? "Testing will get easier" -- but when?

Lauren & Esse

Lauren & Esse

Member
Hi all!

Everyone keeps saying testing will get easier with time, but like... how much time? We've been reading all the tips and watching YouTube videos, but it seems like so far things are only getting harder. Our main issues are:
  1. It's increasingly tough to get blood from his ears. We started using a warm rice sock as is recommended and his ears visibly pink up but we're finding we have to stick him two, three, four times to even maybe get a tiny drop of blood, and by that point we're often having to restrain (burrito) him as he growls, hisses, and bucks at us. Could this change be because his ears are bruised? Or could there be something else going on?
  2. He doesn't seem to associate the treats with testing, so he has no motivation to "play along." We've been using the bathroom counter as his testing spot since it's a contained area with good lighting. A week ago he would come into the bathroom willingly when he saw we had treats, now when he realizes what's going on he runs from the area. (I don't blame him!) How long did it take your cats to make this association?
One thing we haven't tried yet is using a lower gauge lancet. I plan to pick some up when I leave the house today. Right now we're using 28 gauge. We also could stand to get better at squeezing his testing spot with the cotton pad after we get what we need--he's so anxious to leave the situation that it's really tough to get him to stay still once we're done but that should help with the bruising, right?

Photo of the poor guy and his poor lil' ears:
PXL_20250420_013830581~2.jpg
 

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Lauren & Esse said:
Hi all!

Everyone keeps saying testing will get easier with time, but like... how much time? We've been reading all the tips and watching YouTube videos, but it seems like so far things are only getting harder. Our main issues are:
  1. It's increasingly tough to get blood from his ears. We started using a warm rice sock as is recommended and his ears visibly pink up but we're finding we have to stick him two, three, four times to even maybe get a tiny drop of blood, and by that point we're often having to restrain (burrito) him as he growls, hisses, and bucks at us. Could this change be because his ears are bruised? Or could there be something else going on?
  2. He doesn't seem to associate the treats with testing, so he has no motivation to "play along." We've been using the bathroom counter as his testing spot since it's a contained area with good lighting. A week ago he would come into the bathroom willingly when he saw we had treats, now when he realizes what's going on he runs from the area. (I don't blame him!) How long did it take your cats to make this association?
One thing we haven't tried yet is using a lower gauge lancet. I plan to pick some up when I leave the house today. Right now we're using 28 gauge. We also could stand to get better at squeezing his testing spot with the cotton pad after we get what we need--he's so anxious to leave the situation that it's really tough to get him to stay still once we're done but that should help with the bruising, right?


it does gets easier, the ear is not bruised, is the capillaries that are swelling with each pricking, which is a good thing, it will be easier to draw blood, I also have a small flashlight I place in my mouth so I can see the drop of blood easier, and for you if you put the flashlight on the other side (inside) of the ear you will be able to see the veins and get familiar as to where they are, believe me even after 3 years and twice a day testing Corky, sometimes I have to use 3 strips in one test, just take a step back, breath in and breath out, and try again cats are very sensitive to stress, if you are stressed he will stress as well.

Photo of the poor guy and his poor lil' ears:
View attachment 73678
Click to expand...
 

The ear is not bruise, on the contrary the capillaries are swelling as you prick which will make it much easier to draw blood, I myself after 3 years and testing every 2 hours, sometimes I use 3 strips in one test, I have a small flashlight I place in my mouth to see the drop of blood easier, for you to familiarize where the veins are also you can look thru the inside tip of the ear before you poke, if you can't get the drop just squeeze again lightly, or prick again:bighug::cat::cat:
 
:bighug::bighug:

Some people and their cat only need a few times before it becomes easy. Others may need weeks and tons of patience.

My cat took to testing right away but he's a weirdo :p He's my second diabetic so testing is nothing new to me. With my first diabetic, I think it took at few days to see what worked for us. The hot damp washcloth in a baggie was suggested to us but it did not work at all. The washcloth never stayed hot enough just going from the sink to the cat a few feet away and the crinkle of the baggie bothered my cat. The rice sock worked better for us. It's not even a sock, just a scrap of fabric made into a little 2 inch square bag and filled with a tablespoon or so of uncooked rice.

My tips:

The rice sock needs to be really warm but not so hot that it will burn. Press the lancet device firmly against the ear, holding the rice sock on the other side so you have a firm surface to press the device against. If the device has adjustable depth settings, try each one. Some lancet devices simply do not work well. You can try a different brand with matching lancets or just freehand the lancet without the device. Try the other ear. Some cats only have one ear that bleeds well. You can also try different spots along the edge of the ear.

The Libre meter is an option if your cat won't allow for ear testing. It's good to know how to test by the ear as a back up, though. The Libre is known to fall off or malfunction.
 
squeem3 said:
:bighug::bighug:

Some people and their cat only need a few times before it becomes easy. Others may need weeks and tons of patience.

My cat took to testing right away but he's a weirdo :p He's my second diabetic so testing is nothing new to me. With my first diabetic, I think it took at few days to see what worked for us. The hot damp washcloth in a baggie was suggested to us but it did not work at all. The washcloth never stayed hot enough just going from the sink to the cat a few feet away and the crinkle of the baggie bothered my cat. The rice sock worked better for us. It's not even a sock, just a scrap of fabric made into a little 2 inch square bag and filled with a tablespoon or so of uncooked rice.

My tips:

The rice sock needs to be really warm but not so hot that it will burn. Press the lancet device firmly against the ear, holding the rice sock on the other side so you have a firm surface to press the device against. If the device has adjustable depth settings, try each one. Some lancet devices simply do not work well. You can try a different brand with matching lancets or just freehand the lancet without the device. Try the other ear. Some cats only have one ear that bleeds well. You can also try different spots along the edge of the ear.

The Libre meter is an option if your cat won't allow for ear testing. It's good to know how to test by the ear as a back up, though. The Libre is known to fall off or malfunction.
Click to expand...

It gets easier it is not bruising that you see but the capillaries that are swelling, and this is a good thing, it will become much easier to prick the ear and draw, blood, try not be stressed when you test, cats are very sensitive to stress ,if you are stressed as you test he will get stress, even after 3 years and twice an hour testing, there are times that I use 3 test strips before I draw blood, it will get easier:bighug::bighug::cat:;)

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/
 
squeem3 said:
...Press the lancet device firmly against the ear, holding the rice sock on the other side so you have a firm surface to press the device against...
Click to expand...

This is something we haven't tried yet--maybe that would be better than pressing against the cotton pad we're holding. We also haven't been using the lancet device because I assumed he wouldn't like the noise it makes, but maybe we could give that a go just in case.

Also just reassuring to know that (as y'all say) ECID and it might take quite a while to get there. I just didn't anticipate that it would get worse before it got better.

Thanks!
 
It's an ear sandwich: warm rice sock inside the ear, ear, lancet device :) Some people find that poking the inside of the ear is easier for them. Maybe give that a try too.

You can try clicking the lancet device randomly near your cat's ear to get him used to the noise. It's not loud at all but cats can be weird. I'm not sure if some brands of devices have a louder click than others.

Does the meter beep when it's ready for blood? You can turn off the beep if it freaks out the cat. Check the meter manual for how to do that.
 
Gabby never had an issue with testing. I was lucky especially since I was a testaholic. She was also incredibly food motivated so having the treat container in the vicinity was a real plus. I also didn't use the lancet device. I never felt like I had a good look at what was going on and I had more control by free handing the poke. It's an issue of personal preference.

This may seem like an odd question but how nervous are you about testing? If you're anxious, your kitty may be responding to your mood. Some normally relaxed cats become skittish because you're worried.

What you need to consider is that it takes a while for the capillary bed along the edge of the ear to more fully develop. When you hear members saying that their cat's ear "bleeds" easily, it's because the capillary bed has been trained to bleed as a result of poking. Depending on how long you're been working at home testing, the capillaries may not be cooperating yet.

I'd like to make a suggestion. Lantus is a very different type of insulin than the other insulins that can be prescribed. The big difference is the depot. Every time you give an injection, Lantus forms microcrystals that are deposited in the fat tissue. Most, but not all of those crystals dissolve over the 12-hour cycle. A small number continue to dissolve which is why Lantus has a long duration and a gentle action. If you skip shots, you deplete the depot. As a result, you're having to play catch-up with the depot. You may want to take a look at the sticky notes at the top of the Lantus board to have a feel for the way Lantus works.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
This may seem like an odd question but how nervous are you about testing? If you're anxious, your kitty may be responding to your mood. Some normally relaxed cats become skittish because you're worried.
Click to expand...

The vet gave us this advice too. We're trying to be calm and cool but it's really tough to stay that way when he's fighting us so hard--his stress makes me stressed because I worry I'm hurting him. But we try to go into each attempt "fresh"!

And yes--we were just skipping shots at first because I was worried about him having a pre-shot number so low when there was no guarantees we could monitor him throughout the cycle to see how the dose took him. But we're planning on sticking with the 0.5u for a week now (like the SLGS guidelines actually recommend for a cat who was already on a long-term low carb diet) and now we're having no skips. I wish we had started with that initially but the vet prescribed 1u to start.

Editing to add: I'm lol'ing a little at "normally relaxed cats" because I wouldn't necessarily describe Esse that way--not that you would know that of course! I also wonder if having his energy increase as he starts to feel better also makes testing harder. We had that issue when we went to the vet a bunch last year because of his infections... when he was sick and pathetic he was very easy-going but when his health improved he was less tolerant.
 
We were one of the lucky ones with testing too but I’d say it took a month of squirming and resistance to get there. Sometimes he’d meet me at the testing spot, sometimes not. I’d actually straddle him between my legs on the floor.

Couple things that helped us that you probably have heard already… We almost always tested before a snack time. Not a treat but a full snack. Freehand the lancet but make sure the pointier side of the lancet hits the ear first. Then “milk” the ear to get your drop and clean up after with some pressure with a wet tissue or cotton pad.
 
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