rough time, your suggestions wanted

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seamist

seamist

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I am going through a rough time with Sasha. Now that he is feeling better, he has become more aggessive and scratches me when I try to check his blood glucose. We went for a few days when it was easier, I was able to get a good blood drop, and he let me get the sample. Now he is on the attack when he sees the testing equipment. When I eventually get the lancet to his ear, it often doesn't bleed at all, requiring multiple pokes, and in the end I more often give up bloody myself. I have tried different lancets and different lancing devices. I massage the ear to warm it, but now he doesn't want me to touch his ear at all. Should I buy a cat restraint of some kind? Are there special gloves that could protect my hands from his claws? I am not willing to keep getting scratched. He is my husband's cat, but my husband has been unable to test at all, because his hands shake too much.
 
Have you tried distracting your cat with treats while you test? I use bonito flakes or freeze dried chicken with Spike and hes so interested in his treat he doesnt even notice. I also use a pen type lancet.
 
Do you offer a treat with the test? Some people give a treat before testing and after testing, and soon most cats recognize test time with the treats and it becomes much easier. Also, you might want to try a rice sock (sock filled with uncooked rice warmed in the microwave) held to the ear for a few seconds to help get the blood moving
 
Sasha loves his low carb Wellness canned food, so I always give him that while I test. It worked well for a while. I also tried giving him some salmon, which he also loves, but he still scratched me. I guess he is less hungry or just more agressive and doesn't want me to touch his ear, with or without treats or food. The lancing devices I have are pen type.
 
first of all, how thick are your lancets? the 30 gauge ones work best for me but if even that is too fine, how bout trying something from 26 to 28 gauge first (they're thicker) to see if that helps.
point is to try to get it done with ASAP. if you're having trouble getting blood, you may want to go with the thicker lancet until the ear learns to bleed better.

second, if both you and your husband can do this, how about having your husband distract his cat's attention with a yummy treat while you do the poke. or if he's better at clipping kitty nails, have him clip a nail or two while you do the ear. my DH's cats hate nail clipping, so if i check his cats' ears while he's clipping them, it's totally no big deal to them. (it's sorta funny: they're growling and totally pissed while he's clipping them, then i swoop in with the lancet and they don't even notice. you'd think it would make things worse, but just think of a homer simpson "Doh" response. lol.)

some cats require a kitty burrito for ear tests. it involves wrapping them in a towel or cloth so they can't fight -- almost like having them in a cocoon.

if you look at the Hometesting Tips & Tricks sticky on the Diabetic Cat Health forum, you'll find a link to this.

for me, the special treat always worked to get my cat in the mood for pokies. mine all love chicken breast boiled in plain water, so i give the testee a few nice pieces of that to eat while i'm testing her. her kitty siblings are happy to provide moral support and cadge a few treats at the same time. it gets all the kitties looking forward to test time. some kitties adore Temptations. give a few of those at test time and be sure to PRAISE your cat extravagantly afterward for doing such a good job, regardless of what BG reading you get.

someone else i know's cat is totally in love with newspapers, so she puts some newspaper out for test time.

the quicker you can get the test done, the better. get all the testing supplies together first before getting the cat to test. turn off the beeper part of the meter if you can so it's not making noise right in your cat's ear. put the test strip in the meter part of the way first too. put it all the way in just before you poke the ear. i don't use a lancet pen. i just use the lancet freehand at a slight angle, poking into the ear with a cotton ball on the other side so i don't poke my finger.

when i first started i nicked the vein to get it to bleed more. it doesn't hurt the cat. just apply light pressure to his ear afterward so it doesnt bruise. another trick is to put him on the couch with you, with his body against the arm of the couch on one side and your thigh on the other so he's boxed in a bit more snugly.

really it's all in the attitude. if you're quick and confident (even if your confidence is totally fake), the cat thinks it's no big deal. if he/she feels that you are stressed out about it, it gets him/her nervous and makes testing harder. and if you fail 3 times in a row, take a break and walk away for a bit and try again later.
 
Sorry you are having such a rough time. I recently did an experiment for Dr. Lisa using my non-diabetic cat Socks. He wasn't used to having his blood tested and is in general quite aggressive when I do anything with him (nail clipping, brushing etc.) I had to test him several times on evening for the experiment and he was very uncoopertative. I ended up using the "burritto" method and it worked out quite well. There are some people who can give you more specifics on how to do it, but basically I got hold of him by the scruff and placed him on a blanket. I then wrapped him really tight like a baby (burritto) inside the blanket so only the top of his head was sticking out. I sat on the sofa and wedged him between myself and the arm of the sofa and was able to test him without getting scratched. After I was done I gave him treats and he didn't seem upset with me at all. At the next test he was ready to bolt when he saw the blanket but I coaxed him with treats to come to to me and scruffed him quickly and wrapped him up again. By the last test he wasn't fighting nearly so much and was actually looking for the treat when I was finished. I never thought I could test him but it turned out ok. Try posting on health and ask for tips on testing a fractious kitty and using the burritto method or the clothes pin trick (not sure how to discribe that one but there are some pictures somewhere) Good luck.
 
A trick that I used with Max was to sit on the floor with him and put him between my legs. I sat somewhat 'indian style' but didn't cross my legs (just my feet). I would hold him with my legs and grab ahold of his head with my hand while holding onto his ear. I found it easier to control him that way because my legs could hold his body tight and it kept his claws away from me so he couldn't scratch me. I always rewarded this with a treat when I was done. He quickly learned that as soon as my legs moved away from his body, there was a treat sitting right there for him.
 
What I got from your post was the 'multiple times' part. Just wondering, how many times do you usually need to poke for one testing before you get enough blood?

I think kitty is quite annoyed with all the very frequent pokes, and I bet his ears are getting pretty tender from all of the attempts.
There is a picture or series of them that show exactly where on the ears are best to poke. Also, you can alter the ears too. I don't know why, but I have better luck with Shadoe's left one. Another thing someone mentioned was to stay with one ear, then put some polysporin on if sore and switch to the other ear.
With the lancet devices, there are also settings for shallow/deep. Mine is from 1-9 I think, and I usually have it set at 6 or 7 I think. That's in addition to the various sizes; I think someone already mentioned them earlier.

And of course, treats are MANDATORY! I have had Shadoe know it's test time, but she goes over and smells the treat bag, letting me know I can test but there better be a treat in it for her right after!

Good luck with smoother testing.
 
Can your husband hold the cat while you poke his ear? This works pretty well for us newbies. We both sit on the couch with Stu and warm up his ear with the rice sock and cuddle him. Then my husband keeps him in his arms and I do the poke (I still have trouble getting a blood drop, but it's getting easier; I find that you can't be totally precise in aiming the lancet device, but that the lancet device delivers a poke that doesn't bother the cat as much as a free-hand poke). Then a dab of Neosporin with pain killer. Always the TREAT! Good luck!

Ella & Stu
 
HI,

You've gotten a lot of really good advice here.

I don't want the hint about the rice-filled sock to get lost in all the othe advice, though, because personally, I think it is helpful on two levels. It warms the cat's ear and allows the blood to flow. But also, after I finish warming Basil's ear, I tuck the rice sock between his frint paws and he LOVES the warmth of it.

I also give him one ver small bit of dried chicken when I come into the room to test, and another piece when the meter beeps to say "enough blood." He had gotten a bit feisty at one point, but that seems to have made him much happier again.

Best of luck!
 
I couldnt BG test my cat for 11 months when we came here--We used urine testing, which is By No Means, a substitute for blood tests, but Moonie was so insane when I tried to BG test, we had no alternative--I would not recommend it, unless the situation got worse--
But Just A Few Tips: Be calm, the cat senses your fear & anxiety
Be firm, dont let the cat be the boss, but dont scare him.
Use Food as an incentive, it always works..Just need something more enticing .
Dont stop trying--I did & I feel I lost so much time for her to heal.
The taco is good, many people use it..Try to test in a place that is comfortable for you & the cat both..
Maybe if someone here lives near you they can come by & show you what to do..
Wishing you good testing vibes--If I could do it, you can!!!
 
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