1st attempt at BG testing - extreme frustration!

Just made my first attempt to get a BG reading on my newly diagnosed cat. I could NOT get a blood drop to form! I'm using a 30 gauge lancet b/c they were sold out of anything larger at the store. Is 30 gauge absolutely too small? I conditioned my cat to be comfortable w/ the lancet device and the clicking noise. But as soon as I touched her ear she started to freak out. Also, the tip of the ReliOn lancet device is pretty fat, so I had a hard time positioning the lancet to hit the right spot. My cat's black ears didn't make things easier. Of 4 attempts, I'm only sure that I even "hit" her ear once, but I didn't see even the tiniest speck of blood.

I'm going to try using the lancet free-hand tomorrow. How deep do I need to prick to get a blood drop? From reading other posts, it sounds like I'm not supposed to puncture through the ear.

Can I get a blood drop to form on the back (furry) side of her ear? She freaks out less when I approach her ear from behind, so I was only pricking from that side. But does the blood drop only form on the inside of the ear?

 

totally normal here so don't let it get to you too much. i know that's easier said than done though.

it would actually be abnormal for you to get blood the first few tries.

try, give kitty a reward, take a break, and repeat.

black kitties are a bit harder to deal with obviously because of the difficulty seeing the blood. some people in the beginning will actually shave a little spot on each ear so they can see it. and some people test on the inside of the ear so they can see the blood.

you can test on the outside or inside, whatever you find easier for you.

does your lancet device have a clear cap? i found using the clear cap makes it a little easier to see where you're aiming. but just to let you know, earlier today i had to poke 3 times before i got blood 'cause i kept missing her ear and i've been at this for about three and a half years!

 

I went through the ear all the time when I first started (black ears!!!).. yeah it's not optimal.. but nobody starts this process perfectly.. does the lancet device have a setting dial on it? The one I have goes up to 5.. when I first started I needed 4.5 to get anywhere.. you eventually just get better at it with practice.. I use 3.5 now..

 

Calm down......like the others said, getting blood the first time is abnormal. It took me 3 days before I could get blood. The ear has to actually learn to bleed.

That being said...it's very important that, in the beginning, that the ear be warmed. So the blood can circulate better. I used to take the little rice sock and gently massage her ear and work it around a lot. She would just purrrrrrrrrr.

Have you been doing this?

Lee

 

A 30 gauge lancet is fine. It could just be the ear hasn't learned to bleed yet. Here are tricks I used on Maui and it helped tremendously.

1) Use a small handheld flashlight - put it in your mouth and use it like a spotlight on the area you are poking. I found this was the only way I could see the blood or lack of blood forming where I poked.

2) Are you aware of the warming sock?

Take one sock - put 1/4 cup of rice OR dry beans OR oatmeal in it. Knot the top.

Place in microwave for 30 seconds, until warm to touch. Then place and hold behind kitty's ear. This will warm up the ear and if you keep it there, will prevent you from poking your finger.



3) Do you know how to "milk" or "knead" the ear in order to generate blood flow? Think of a pimple that you want to pop. You surround the area and squeeze. Well in a similar way to popping a pimple, surround the area you poked and manipulate the area until you see more blood flow. Sometimes it doesn't work and that could be for several reasons - ear isn't warm enough, you didn't poke deep enough.

It's ok, just try again.
Finally, here is the angle I found helped me. It's an upward 45 degree-ish angle - not straight on.



And here is the ideal area of where to poke:

 

Please make sure when using a lancing device that it is FLAT down completely on the ear, no angle. I just hold mine to where it is almost off the edge, never look for the vein, any place on edge side of ear will do. Also, a small strip of vaseline wiped on edge will help keep the blood from spreading and just make it pool. I use level 2 on my 3cats.

 

Thanks for the encouragement and tips! Unfortuantely, my lancet has an opaque cap (I set it to level 4). So I'm going to take the cap off and try free hand today so I can better see where the lancet is going. I'm also going to make a warming sock today and try the vaseline. I thought I knew how to milk/knead the ear - but my attempts yesterday didn't yield any results, so it's clearly a skill I need to learn.

Glad to know that the ear actually needs to learn how to bleed, and that it can take several days for me and the ear to learn. I just feel so much pressure to learn quickly so that I'm not administering insulin w/o getting a BG reading. Milla starts insulin today (vet appointment at 2pm), so I'm trying to keep my anxiety about being able to do this under control.

 

one more thing - sometimes one ear is a better bleeder than the other. Maui was like that - of course, I would always forget which was the better ear to use. Not like I could put a tag on it or anything..... ;-)

 

One other tip: After you prick, gently pinch the edge of the ear near the center of the cat's head. The blood flows up the outside edge, over the top, and back down to the head. If you pinch (very gently - just a slight compression, not a painful pinch) the edge, you stop the blood from flowing back down into the head, so it is more likely to find the exit point that you just created by pricking. I find that this helps a blood bead form. It usually takes holding the "dam" for maybe 15 seconds before I finally see the blood drop (Megan's ears are black, too).

 

Oh yeah I forgot! Nova's "outside edges" of her ears don't bleed very well at all.. even after tons of practice (hundreds and hundreds of tests).. when I have to resort to the outside edge (because of owwies elsewhere) it's still a gong show for me.. I actually poke the edge of the upside down V (pretend that's an ear ahhaha) towards the middle of the head.. on the edge, about half way up the ear.. Nova's left ear also bleeds much better than the right..go figure..

 

That's where I prick Megan, too - about halfway down the ear on the side near the center of her head. But her right ear bleeds vastly better than the left.

 

I'll trade my cats right ear for your cats right ear .

 

She might have opinions on that. Pricking is one thing, an ear transplant is quite another!

 

hi,

We have the same issue with the lancet we use, an opaque top making it hard to see where the actual lancet is going to go. I took the top off and used a marker to draw line on the outside of the top to indicate the centre of the lancet. That way I can line up my marked line with the sweet spot on his ear. Of course it does sometime take 4 or 5 attempts to get the blood drop. Then there are other times you get it in one.

Go figure.....

 

Success! :razz: Just got a blood drop to form and actually got a reading on the glucometer! Thanks for all the tips and encouragement - they were invaluable, both practically and emotionally (I was near tears after the failed attempts yesterday)!

The warming sock made a huge difference. I did some sessions w/ no attempts at pricking - just getting Milla comfortable w/ the warming sock. Once she was comfortable w/ the warm sock being rubbed on her ears, she was way better about letting me handle them in general. Also the sock was a way better "support" for the prick. I was using a cotton ball yesterday and her ear kept falling away from the lancet. Using the lancet free-hand so I could see exactly where it was going helped too.

Hopefully I can keep this going. At the very leat, at least I know this is possible. I'm going to try the other ear, different edges, etc... now that I'm learning that the ears and edges bleed differently.

 

I find that the administering of a tiny dose of tuna or something tasty after a blood test (successful or not) during those first few weeks helps immeasureably. After a few weeks Yittle would run in front of me and jump up on the desk where I tested him and sit down to wait for me, then after I was done he'd hop down and run to his food bowl. As soon as he was done his meal he'd go back to the desk for either his shot, or a snuggle and a smooch for "Mommy's Good Boy".

In his mind - tiny prick equals yummy meal and lots of praise and love. Even though he's in diet-controlled remission now and only gets tested every few weeks he'll still sometimes try and beg for a test if he wants a snack or snuggle "Hey look Mommy, you test my blood then feed me treats and give me hugs????"

 

YAY! Congratulations!! It feels wonderful when you have success. It will totally be easier now. BTW....what was the number??

 

<<BTW....what was the number??>>

I was thinking the same thing!!! What was the number?

Boomer's ears are white and I can actually SEE his ear vein, but in the beginning it still wasn't easy. I remember someone telling me the ear needs to learn to bleed and I thought that was hogwash! It's totally true. These days I don't need to use the warming sock, I just poke and 95% of the time he bleeds the first time no matter where it lands. I also am now using a lancet with a clear cap and it helps a lot. I also press firmly and use a 26 gauge needle.

 

Milla's BG reading was 136 - that was four hours after her first injection. This morning, pre-injection, her BG was back up to 270, and then it was 316 before her PM shot when I got home from work. I'm working on switching her over to low-carb food, so I hope that as she transitions to the new food and her body gets used to the insulin, her BG levels will be more stable. I'm staying home on Friday to do a glucose curve - need to read up on what's involved.

 

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Great Job!!!!