Tried testing for the 1st time-hopefully 2nd time works!

Hello All!

I tried to test Cyrus' BG for the first time yesterday. I never thought that I would be so nervous. Since my husband is diabetic, I am used to having to test him when his sugar is low, so I thought that it would be a breeze. Boy was I wrong. I decieded to try on the ear after watching someone do it on youtube. For some reason, my vet is against home testing. Well, I found the vein in the ear, stuck him with the lancet, and only a tiny bit of blood appeared. Not enough for a test. I think that I did not warm his ear enough.

I decided to try again maybe today. Do cats have feeling in their ears? I am just wondering if the pricking of the ear hurts them? I think that today I will be more prepared, or so I think.

Since getting diagnosed 2 weeks ago, Cyrus seems to be doing ok. Still playing, etc. I put him on canned FF-classic. Cyrus also has stomatits, so poor baby gets pills for that too. But he never seems to mind-actually, when he hears me opening his pills, he comes and sits right at my feet and waits.

Any input is welcome!!

Thanks!
Heather & Cyrus

 

Hi Heather
Terrific news that you are trying to hometest Cyrus.
I kow how you feel about "hurting" them but really, they get so used to it.
We used a little sock filled with uncooked rice, warmed up in the microwave and put
under his ear to get the blood flowing.
Then a very good thing to do is to dab a little vaseline on Cyrus ears so the blood will "pool" on his ear, making it easier to get the blood on the strip.
I also placed a cotton ball on the inside of Max's ear to so that I did not end up pricking myself should the lancet go through a,d it is much cleaner than pricking through the sock.

Having a routine going is a very good way of getting the testing done.
I would give Max his freeze dried chick treats while I was testing him. It distracted him and believe it or not, when he heard the microwave he would run to his testing chair to wait for his treats and test.

Most vets do not support hometesting. I ignored the 4 vets that told me not to home test and that I could not regulate a cat.
We started on the board Nov 2009 and his last insulin shot was April 3/10.
This board and myself got Max off insulin.

BTW what insulin are you using?

 

My vet did not want to put Cyrus on insulin yet. The vet put him on Glipizide- 5mg 2x daily. I have had a lot of feedback on this board that inslulin would be my best bet. I take Cyrus back this Thursday for a re-check. My husband uses Lantus and Novalog. If the vets moves to insulin, maybe I could use the Lantus. I am almost wanting to go the insulin route.

Thanks!

 

Now I rememeber reading you first post about the Glip.
Remember, Cyrus is your cat and have him treated the way you want him too.
I know how hard it is to go "against" your vet and listen to people on the internet when it comes to the life of your furbaby.
As I said, 4 vets would not listen to me.
My Max is healthy and happy now all thanks to the board here. (Okay I worked hard too)

Try and get enough data before going on Thursday and let us know.
Maybe you can set up a spreadsheet to keep track of his numbers.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=16

Good Luck. Keep us updated.

 

Morgaine was just diagnosed last Monday and I have not had a problem testing her. I have type 1 myself so no real fear here of doing this.

I made a rice sock and warmed it up and just massaged her head and ears with it for a bit. She loved it and started to purr and then I used the sock to secure the ear and voila, pricked it and got plenty of blood to test. Then I gave her a treat.

I have only done 3 tests so far and she doesn't seem to mind. The first time I tried it I pricked her ear 3 times with no results but I hadn't used the rice sock. She didn't seem to mind the pricks until the 3rd one. Then she took off but she seems fine with it all if I have her in the right place to test. I wait until she gets in her tower perch where she is cuddled by the sides of the round perch on the top.

Fortuneately she is not needing insulin and may be able to be controlled on diet alone. I changed her diet from Hill's prescription r/d to FF tender beef and FF tender liver and chicken.

Good luck with it all. I believe we can all help our babies get healthier and stay that way with testing and proper feeding along with insulin when needed. If humans can manage tight control then we can do it for our kitties.