? Trouble getting blood

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Panic

Panic

Member Since 2019
I'm trying to do a curve today but it's just not working. I've poked her several times with the lancet pen with no blood forming (I am using a rice sock and Vaseline) and when I poked her freehand she cried out. :( When I did get blood it gave me an error for not having enough. My cat has long hair so I don't think I can touch the meter to her ear (I'm certainly not fast enough) but when I use my nail it just smears all over it and it's unusable. Any tips for transferring the blood I do manage to get to the strip?
 
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my solution was to use a small plastic "sample" spoon, look for something that has a narrow edge to scoop with (I bite my fingernails and they split anyway), by doing this you can wait til you have the droplet on the spoon (or whatever) to load the strip in the meter, then let the strip sip it up from the spoon

odd thought just occurred to me, what if you use one of the fake nails from the beauty section of a store, the kind that doesn't have the glue on the back? :D turn it over so it's slightly concave -- Catcat doesn't seem to mind having his ears scooped at (this also tends to increase the droplet size a little bit), though he freaks over the strip coming close to ear, and yes, he cries when pricked, but you can almost hear him sigh, he knows he has to endure it :rolleyes:
 
Thank you so much, I think I'll try out the sample spoon idea! At least that way it won't get all over the place. :D Thanks for the idea! I could see a fake nail working too O:
 
I found the bigger lancets helped. I was making too many holes with a 31 gauge and getting nothing.
Sometimes Noah would flinch and I'd shred his ear or I'd go right through even after years of practise. Apologize later and get the blood first. Blood from inside the ear is just as good.
 
Someone recommended starting with 26 gauge so that's what I have right now. I would actually rather get blood from inside since her hair is so long but I have yet to find a video showing how to do it. I tried just flipping her ear (I lean it against the rice sock) but she wasn't having it. Is there a certain method I can watch of using the inner ear?
 
inner ear is easier if you face her rather than standing/sitting/kneeling behind her -- I show Catcat the lancet (and the syringe) before I test (shoot) him, so he knows what's going on, and is starting to realize that food and treats arrive along with the poking
I've thought about shaving, or at least trimming with blunt scissors, the "sweet spot" on each ear -- don't want to mess with his whiskers or "curb feelers" (whatever happened to those anyway?) -- his skin and the base of his fur, same pale color, hard sometimes to tell which is which -- difficult to see from photo, how lush they are
 
Hm, that sounds like something I'll have a harder time with then. She's pretty irritated with me right now as it is lol. I think I'm going to hold off doing a curve and just try to do AM/PM shots until I/we get the hang of it.

I know what you mean lol, I once was cutting out a mat from my girl and after I was done realized I'd chopped off half her whiskers in the process. >.< I was cutting at a weird angle and didn't realize!

I was looking at one of my tomcats today and was sooo envious of his ears. He's a very light yellow and his fur is so short and smooth on his ears it would be so much easier to prick him! XD
 
I tried to teach this to someone today and forgot how hard it can look. Injections were the easy part.
This is what worked for me on Nigel and Noah, both long hairs. Got them in their basket, got down on my knees and laid out everything in front of them. They knew what was coming so I didn't want to surprise them. A minute of affection and ear tugging (I've been told the ear pull is an endorphin release for cats), then a paper towel behind the ear and a free-hand poke. I also used the enormous looking BD lancets, so much easier to see and hold in your hand.
The 33 gauge in the pic never worked for me, I have the 30 gauge.
bd_lance01.jpg
bd_lance02.JPG
 
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