it falls. Then maybe I will feel more comfortable with the numbers spread. And this way, I'll have a backup meter.
To get Sidney (and us!) started with confidence, I think the AlphaTrak will make me feel more comfortable getting used to all this. I will feel much more confident injecting him getting a pet meter reading. When we get good at testing and it becomes old hat, I will start comparing the readings and will likely move to the Freestyle, because no way am I paying that much for strips long term.
I am not happy waiting a few more days, but I'll feel better starting out in a way that makes me breathe a little easier. And then hopefully that stress will go away and not stress my furball out.
It would be nice for something to go right for a change. I think I've cried more in the past two weeks than I have in years. I plunked down bucks for the priority shipping, so I am praying it comes Tuesday and we can get started.
 
Jen, I am sorry you have having a tough time.
Sometimes everything seems against us.
Sidney is a lucky boy to have you by his side.
It won't hurt him for a few days if all he wants to eat is chicken. I remember Sheba's appetite was off at the beginning of FD and she was normally a great eater.
It is stressful at the beginning of this journey, and when something goes wrong or doesn't work as it should, it seems so much worse.......but you have already gained a lot of knowledge and you sound a well organised person to me, so things will work out..
Hang in there.....
 
Hi Jen.

I'm sorry you're having a hard time testing. When you say the blood isn't registering, do you mean you can't get a large enough sample size or is there something wrong with the meter? You can poke yourself and test to see if it works too. You might be able to get a larger blood sample from yourself than a cat haha!

I'm also Canadian and also used the One Touch Ultra 2 for a good year until it got way too expensive for me. I test A LOT (please see Ming's SS). So I was buying strips every 2-3 weeks and each box of 100 cost me $75. Once you do the math.. Even while claiming pet insurance, it was still a lot.

It also does need a larger blood sample but I'm lucky that Ming's ears bleed easily. But I've found the brand of needle affects how well I can get blood. I've never used a lancet unfortunately. I use needles (25G) that I get from work (I work at a vet hospital). I'm sure you can buy needles online or at the pharmacy though. I got a cheaper brand of needles once which didn't give me good pokes. You might want to try experimenting with different brands and sizes of lancets until you find one that works well for you and Sidney.

The meter I use now is the OneDrop. I chose the unlimited strips subscription which costs me roughly $200 every 3 months and I get to order as many strips as I'd like. All I have to do is tap a few buttons on the app and it gets delivered here in about a week. Now I don't worry if I waste a strip or ten lol!

If you do end up getting the OneDrop, it will take a while to get to Canada - it has to cross customs and everything. Plus you know how Canada Post is... :rolleyes: In the mean time, if you feel more comfortable with the Alpha Trak and/or the FreeStyle, those are both good options.

What were the numbers that you got at the vet with your meter? Each meter is allowed a 20% variance and the higher the number, the larger the differences. A high number is high no matter the value. Plus pet meters will reader lower than human meters. I've compared my OneDrop to the OneTouch at low values and get essentially the same or similar readings. At high readings, the numbers are way off between the two meters.

But you'll hear this from many members here once you start using multiple meters: comparing meters makes you go crazy. Find one you like and stick with it. We're looking at trends and not exactly the actual number. Only the lab can give you a TRUE BG reading.
 
Hey Sidney's mom i changed to the relion premier voice meter i had their compact premiere meter but it too needed too much blood to test . I cant believe how little blood it takes to test salem now .and it tests very accurate . Its gotten really good reviews . Salem doesnt bleed very easily either sometimes i hit a sweet spot but not much . A sock with dried rice diffently helps warmed in the microwave to make them bleed . He runs away too . neosporene with pain relief helps hes pain he will get use to the sticks but he will hide . Salem hates being sticked also . The strips you can get at walmart for $9.00 for 50 i buy online get two double packs thats 200 strips for $35.00 if your low on money they got 25 for only $5.00 . You will be diffently testing alot to begin with . If you like me moneys tight . Good luck learning try not to stress. i was the same to begin with it does get easier . I want the best too for salem and im the same way i want it done right too . Its alot to learn dnt let it worry you so much ! Take care and good luck getting started ! Welcome ! Im new (2-3 months in ) too these folks here are very knowledgable and very nice they helped me alot ! Bless them all they know more than the vets ! Seriously ! Yes dnt compare meters i stayed away from that dnt drive your self crazy . They are right we are looking for trends and patterns to see how kitties reacts to the dose !
 
Last edited:
You guys are all supportive here and so wonderful. I appreciate you all very much. I'm going to try to keep everything as chill as possible for myself the next few days. I don't know how that will go, truthfully, but we're going to try.

My biggest challenge at the moment is making sure Sid gets his pill for his UTI once per day. He can't be pilled, so we have to crush and hide in tasty food. It took me an HOUR to get all of it into him today. One moment, he likes something, the next, he doesn't. I make sure he's super hungry and then put a wee bit of medicine on the plate, then some tasty food. It's a process. Too much and he doesn't eat it. I can't use cheese cause it inhibits the medicine. He's over pill pockets. Fishy food seems to work.
Cats, man...:nailbiting:
 
We had one member who gave pills in sushi. Not a great long term food, but if it gets the pills in them....

I think it’s kind of funny to hear of vets insisting you use a certain meter or none at all. Back when Neko was diagnosed (still the same decade), we were the first clients to home test. Actually, my vet was just thrilled I was going to treat the diabetes. So many of her clients couldn’t bother. So putting any barriers in front of treatment is silly. My vet used a Onetouch, because she found it closer to lab values. But she also recommended getting a meter that took as small a drop as possible and was fine with me using the Freestyle, which is what I started with, I changed when I found a cheaper source of strips.

One tip you can try, as you also have black ears to deal with. Put a very fine film of Vaseline on the ears before you poke. That'll help the blood well up, and make it easier to see. Also after poking, hold the ear below the poke site. Blood flows down toward the head, and holding dams it up. I also used a small flashlight with a cotton pad on top under the ear, to illuminate and give me a base to poke on.

Good luck. :bighug:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top