Applying Freestyle Libre Sensor Yourself

Hi, everyone,

The more I thought about it, I thought perhaps I should make a separate thread just on this topic alone and my questions on it so it's easier for people to find for reference in the future. So the vet tech showed me how she applies the sensor and it looks pretty easy and she showed me everything I would need. I thought great, because my cat hates going to the vet and if I can save her a vet visit and do it myself at home, that would be ideal. I went to Petsmart to purchased the clippers and blade (super expensive, omg! ) but they kind of talked me out of it because they were saying how fragile cat skin is and that it can tear easily, yada yada. I have seen people on here talk about putting the sensor on themselves, and have seen YouTube videos on it, but don't feel like the shaving aspect of it is addressed enough. Since it is such a small patch to shave, can anyone here please share their experiences with it and their opinions? Do you feel it's relatively safe and so you do it yourself, or do you just have the vet do it? I hate to spend the money if it's not going to work or if I'll hurt my cat, but if it's okay to do, I'd look at it as an investment and a way to save her stress.
Thanks!

 

This Facebook group has good information about applying the sensor yourself: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2894089194158745

So far I've not seen anyone on there worried about the shaving aspect. Some people recommend to reduce stress, they do the shaving first, and then wait a few hours before finishing the job. I'd say give the shaving a try, worst case if you are not comfortable the vet can always finish the job. The closer you get down to the skin the better for it to stay attached. They also recommend using SkinTac instead of vet glue because it's a little gentler on the skin.

 

How short does your clipper blades clip?
I use a #50 blade which cuts to 1/125". Next would be a #40 which is 1/100"
A standard blade is a #10 which cuts to 1/16"
I use a #50.

Doing it yourself might not be possible unless you have a very calm cat. I need a holder especially for shaving.

 

No idea yet, I am not that organized with the clippers yet. I was going to investigate that today but ran out of time.

Cinna is a pretty chill cat but this is definitely going to be a two-person job.

 

Talked with the vet today and she's advising against using the clippers even though the vet tech there just told me I could. Vet said they've had to suture animals back up because of people accidentally cutting them while shaving at home. The vet tech had said to use #40 blade; that anything bigger or smaller than that could cause skin irritation or simply not cut the hair close enough to the skin for the sensor to latch on. If I were to try it, not sure how well my cat would behave for me. She's been an awesome patient with everything thus far.

 

That would only be true when shaving armpit or between toes and other areas when you get a sharp corner/fold of skin. I consider the real problem is when people use scissors to try to cut an animal's fur. It is easy to cut the skin of an animal when using scissors and have seen that myself.
A #40 blade is fine and is the blade most vets use to shave an area when there will be a surgical incision.

 

I don't know about placing the sensor since I've never done it but for the shaving part actually is not so hard to shave a small area as long as is not in the belly or under their armpit (or leg in this case) where they have loose skin those areas are tricky but on the back or the sides etc. it's not too hard, I agree with Larry that scissors could be more dangerous and is harder to do, with the razor you just have to keep it in the right angle and slide it over and it won't hurt their skin, , if someone can help you hold him it will be even easier just be aware that after a while of using the razor the blades tend to get hot and then they could irritate their skin so keep an eye on that this shouldn't be a problem if it is only a small area

 

Hello-

We do the libre 2 sensor ourselves. That facebook group has a wealth of knowledge. They have videos on how to do it and suggestions. They even have a diagram on where you can place the sensor. We bought the clippers they recommended off amazon. Its the conair man all in one trimmer rechargeable. I believe it was under $20. Its true cats have fragile skin. we just take our time shaving the area and pay close attention. So far, no issues. clean the area with the alcohol wipes. We then use skin tac (on amazon) which makes the skin A little more stickier to help the sensor stick. We then cover it with tagaderm ( on amazon). We are questioning if we need to make a little hole in the tagaderm to let the sensor read better. I'll sometimes wrap with cobain wrap (on amazon). Right now, its just the tagaderm and he's wearing a t-shirt. The first one lasted 14 days. The last few have been funky and not lasted. This one now is on day 11. fingers crossed. I do recommend doing blood checks intermittently with the libre. We have had some accuracy issues.

 

So our first Libre just ended, it lasted the full 14 days. Cinna isn't a super active cat though, and he has no teeth. I didn't put anything over it, and he did groom it pretty often, but it stayed stuck. I saw him try and scratch it with a back paw a few times but it survived that too. I had pretty low expectations for it, so, super happy it made it the full 14 days. Our vet put the first one on; so today I'm going to see if we can do the same.

Just bought these from the same recommendation - they did not work well on Cinna's fur at all. He has long fur with a very dense undercoat. In the end I clipped the long fur back with scissors and then used the conair clippers, they didn't like his fur at all. I suspect for Cinna's fur I'd need to invest in whatever clippers the vet office uses, those just cut perfectly.

I haven't tried attaching the next Libre yet, but, depending on how good I'm feeling about the patch I shaved, maybe I'll give it a try later today.

 

I can relate to the problem of long fur and really really dense undercoat and yes I do suggest you get an actual pet clipper with a 10 th blade, I have an oster pet clipper and yes is more expensive but they are sturdy and it has lasted me for years without any problem and it certainly has done it's job with Babu-Chiri's and his siblings ( they are all himmies so lots and lots of long thick fur)

 

A #10 blade is really not close enough for Libre sensor.
I have an Oster, two-speed clippers. Not that human hair is different than animal fur, especially cat's fur and thus human clippers do not work well for cats.

 

Yes specially with long haired cats, so I think a pet clipper is the way to go just being careful to what blade to use the #10 I use works fine for a lot of circumstances but I haven't used it for a libre sensor

 

Uh oh, my cat has really long hair too and I also bought the recommended Conair clippers. My thought was to trim her hair first with scissors before using the clippers so we'll see how that works.
Question: do you guys ever oil the blades? I just got my clippers today and am reading instructions and they're mentioning oil and I'm like what?? I need something else now? I didn't see the vet tech oil anything.

 

Yes, I periodically oil my clippers and also more frequently use a spray cleaner/lubricant.
https://www.amazon.com/hair-clippers-spray/s?k=hair clippers spray
I would not use scissors before using the clippers since mane caretakers cut skin when using scissors. Just plunge the clipper blade in and cut close to the skin.

 

Ok, thanks, I'll see about getting something . Do you think it's ok to use for the 1st time without it? Looks like I could see a little food grade grease underneath where the blades attach inside the trimmer. Instruction booklet just says to oil once a month but not whether before or after use; kind of vague. I'll research more online too. Never used hair trimmers in my life lol.

 

What do the instructions fr the clippers say?
The instructions for my Oster clipper said before first use to remove the the shipping lubricant/preservative and then lube the blade contact points with oil.
These instructions just say libe with oil before first use.

 

The instructions just say this: "Oiling the blades 1. Oil the trimmer once a month. 2. Turn the trimmer on. 3. Hold and point the blades downward. 4. Spread one drop of oil across the blades. 5. Turn the trimmer off and wipe away any excess oil. Note: 1. Do not over-oil the blades, as this can damage the motor. 2. Do not oil the motor bearing, as it is permanently lubricated. 3. Keep oil away from children." And that's it.
Thanks for the video. I'll get oil for in the future.
I first tried the clippers on myself and they didn't seem to do much, but they worked decently on her. She's got her sensor on now, but I don't know how well it's working because it's showing her at least 100 points higher than the ear poke. I understand there can be a variance, but that's kind of a big difference. Hoping it's on right. I'm about to give up on the sensors altogether lol. Tired of them failing early; tired of going to the vet to have them put on; tired of the 10 minute errors; and now irritated after doing it myself and seeing such a big variance. They're just one big problem.

 

The oil is to keep the blades moving smoothly and if you can buy it it won't hurt to oil them once in a while but actually since you are not a Pet stylist using them constantly and only shaving a small area you could probably skip this step for maybe years

 

If I recall the Libre instructions say to not trust the BG value during the first 12 hours. During the first 12 hours you should be getting an icon of a blood drop and magnifying glass which indicates you should take a regular BG reading.

 

Glad you said that. I forgot all about the magnifying glass icon and yes, I've been seeing it now. That makes sense then. I just checked and her ear poke was 391 and sensor 364, so not as big of a variance atm. I think the sensor is probably ok after all then, which is a relief. Terrible numbers though.