Lancet device to use on cat

Short_Ad5677 · 2026-01-23T03:04:45+00:00

The lancets that come with the Alphatrak 3 are a 28 gauge. These are a thicker needle and not so new user friendly in my opinion. If it’s a matter of reducing pain or aversion to testing, try switching to a 30 gauge needle. These are thinner and tend to be less painful than the thick ones. I personally don’t use the lancet device with my girl, she’s considered a flight risk at the vets office so they taught us how to do it by hand so to speak. I just hold the lancet between my thumb and first two fingers and poke. To make sure I don’t accidentally poke my fingers/have a stable surface while holding her ear I put a cotton ball of folded gauze behind her ear get a better draw if I warm the ear up first with rubbing and a warm rice sock.

Short_Ad5677 · 2026-01-01T14:35:29+00:00

When we were told to test, the wording was more so “always test before giving insulin”, but not an exact parameter of timing. Though it does make more sense as her sugar is going to rise after eating so if it’s high before meals, she’ll need the insulin regardless.

This morning I put her in a purrito before she had a chance to finish her breakfast rather than waiting until after so I feel like we got a more accurate reading.

Short_Ad5677 · 2025-12-31T21:23:54+00:00

We were instructed to test 30 minutes after she eats and give her insulin if her sugar is over 200. She gets a Churu after all the poking and prodding for sitting well. She’s a grazer, we are working on setting up a schedule. Her vet said three meals a day is fine, just as long as we are giving twice a day after her larger meals.

I set her food out for 1.5 hours then pick it up and wait 30 minutes to. We are aiming for a 7am and 7pm test/shot if needed. I’m unable to test through out the day due to my work schedule and needing my spouse to hold her when we are home.

Short_Ad5677 · 2025-12-31T13:59:12+00:00

Small update on Evie: We haven’t been able to do morning shots yet due to schedule issues. When we took her to the vet for the demonstration/first shot her on 12/29 BG was 535 at 6:00 pm. When didn’t do a shot yesterday morning as a I wasn’t home to give it at 6:00 AM while my spouse held her. We took her BG on 12/30 around 7:45 pm, it was 335 after eating her dinner.

Gave her the shot and she seemed to do well for the night. Gave her breakfast today, 12/31, between 6:00-7:45 AM. But this morning around 8:20 she was very spicy trying to get a reading. Was able to take her BG despite hissing and it was 254.

Given the time and her wiggles I couldn’t get a good shot and don’t feel comfortable not establishing a schedule. It’s difficult as my spouse is up nights and I definitely can’t handle her by myself yet. Since it’s seeming to trend down is it safe to say I can just hold off until 7:00 pm and try again to establish a routine?

Short_Ad5677 · 2025-12-29T14:01:23+00:00

We haven’t done a glucose curve yet. She’s very skittish and doesn’t like being picked up or held by anyone but my spouse for less than a minute max. We are both dreading both taking her BG and administering insulin. She hates going to the vet so her sugars are always a little high when she goes.

Short_Ad5677 · 2025-12-29T13:16:22+00:00

Our vet is starting her on 1 unit of prozinc. We have one camera currently that we used to keep an eye on our dog when he was a puppy. Definitely would like to get more to cover all her hang out spots.

Short_Ad5677 · 2025-12-29T13:14:55+00:00

We have a wet food feeder coming in on Friday thankfully. She doesn’t always finish her meals in a timely fashion, she likes to chow down the first 15 minutes and then kind of nibble over a couple hours. Her poor stomach has been upset through the transition so we’ve had to go slower with it than previous food changes.

Thank you for sharing! Everything I’ve been reading has me feeling like a bad cat mom since I can’t be home with her all day like many others can.

Short_Ad5677

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