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  • #31
    Re: Mickey and home testing

    Hi Jamie, sorry to keep bothering you, but I just have a couple of more questions.

    I also use the AlphaTrak meter and the reading you get should be pretty accurate. Since your vet sold it to you, have you ever been able to compare the readings from your AlphaTrak with the results from a blood test at the vet's office? When they test at the vet's office, do you know if they were drawing blood from a vein and testing on their blood analyzer, or were they getting a drop of blood and testing with their AlphaTrak?

    What are you using to stick Mickey to get the blood? If it's one of the automatic lancers, some of them have fine, thin lancets that may make it more difficult to get a blood sample from a site like a pad, or even the ear. Even with the lancet device set at the deepest setting, I often have had trouble getting blood from a thick spot like a pad or callous. Bailey has a small callous on one elbow that I use, but I have found that just doing it by hand, using one of the lancets that you load in the device works better. I also get the 26 gauge lancets that are the largest lancets I can find. I get the Relion lancets at Wal-Mart since that's the only place I can find the 26 gauge. I get the 28 gauge if I can't find the 26. Doing it by hand with the larger diameter lancet lets me get deeper and makes a slightly larger diameter hole. Usually one stick is all it takes, but sometimes if I'm having trouble getting blood, I can do 2 quick stabs and he never notices the difference.

    Good luck and let us know how the testing goes this evening.

    Pat

    Comment

    • #32
      Re: Mickey and home testing

      Originally posted by Mickey'sMom123 View Post
      Mikayla: When you increased Sasha's food, and left the insulin where it was, did it affect Sasha's glucose? So cute about the lettuce - Mickey loves lettuce too. His after shot treat though is a greenbean. Mickey, Jasmine and Maggie all love their greenbeans.
      Sasha has only had the food increase since her evening meal on Wednesday.
      We are seeing no noticeable difference in BG, at least not yet.

      Isn't it funny about green beans!? I would have never thought they would someday
      be a treat for my dog...
      Sasha's after shot treats are also green beans and lettuce. We have the shot,
      she turns around and sits up, waiting for the goodies.
      Last edited by Mikayla; 03-19-2011, 06:36 AM.
      Sasha mini-schnauzer, age 9 (8 at diagnosis), weight 14 (originally 18 lbs) Diagnosed 12/10, Humulin N, beginning dosage 3U, currently 5U since 1/03/11, increased to 6U 4/4/11, increased to 7U 4/14/11, increased to 8U 4/27/11, increased to 9U 5/31/11, increased to 10U 7/1/11

      Comment

      • #33
        Re: Mickey and home testing

        Pat: We've tried initially to use our Alpha Trac, but because of the difficulty getting any blood from the paws or the ears (and can't do the mouth because he will bite), we stopped and resigned ourselves to bringing Mickey to the Vet once a week until the Vet felt comfortable to once a month with me checking for ketones. The high registering of glucose was a new development for him within the past two weeks, as he never showed anything on it before. At the Vet's, I'm pretty sure they use his vein to get their blood readings and they use the Alpha Trac too. This afternoon we will try again to use ours and this time will use the base of the tail. Excellent suggestions about the lancet sizes. Ours are 28 gauge, I'll look into getting a 26 gauge. We took him to the groomers yesterday afternoon and they shaved a nice square at the base of his tail, and I've double checked the Alpha Trac with the control solution to make sure it's working right, and now we are all set to go. We plan on doing it at noon today. We hoped to do it yesterday but he was a little stressed after coming back from the groomers, so we left him alone.

        Mikayla - It really amazes me that he barks when it's time for his shots. Too cute. Another treat we give them and they really like is cut up green pepper. We wash, clean out the seeds and cut into strips, and then cut those in half.

        Also, and I'm not sure if I can give the website for this - if I can, someone please chime in and I'll be very happy to give it. I got Mickey a really well made tag (it's metal, but not heavy) that has a white background and the medical symbol on the front and it says "I have Diabetes" (in case he ever got out of the house inadvertently or lost....). On the back of the tag, I have his full name, our phone number, the Vet's phone number, and the words "micro-chipped". I'm not affiliated with this company, I found it by googling. The Vet's office loved it.

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        • #34
          Re: Mickey and home testing

          Jamie,

          Please feel free to post the site for the tag. I've looked before and couldn't find anything I liked, so I'd like to take a look. I'm sure there are others who would like to check it out also.

          The 28 gauge will probably work fine where you're going to be testing at the base of his tail, so try those first. I like the lancet device I have, but it doesn't go as deep as I can by hand and it's getting harder for me to get blood from the callous I was using so I think he's probably building up scar tissue. It may not be as important at the spot you're going to use at the base of his tail, but it helps on the thicker areas like the carpal pad and a callous. It's also often easier to do it by hand if you're using an ear or the lip since using a device is sometimes harder to get in those areas. I also like that I don't have to stop and re-cock the device if I need to do another stick.

          Good luck and let us know how the test at his new site goes.

          Pat

          Comment

          • #35
            Re: Mickey and home testing

            Jamie,
            Good luck with the testing today!

            Please feel free to post the site for the tag. I've looked before and couldn't find anything I liked, so I'd like to take a look. I'm sure there are others who would like to check it out also.
            We had a thread at one time on some sites people had used for tags but I can't seem to find it in a search right now.

            Feel free to post yours. This is the one I chose for Ali. I wanted something large that would stand out since she's a larger dog.
            http://goodsforgiving.com/t-diabetic...ification.html
            I had the front customized to say:
            Diabetic
            Needs Insulin
            Urgent Call
            Then my cell, home #, and address on the back.

            Take care,
            Patty
            Patty and Ali 13.5yrs 47lbs diagnosed May '08 Ali earned her wings October 27, 2012, 4 months after diagnosis of a meningioma ~ Time is precious ~

            Comment

            • #36
              Re: Mickey and home testing

              Re; tag,

              I engraved Mil's at a Petco that has the self service tag engraving equipment.

              Her's states,

              Diabetic
              must have insulin 2x daily
              vet's phone #

              When she had cataracts it also stated that she was blind.

              Her second tag has my info, address and phone number.

              Many people do not know what diabetes is so I think it is important to not only say the pet is diabetic but that they must have insulin.
              Last edited by eileen; 03-20-2011, 07:07 AM.

              Eileen and Mildred, 12 yo Border Collie Mx, 24.6 pounds, dx diabetic/hypothyroid 2004, gallbladder removed 2005, cataract surgery 2005, spindle cell sarcoma removed 2009, stroke 2009, tail removed 2011, dx with bladder cancer 2011, CDS, Organix~chicken / NPH,Humalog

              Comment

              • #37
                Re: Mickey and home testing

                I'm going to be testing Mickey at around 12:00 pm or so

                In the meantime, the place I got his tag was at the following website address:

                www.DogTagArt.com.

                Comment

                • #38
                  Re: Mickey and home testing

                  OK - I can see that this will work, when I'm actually able to do it right. My husband held him with Mickey's treat - and he was very good. The problem again, was that I couldn't get any blood, just a really teeny tiny amount and it wouldn't register. I tried 4 times - and Mickey was so good, but we stopped. I was using a 28 gauge lancet, so I ran out and got a box of 26 gauge lancets (CVS brand - I hope those are ok). The alternative to this is my Soft Clix device set at a higher number to see if that works. We plan on trying this again a little after 2:00 pm. I am determined to be able to do this.

                  Maybe my technique is wrong. I took some skin and softly pinched up a little between my index finger and thumb and pricked the elevated skin. Should I not do that and try to use the lancing device flat against his skin without picking up any?

                  Thanx!

                  Comment

                  • #39
                    Re: Mickey and home testing

                    I would use the lancing device flat vs pinching up the skin. With pinchng, you might be pushing all the blood out of that area (?). Also, increasing the setting to a higher number. We use the one touch ultra lancing device set to #4.

                    Tami, Soapher and Syd
                    Soaphie = 15 yr old Border/Berner mix dx 07/08. ~8.25 units a.m./p.m. vetsulin, blind/deaf. Ultra Senior, Vital Beef/Bison, Brown Rice and lots of loving. Soaphie passed on October 29, 2015. Sydney = 14.5 yr old Aussie/Shar Pei mix dx 11/10. NPH-varies w/ predinisone a.m./p.m., blind/deaf. Sydney passed on June 3, 2014.

                    Comment

                    • #40
                      Re: Mickey and home testing

                      We use the Soft Clix lancing device and at first had to set it at the highest
                      place to get blood...placed flat against her skin (we use inside of lip)
                      After a couple days, we found "the spot" where we can get blood more easily,
                      and with the first jab almost every time. And we have reduced the setting number.

                      The one time I tried with a lancet alone, Sasha yipped and jumped, so I will not
                      do that again with her.

                      Good for you! Soon you will learn what method works best for you.
                      Sasha mini-schnauzer, age 9 (8 at diagnosis), weight 14 (originally 18 lbs) Diagnosed 12/10, Humulin N, beginning dosage 3U, currently 5U since 1/03/11, increased to 6U 4/4/11, increased to 7U 4/14/11, increased to 8U 4/27/11, increased to 9U 5/31/11, increased to 10U 7/1/11

                      Comment

                      • #41
                        Re: Mickey and home testing

                        Oh - I hadn't thought of that - pinching and the blood. OK - I'm definitely going try it with the lancing device flat against him and I'll try it at the #4 as well. I'll hold off on doing it manually with the 26 gauge lancet. We are going to do this again around 2:30 pm or so, so we don't stress him out. If the #4 doesn't work, we'll increase it again, but try tomorrow.

                        Mikayla - I think the soft clix goes up to 11? Although mine doesn't show that on the device, it shows up to five. Do you put that extra plastic piece on the device?

                        Thank you much!
                        Last edited by Mickey'sMom123; 03-20-2011, 10:29 AM.

                        Comment

                        • #42
                          Re: Mickey and home testing

                          Originally posted by Mickey'sMom123 View Post
                          Mikayla - I think the soft clix goes up to 11? Although mine doesn't show that on the device, it shows up to five. Do you put that extra plastic piece on the device?

                          My soft clix only goes up to five, too.
                          Well actually it will click one more time past five so that
                          would be 5.5
                          No, I have never put on the clear plastic piece.
                          Forgot about it actually, so I guess we don't need it.
                          Sasha mini-schnauzer, age 9 (8 at diagnosis), weight 14 (originally 18 lbs) Diagnosed 12/10, Humulin N, beginning dosage 3U, currently 5U since 1/03/11, increased to 6U 4/4/11, increased to 7U 4/14/11, increased to 8U 4/27/11, increased to 9U 5/31/11, increased to 10U 7/1/11

                          Comment

                          • #43
                            Re: Mickey and home testing

                            The one touch ultra lancing device goes up to 9....so #4 would be about 1/2 way...
                            Soaphie = 15 yr old Border/Berner mix dx 07/08. ~8.25 units a.m./p.m. vetsulin, blind/deaf. Ultra Senior, Vital Beef/Bison, Brown Rice and lots of loving. Soaphie passed on October 29, 2015. Sydney = 14.5 yr old Aussie/Shar Pei mix dx 11/10. NPH-varies w/ predinisone a.m./p.m., blind/deaf. Sydney passed on June 3, 2014.

                            Comment

                            • #44
                              Re: Mickey and home testing

                              Well, I failed again. This time once I got the lancet into the device, it wouldn't close (the top just won't go back into place - I had it perfect before, so I don't know if I broke it, or what). I tried manually with the 26 gauge, and once again, not enough blood. I have the Alpha Trak Lancing device that came with the meter, and may give that a go tomorrow. I am so disappointed that I'm having so much trouble with this. I tested earlier with the keto-diastix to make sure still no ketones, again (there weren't any), and he's still up there with the glucose showing up in his urine.

                              Comment

                              • #45
                                Re: Mickey and home testing

                                Some people I know who used places like the base of the tail and an elbow callous would lance two spots very close together and let the two drops of blood pool together to give enough for a test.

                                Another used to twist the lancet while doing the lancing.

                                Also, try moving the lancing site around. Even on an area as small as the lip, there were very specific areas on Chris' lip that bled well and others that didn't like to bleed at all.

                                You will get there - be patient with yourself and the process. Keep experimenting and you will find something that works for you.

                                Natalie

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