Success!!

We bought a small, handheld glucose meter last weekend in the hopes that we’ll be able to test Duke and Silverman at home. It’s called the Freestyle Freedom Lite. It costs next to nothing. The supplies are where the money is, but they are still WAY less expensive than continued testing by our vet and, luckily, she agrees that home testing would be a definite plus.

My first try was a disaster. I couldn’t get that necessary drop of blood using the little spring-loaded device that came in the package. It pinged, the needle moved, but it didn’t manage to draw blood. Silverman was my test subject. I’ve been getting him used to having his ears scratched and rubbed, because that’s where they recommend drawing the blood. It only takes a tiny spot, or so the documentation says. It didn’t matter, I couldn’t get it. I tried it on my finger. No go there either. So everything went back into the box, where it’s been sitting almost a week.

This morning, Meda went off to a collectibles show at the Blaisdell, leaving me at home with the cats. I unpacked the meter again, got out the test strips, and the little plastic “lancets” with a tiny needle on one end. I went through the whole process again. And again I failed with the spring-loaded sticker, so I removed the lancet and tried the manual approach. Trying to keep Silverman in one place with a sharp object in one hand was a little difficult, but I was finally able to stick his ear and, after squeezing it a few times, a tiny drop of blood appeared. Voila! I grabbed the meter, inserted the test strip, and touched it to the blood. A beep indicated that there was enough blood for the test, and in a few seconds, the results appeared!

Silverman was a little miffed, but it wasn’t bad for the first successful try!

This test was four hours after his morning insulin shot, and the reading was in the range where his insulin dose will have to be increased again.

But I’ll wait until tomorrow. That’s when Silverman and I go to VCA and compare results from this meter and their regular process. If they are relatively close, then I’ll be able to start monitoring at home. That’s huge, because otherwise the glucose curve means the cats have to spend all day at the vet, which stresses them out and costs a small fortune.

This is Mr. Silverman a few minutes after I finished messing with his ears. You can see he isn’t any worse for wear.