1/23/18 - Luci - AMPS 257, 2+151, 4+115,6+94,10+321, PMPS 282

Based on her non-falling numbers last night it looks like it was a furshot..today I asked DH to pick her up to put her on top of the washer so I could actually see exactly where the needle was going. And I used a 31 gauge - very tiny - no flinch! Actually no response from her at all...Not sure if it was because he was holding her and she was distracted by all of that (being on the washer for anything is new to her)...or by him petting her...I grabbed up some scruff and did the poke...nothing. And it was good!

My hubby thinks he's having a harder time getting a drop of blood on the BG's now - says I'm poking her too much! I'm finding just the opposite - I give her a little poke with the lancet right on the outer edge and get a tiny blood droplet every time - it seems to come easier than it used to...using a smaller gauge for these now too. I could offer him the larger gauge lancets perhaps?

 

I wouldn't be to sure that it was an out and out fur shot, she stayed pretty flat all last night, looks like a bounce cycle. Having said that, if you do skip or get a FS, the depot can continue to influence and hold numbers down in the first half of the cycle, though usually with that we would expect the numbers to spike up by next shot time. This morning she is still in flat yellow, it will be interesting to see if she decides to have an active cycle.

Is Hubby poking her in the same place, usually with more pokes they bleed easier? Are here ears cold, does he take time to warm them up a bit? (I've found that influences the amount of blood I get the most) as George loves having his ears petted I usually just warm them with my hand.
Is he poking the same ear as you? (I found one ear bled more readily than the other, though perhaps that was more dependent on technique.

 

It will be interesting to see what kind of numbers you will get today.

 

I really thought I missed last night - she flinched away from me just as I pushed the plunger...I was kinda surprised by that move...so that's why we went to a smaller/shorter needle and he held her today...but I could be wrong - in any case - I let well enough alone - per this groups recommendations - if not sure - then let it go till next time...today's injection went much better...

Hubby may be - but he seems more adapt at it than me..so I feel pretty confident he knows exactly where to poke...we always used a baby sock filled with rice, warmed in the microwave and massage her ear outward while resting that sock under there - it's a perfect fit for her ear - she doesn't seem to mind that at all - she pulls her ears back but when I nestle the sock underneath it flattens out nicely...the second good thing about the sock - for us - is that we don't poke our finger while pushing up on the sock gently from underneath when doing the poke...not like it would go through that far...but her ear is thin - so if I was using my finger I'd probably be getting a poke too...don't want to do that and contaminate the area...

I tried this morning in her right ear - went beautifully! Second reading was in her left ear - required two pokes...she just wasn't bleeding much there at all...it was such a tiny ball I couldn't get the strip to pick it up - massaged her ear a bit more and when I finally had one big enough she shook it off..great...so another little poke and was able to get a little better ball - but still quite small in that left ear..I like to try to swap back and forth so it's just not the same ear/same place every time...she was rewarded with string cheese and a couple of teaspoons of FF. Her number has fallen 100 points already today...she seems to like those big drops...I'm not so sure...but will be able to test her every 2 hours today...looking for the numbers to flatten out...

 

Looks like she's clearing the bounce again this morning and heading back down to the Lagoon.(green)


Aside from her breakfast, has she had anymore food? Remind me does she graze? or do you have a set schedule for feeding.

 

She has been eating small portions all day - she's more of a grazer - but I don't put down extra food...she comes begging frequently - so I give her a couple of teaspoons or so at a time - sometimes up to a half can - but only if she hasn't eaten in a while.

She likes string cheese right now and is snubbing what's left of the morning food in her dish - to get the cheese (a reward for cooperating with the ear poke) pea sized bits of string cheese...happy little camper!

 

It would be great if you could add the numbers to your title as the day goes on so we can catch the numbers quickly.

Typical cat ... snubbing regular food for the yummy stuff!

 

We have reservations for dinner at 6.. and still haven’t been seated.. relative Birthday dinner. Now I’m getting nervous that I won’t be home in time to give 7:45 Lantus shot..

What’s my window? If I’m late do I have to delay sequential shots? If so for how long??

I can see my evening going down the tubes

 

We say 15 minutes each cycle or 30 minutes per day when you need to get back to your original shot times. However, I have seen a pro say if the cat is very high, then you could shoot early, within reason. Let's see what happens tonight.

 

Early is out if the question unless I would have done it before I left...

Otherwise I’d have to ask them to put my food in a go bag and leave in 20 minutes to make it home for the 7:45 shot..

We just ordered..

I’m trying not to stress..

 

No, no. When i said shoot early to get back onto schedule, that was for tomorrow. I hope the service is quick!

 

I made it home and had her shot done by 7:53 - only a few minutes late! I asked my hubby if he could get a ride with the relatives and said I needed to GO HOME! And that was that...

Fortunately the food came faster than the entire time we were waiting for the table...thankfully. This was a really nice restaurant and they were busy - and I just felt that my evening was ruined because I was stressing once I realized we weren't being seated at 6...I figured we'd be done easily by 7:20 or so...get home with time to spare...not in this case...

Luci seems happy to see me though...

 

So glad to hear the smaller needles don’t bother her! And that you’re having more success with the ears. They do learn to bleed easier and it might help to give DH a bigger lancet if he has trouble, at least for now. I’ve had to do that with my daughters on occasion, I’d rather them use a bigger lancet and get it on the first try than a smaller one and have to poke her more than once.