Is it another Feline Friday already? Right you are!
Once again, I managed to get pictures of all eight cats, and they’re introduced in order of acquisition.
This photo shows Mr. Duke, one of our two diabetic cats, spread out on the front steps. His diabetes is still not under control, according to his tests.
And, to save money, we’re trying to transition to home testing rather than having all the glucose tests done at the vet.
Duke is by far the easier to test. He bleeds. When trying to do home glucose tests, that’s huge!
The target is a little blood vessel along the edge of a cat’s ears. We have a little box of sharp pointed objects. Take one out, remove the plastic protective piece, and try to stick the cat’s ear. You’ve got to poke it in enough to generate at least a spot of blood, but not so far that the cat goes bonkers. Take care not to stick your own finger. I confess…I have not mastered this art.
Duke, luckily, bleeds. I can consistently get a spot of blood that’s enough for a valid test. Silverman, on the other hand, has ears that refuse to bleed. That’s unfortunately, since he is also much more effective in taking defensive actions.
The result is that I’m getting more test results for Duke than for Silverman. That’s not good, because all observable signs indicate Silverman is having a much harder time than Duke. He’s older, has a more checkered past, and is just having a hard time.
Duke’s tests are not that much better overall, but he is acting and looking much better.
None of this is fun.
[I’m going to amend the above after three rounds of successful tests on both cats! I managed, without Meda’s help, since she’s at UCLA, to test both Duke and Silverman mid-morning on Thursday and again late in the day, then again this morning. I think Silverman is finally understanding that it doesn’t really hurt. It more undermines his feeling of being in control. In any case, it will be a huge advance if I’m able to test consistently!]
In any case, click on Duke’s photo to see the rest of today’s Friday Felines.
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Nope, no part of feline diabetes is fun. Some good news, though: a series of comparisions between our home glucometer readings, readings done with our glucometer when we visit our vet, and results of the vet’s lab tests of our cat’s glucose levels have convinced us that home tests are indeed the way to go. It is quite easy to extrapolate from the home test results to lab results. I will follow up off-line with a detailed explanation and give you our actual numbers. (I am sure that this constitutes more than enough chat on the subject for most of your readers!)
love seeing lots of feline friday pics!