What am I doing wrong: Glucose Testing???

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oreosmom

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Hello Again,

Yesterday was the first time we put Oreo on insulin and the first time I have ever given a shot. That part is easy! What is hard is testing the blood glucose. The vet said she prefered the Alpha Trak 2. The vet tech wasn't very familiar with it and advised us to go home and review the materials (in other words...go home and figure this out yourselves!)
We did figure most of it out...but the lancing device is PAINFUL for our cat. We tried it on the side of his paw pad, at her advise. Our cat hates our guts now, and rightfully so! We are holding him down and pinching his feet, then squeezing his toe. This cannot be the right way to do this??????? What are we doing wrong? Is there a less painful method to do this? Is the ear preferred? Is there a way to numb the pain first? I am beginning to feel very discouraged. If anyone has any advise ,,,, we would love your help.

Desperate in San Diego,

Carol, Oreo's Mom
 
I believe most of us here use the ear. I Can't even imagine trying to poke her paw pad. I'm so glad there's another option
 
my understanding from the girls i've seen do paw testing over the years is that they put kitty on their back, rub the foot, and then poke the middle of the paw pad, you know, the biggest part of the pad. also, if i remember correctly, they have to free hand the lancet because the pad is as tough as it is. the spring loaded lancet device probably doesn't have enough strength behind it to pierce the pad on it's own.

if you want to keep trying the paw testing, we could round up some of those people i'm sure and they could give you some tips and tricks. also, one of our members, Heather, has a video on youtube.com of her testing her beloved Raja that might help
 
I use the ear, and I think a great majority here do also. I have found a lot of helpful hints here. You can warm the ear up to increase blood flow with a washcloth or rice filled sock (haven't made one but I know others here use them) heated in the microwave, or just gently rubbing to warm the ear. A little penlight or small flashlight will help you see the vein. There is a vein that runs along the outer edge of the ear, and you want to poke between the vein and the edge of the ear. I like to use a cotton ball or piece of tissue held on the other side from where I am poking to make it more solid and stable. I use a free hand type lancet instead of a pen, and I have read others here prefer them too, to have more control over the lancet. Then just poke, and you may have to massage a little to get a good drop out.

For pain, I have read others here recommend Neosporin with pain relief- it serves two purposes, the petroleum jelly base helps the blood bead up, plus it has numbing in it. I just bought some last night so I hope it helps. Sometimes Shady seems to not even notice me pricking his ear, and sometimes (like this morning), he gives a little jump and yelp. :( I think it hurts more if I jab too hard, because I pierced his little ear through this morning. :(

It does get easier with practice, in the beginning I usually took about 5 pricks to get blood, and was so frustrated I was nearly in tears, Shady was growling, etc. Now it is usually pretty easy but I do have times I can't get a good drop, or the meter malfunctions, or I poke him too hard like today. Also a treat as a reward afterwards helps them associate it with something positive. Hang in there!
 
can't help with the paw pricks but

you are aware you can use a regular human meter? one of the least expensive to use for the price of the strips is the relion confirm or micro. the alpha track has expensive strips. about $1/strip. relion is about $20 for 50 strip. plus in an emergency, you can always get strips at WW where as you run out of the expensive ones, they can be had at vet and some places to order.

info to just keep you informed

welcome to the board
 
Hi Dian,

Many thanks for the reply. I NOW know that I can use a human meter....I will try to return the other (which of course was recommended by the $$$vet $$$) but it would be highly unlikely they will take it back. It still may be cheaper using the human kind. Rebecca of this site said she could mail me a care package which includes the meter. Again, thanks!

Carol....
 
the relion meter only costs $9. the free ones from here use more expensive strips but you can sometimes find those strips cheaper on e-bay
 
Just wanted to let you know you aren't the only one having trouble getting blood at the start!

My kitty just got a diagnosis last Friday and I bought the Alpha Trak meter like you did.

So today I tried to use the meter and I couldn't get a good bead of blood from Heidi's ear. I called the telephone number on the Alpha Trak instruction booklet -- they have a doctor there who can help you out. His name is Dr. Evans. He said that if I really can't get a good bead of blood from her ear, I can try her paw pads, but you have to "stick" the part of the pad on the side because the bottom of it is too calloused.

I also am not going to use the lancet device that comes with the meter. I've used one on myself before -- "ouch" !!! My vet recommended getting 22 gauge needles, which I buy at the vet's office. There's no clicking noise and no sudden pressure and sting that way.

Dr. Evans at Alpha Trak is really helpful; I had to call him to get the meter set up, too.

I felt so discouraged today, after sticking her 4 or 5 times and then just having to give up, I just looked at Heidi and it brought tears to my eyes because I felt like "how am I going to help you if I can't do this?" I'm not one to cry a lot, but pets are so dependent on us and so helpless. After reading some posts on this site, I feel more hopeful that I will soon be able to do the blood glucose monitoring. My vet wants me to do a Blood Glucose Curve every 1-2 weeks, which means taking a reading every 2 hours for 12-14 hours!

Corinne
 
I would suggest you youtube it... there are tons of videos on there on how to do it and they offer up really helpful suggestions like warming up a sock with rice in it in the microwave and holding it on their ear... or wrap them up in a towel and hold them between your knees.

We did our first curve on Friday and it was stressful, but we did get better at it! I'm not looking forward to doing it again, but it's got to be done. Hope you find the videos on youtube helpful
 
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