First attempt at an ear stick ..

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Darmok - 12 Dec 2004 00:17 GMT

Hi all,

Well, after doing all the required reading on my One Touch Ultra and
calibrating it, and practicing on myself, I thought I was ready to try
and give Geordi his first ear stick, in my efforts to get him
regulated here at home without having to take him in to the vet for
Glucose curves.

I watched the videos that showed other owners doing this procedure, so
I thought I was going to do okay.

Warmed up the ear with a damp cloth in a baggy that I microwaved.

I decided to go easy on him, so I set the auto-lancet device at the
minimum setting (I was able to draw blood on my finger on this lowest
setting, so I figured it would work). After triggering it, I looked
hopefully for a droplet of blood. Nothing. Rats!

I warmed the ear some more, and massaged it a bit. I also put the
lancing device to the middle and gave it another try. Still nothing!
Geordi was very cooperative, and was allowing me to do all this while
he laid on his side on my bed.

I took the warming pad and put it back in the microwave, and decided
to try once more on the other ear. I also set the lancing device to
max. I fully expected that Geordi would be UNDER the bed when I came
back into my bedroom, but, no, he was still lying on the bed, and just
looked up at me when I came in.

I warmed up the other ear, and triggered the lancing device. I got a
teeny-tiny amount of blood .. not enough to get a reading .. and you
really need very little with this meter .. only about the size of an
'o'. Since Geordi was still cooperating, I decided to try one more
time in a different spot. Got another little tiny blood spot, but not
big enough to do a test.

That was it .. I figured I'd better give Geordi (and myself) a break,
and give it another go tomorrow.

Geordi is a big boy, a 14 yr. old Maine Coon neuter, and he has the
typical 'ear furnishings' found on Maine Coons. Since he is BLACK,
its hard to see anything or any veins. The insides of his ears are
light in color in some areas, but even his skin inside his ears is
somewhat black. The fur doesn't make it any easier.

So, I will give it another try tomorrow, after we both have had time
to think about what we did today.

Any suggestions?

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mpwilliams - 12 Dec 2004 03:42 GMT

> Hi all,
>
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> Geordi was very cooperative, and was allowing me to do all this while
> he laid on his side on my bed.

[snip]

The lancing device is designed for use on fleshy areas - a fingertip, for
instance - that tend to protrude in to the lancing aperture, and
lancing-depth settings are calibrated in consideration of this fact. A cat's
ear is not nearly so conformable, and my experience has been that the best
results obtain when the lancing device is set for maximum penetration.

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Rhonda - 12 Dec 2004 05:13 GMT

There are some hints here:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/fdmb-faq.htm#glucose

To get advice from people who are experienced and do this all of the
time, go onto the message board at www.felinediabetes.com. They are very
helpful and answer quickly.

Rhonda

> Hi all,
>
[quoted text clipped - 45 lines]
>
> Any suggestions?

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Phil P. - 12 Dec 2004 10:24 GMT

> Hi all,
>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> I decided to go easy on him, so I set the auto-lancet device at the
> minimum setting

That's the problem. Try a higher setting. I use the Soft-touch lancet pen
set at 4 for cats.

Good luck.

Phil

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Darmok - 12 Dec 2004 12:12 GMT

>> Hi all,
>>
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
>Phil

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll try again today with max setting
on the soft-touch lancet pen. If that fails, I may go to the message
boards mentioned to get additional advice, or try the method suggested
by Megan, who recommended not using the soft-touch lancet pen, but
rather just do the stick manually, after locating a vein. That's the
hard part .. ear veins on black cats (who have black skin in their
ears) is pretty tough.

We'll keep you advised. Thanks again.

Bill & the boys

BTW, if you'd like to see my boys, visit www.cooncat.net

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-L. - 13 Dec 2004 07:08 GMT

Stick about a 1/8 of an inch in from the edge of the ear. I have
always done it manually with a needle and had no problem.

-L.

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Phil P. - 14 Dec 2004 08:10 GMT

> >> Hi all,
> >>
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
>
> Bill & the boys

The best method is the one that works for you. I have a rough time using
just the lancet because they're so small or my hands are too big. LOL!

You might want to give him a treat when you're done so he starts to
associate the procedure with good things - although most cats don't even
flinch.

Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it.

> BTW, if you'd like to see my boys, visit www.cooncat.net

Wow! Your cats are gorgeous. I like the names. Too bad "Spock" was
probably before your generation. ;-)

Good luck.

Phil.

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Darmok - 15 Dec 2004 23:39 GMT

>The best method is the one that works for you. I have a rough time using
>just the lancet because they're so small or my hands are too big. LOL!
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
>Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it.

Well, I'm using the pen ... If I get the ear warm enough, and get
lucky, I can get my droplet in one shot. Sometimes, it takes 2 or 3
attempts, but I'm getting better. Fortunately, Geordi is just a great
big "pooh bear", and sits there and behaves like a perfect Maine Coon
.. just gentle and relaxed. I do give him one or 2 pouncies,
depending on if I had to stick him once or twice.

>> BTW, if you'd like to see my boys, visit www.cooncat.net
>
>Wow! Your cats are gorgeous. I like the names. Too bad "Spock" was
>probably before your generation. ;-)

Thanks for the compliments .. I think they are pretty special. They
are my 1st purebred kitties, and my 1st Maine Coons. No, Spock wasn't
before my time .. I've seen all the original series shows probably 25
to 50 times each. Its just that when I got my boys ( 1990 ), Star
Trek The Next Generation was REALLY popular on TV.

>Good luck.
>
>Phil.

Thanks. Geordi was switched to Humulin L on Monday, and so tonight
the doc wants me to do a GC. Good thing I have an alarm clock. He got
his shot at 5pm, so every 2 hours I'll be doing the test.

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jamie - 15 Dec 2004 21:20 GMT

>>That's the problem. Try a higher setting. I use the Soft-touch lancet pen
>>set at 4 for cats.
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> hard part .. ear veins on black cats (who have black skin in their
> ears) is pretty tough.

I found it nearly impossible to get close to the vein with a lancet
device, and just use the lancet in my fingers and a quick jab.
Getting a good blood drop requires good aim. (IMO, people who claim
the cat's ears need to "learn" to bleed are really experiencing
their own difficultly learning to aim properly, and/or not warming
the ear enough.)

My diabetic cat is black, so I had to spend time examining the light
brown ears of my other cat to familiarize myself with the distance
of the vein from the edge of the ear. I seemed to get the knack for
hitting the correct distance pretty much right away. I usually go
for the middle third of the outside edge, because I find it a little
harder to aim going nearer the ear tip or the top-of-the-head edge.
(of course, if you're doing a curve, you might need to use more of
the ears that day).

As I said in a previous post, with the ultra-fine lancets being almost
hair-fine, I think it's far less of a problem to accidentally poke
the lancet all the way through the ear sometimes, and only have to
stick once, than to try to do it shallowly, and maybe have to stick
several times to get it right.

Neither my 13-year-old diabetic cat, nor my 17-year-old Maine coon
that I've tested a few times over the past year, notice the actual
lancet prick, but tend to get slightly annoyed at having their ear
held and warmed, and would likely start squirming in the time it
would take to try to stick several times (not to mention that the
lancet would get duller with each stick).

HTH

Signature

jamie (jamiemck@newsguy.com)

"There's a seeker born every minute."

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~*Connie*~ - 13 Dec 2004 15:22 GMT

> Any suggestions?

I use a insulin needle. Also, when you have a hard time finding the vein,
it helps to have a little back light, so put a light source in front of the
ear. will make the vein more visible. I also find that "pumping" the vein
for blood will help more come out if only a dribble comes out the first
time. Hold the bottom end and milk the top end.

Good luck!!

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