Dagron - help with BG test at home

Ten year old DSH nm just diagnosed with diabetes. Strange thing is, when his blood was first tested 4 weeks ago, he was symptomless. I mean it, between he and his brother, not even a cup of water in a 24 hour period. No excessive peeing. No acting under the weather or changes in behavior at all. And BG at that time was 450.

Now, after multiple blood tests, he has started drinking/peeing a bit more and has slight changes in behavior. Insulin started Friday night. I have no problem administering the insulin - I've had to do much worse with other animals. I do have a fear of giving him too much and his BG dropping dangerously low.

I've been trying to home-test his BG, and really have problems with it. Thought his ears were too cold, and didn't think he would tolerate a warm washcloth on his head, so have been rubbing/playing with his ears before testing. I also have a big problem hitting the right area. Either I hit the main blood vessel and it bleeds like crazy (and he flicks it all over the house), or I don't and it doesn't bleed enough to fill the well in the test kit (AccuChek Aviva btw). Only three times since last Monday (and probably 50 pokes) have I been able to get the right amount of blood. One of those three, he shook it off before I could collect it.

He associates the beeping on the glucometer with getting poked, even with treats. Very smart cat. I know the catinfo.org website says to hold his head so he can't shake and then hold a paper towel over the ear so it doesn't bleed everywhere. I'd like to know how people with only two hands can do all this - hold the cat so he can't run, hold his head, hold the lancet, hold the paper towel, AND get the test strip up to his ear.

I want to be able to do his glucose curve at home next weekend instead of taking him to the office next Tuesday to save me money and save him stress. Desperate for help figuring out the home BG testing. (Also, I've been freehanding the lancets because the pen is a headache. Maybe a different pen?)

 

I'll tag a few people for you and see if they can help out. I never tested my cats ears just his paw pads. @Kris & Teasel, @JanetNJ, @Yong, @Djamila , @Chris & China, @Wendy&Neko, can you offer suggestions for heatherc? I'm sure there may be others who can lend a helping hand too.

 

Hi Heather!
Here are 2 videos made by members on the forum that might help you. Glad you are doing some desensitizing exercises, i.e. playing with his ears. You can even do that without poking so he won't always expect the poke. Be sure to give a low carb (LC) treat after he lets you. Also, what size lancets are you using? We usually recommend 28g to start until their ears "learn to bleed". As you get into a testing routine his ears will develop more blood capillaries making it easier to get blood without hitting the vein. That can hurt them some. Don't feel bad though! We've all done it and probably still do once in a while, especially when kitty decides to move at the last second . For helping to hold kitty still, I sit a little bit from the corner of my sofa so Maury's butt is in the corner but not against it. If he backs up he's backing into the sofa corner. I just hang the front paws over my leg. We're going into Month 6 so he knows if he hangs there and is a good boy he'll get a treat . If you really have an issue there is something we call a caturrito (cat burrito with a towel or blanket). There are videos for that too! Glad you are tackling home testing. You'll have it down in no time! And you're keeping Dargon safe

Sieden and Peanut:


JanetNJ and CC:

 

28 gauge lancets are better than the 31 gauge that humans usually use.

If he tends to flick his ears and lose the drop then what you can do is scoop the droplet into your fingernail and test from there.

Aim for the sweet spot, not the vein.

Turn off the beep of the meter If it scares him.


Good luck!

 

Lisa - I'm not stuck on doing the ears. But with paw pads, doesn't it hurt them to walk afterwards? I only tried the paw pad once, and got nothing. That was with the pen, not freehanding.

Yong and Janet - Thanks for the info. I'll read up and keep trying.

 

Definitely use the rice sock to warm his ear first. That makes a huge difference. And get the larger gauge lancet as Janet said. After a few weeks his ears will bleed much easier and you can switch back to the smaller gauge, but to get started, go for the big ones!

Also, the scoop onto your nail trick works great if you get a good bleed, so you don't have to hold him for very long.

You'll get faster at it, and he'll get calmer the more you do it. But it just IS really hard at first for most of us. The fact that you're even trying is testimony to how much you love your kitty and that you have the wisdom to keep trying and ensure that he can stay safe. So well done.

Another trick that works for my kitty (who is not nearly as calm as the kitties in the videos!) is to put a pot of cat grass in front of him to bury his face in the grass, or to put one of his stuffies in front of him. Those seem to give him some comfort.

I also did a lot of catch and release when we were first starting: I would try, fail, let him go for a minute. Catch him again, try again, fail, let him go. Catch him again....and of course treats each time too.

Hang in there, and please post with any questions you have. It is a learning curve, but you'll get there!

 

I did the paw a few times at first, and you have to squeeze pretty hard to get the blood to come up. My kitty didnt' seem to have any trouble walking after, but it was just easier to get his ear.

 

Thank you all again for helping me out with this. We have had a few very warm days, and I haven't even needed to warm his ears, but WOW it is like night and day if they are warm first. I have been reliably getting readings from him morning and night for about 4-5 days now. Gonna try doing a curve this weekend.

 

Just doing the tests for a few days makes a difference! Good job