3/13 Bonk PMPS 472

Good morning all,

Here is yesterday's condo:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=115305

Bonk is doing well. Numbers are still high, but at least not off the scale this morning. It's snowing again, I will probably be handing around the house, so I should be able to get some testing in today. Efforts have been put in place to keep him out of the dry food, so we'll see how that goes.

Hoping for lower numbers and warmer weather!

Re: 3/13 Bonk AMPS 570

Hey Brian!

Icky AMPS, but better than "Hi"! It's nice you can be home to get some more tests in. There's just no such thing as too much data!

Hope you and Bonk have a nice Fursday!

P.S. I think we're all hoping for better numbers and warmer weather!!

Re: 3/13 Bonk AMPS 570 +5 487

Thanks Chris, yes, much better than "Hi". His +5 isn't great either. He's not going to make this easy, is he?

I noticed his ears are getting a little blistered looking around the test sites, should I be concerned?

Re: 3/13 Bonk AMPS 570 +5 487

Next time you're out (or look in your medicine cabinet), get some Neosporin with pain relief ointment (Not cream)

That will help keep his ears in better shape. You can put it on before poking or after as long as you don't leave a lot of gunk on the ear. (actually, the ointment can help pool the blood so it's easier to get...Like mixing oil and water) You just don't want to use so much that you get it into the sample when you test. Dab it on, rub in a little and wipe off works for China.

And no..if they made it easy on us, they wouldn't be cats!!

Put on those patience pants..If I remember right, you chose the blue ones! :lol:

Are you testing for ketones Brian? It really is important for you to do that especially when he's at these higher numbers. We sure don't want you to have to deal with a DKA (Diabetic ketoacidosis) diagnosis, and if you catch them early, you may be able to handle "trace" ketones or less at home.

Re: 3/13 Bonk AMPS 570 +5 487

I use the Neosporin with pain relief for Furball too. I put a tiny dab on after each test to help her ear heal. It's great you can take advantage of being home to gather more data. I'm glad Bonk is doing well. Good luck keeping him out of the dry food.

Re: 3/13 Bonk AMPS 570 +5 487

I'm glad Bonk is feeling good! You've got numbers today instead of letters...that is progress. Have a great night, Brian!

Re: 3/13 Bonk AMPS 570 +5 487

the neosporin ointment with pain relief is awesome, in my experience! i hope it helps you.

Also make sure that you're staunching the spot you poked until it completely stops bleeding, otherwise you can end up with bruising. It only took seconds, for punkin, probably 10 seconds, but he hated holding still for that last few seconds!

Not one of my better nights tonight, I'm still shaking from this. Bonk gave me a very hard time about taking his insulin for his PM shot. It took 4 attempts to give it to him.I'm trying to be calm and relaxed about it when I give it to him. I brought him out to the Kitchen where I have plenty of light, and got his blood test just fine. While switching from blood test to injection, he goes back into the living room. So I follow him in there, sit down on the floor with him, pet him for a minute, and start to pinch his skin for his shot.

As soon as the needle touches his skin, he jumps back with a loud meow. I try again in a different spot, his meow turns to a growl as he jumps back faster and he moves to the other side of the room. Seeing as he is already worked up but I still need to give him his shot, I came over and started to hold him down to get it done. Bad idea, now I have a squirming, growling, hissing cat who then starts to run toward the Kitchen, almost starts a fight with Faolan who was in his way, which I had to stomp my feet to break up. Finally, I got him out to the kitchen, where I grabbed him, put him on the kitchen counter, grabbed his fur and got the shot into him quickly. I really need to work on my injection technique, because if I have to go through this twice a day, it's never going to work out. He never gave me such a hard time before.

I had to give extra love and treats to everyone after this. The funny thing is, Bonk went into full play mode with Faolan moments later, chasing him back and forth across the house about four times.

Thanks for the comments everyone. I will stop at Walmart tomorrow (I need to anyway, almost out of test strips) and get some of that Neosporin ointment.

And yes Chris, I'm testing for Ketones. The strips are still showing trace at most. I'll see the same thing with these strips if I test my own urine (yes, like the gloucose meter, I tested it on myself first) so I can consider that a discrepancy of the test strip.

The good news is, no dry food today! The bad news is, he has already eaten through three cans of fancy feast, and wants more. :roll:

Sounds like you had a tough evening, Brian!!

Another way to give the shots (instead of "tenting") is to grab a handful of fur and gently pull up. It's kind of hard to explain, but here goes...Start with the cat facing to your left (if you're right handed). Take your left hand and between your thumb and index finger side of your hand, grab a little fur. "Roll" your hand towards the cat's head while pulling really gently. As you "roll", you'll see a patch of skin and can quickly shoot/release. I doubt if it takes me 3 seconds from the time I "pick up" China's fur and the shot is done. I shoot her while her head's in the food bowl too so she's not paying any attention to me!

Here's a picture that kind of shows you what I'm talking about



If Bonk gets upset, let him go and try again 10 minutes later. We don't want him getting so upset on a regular basis and making the whole process a fight.

Great to hear you're getting those ketone tests in too. When you get them, you might want to add that to the "Remarks" section of your spreadsheet.

Sounds like Bonk forgot about being upset with the whole thing pretty quickly. That's typical...make the bean feel awful and then go giggle with your buddies about it :lol:

Edited to add...there's a much better picture here, along with some other tips Testing and shooting tips

:lol: :lol: I thought I recognized that hand :lol: mine!

Brian...do you feed him as you shoot? Most of us let them get their faces down in their food while we shoot. Also...what gauge needles are you using? I'd definitely recommend the 31g and feed while you shoot. And....be absolutely sure the bevel of the needles is facing up. If it isn't, you are not putting the sharp end off the needles in first and it will hurt.

Poor Brian. I won't say "poor Bonk", since he forgot the whole thing so quickly. :roll: It takes us beans a lot longer to recover from something like that. We always put the food in front of Cinco before we test and/or shoot. He often gives a little squeak or growl when we poke him for the test, but he doesn't notice the injection. I would definitely wait a few minutes before going after him if he gets away again. Chasing him only increases his sense of being hunted or abused. I know you feel this urgency to get the deed done quickly and on time, but ten minutes isn't going to matter much if it means the kitty is calmer and doesn't start associating his injections with fear and pain. Take some time to breathe deeply and calm yourself, too!

Sending calming vines for both of you. Hang in there - you're doing great!