Take a look at this site:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/bg-home-test.htm

I never did home test our cat -- but this site recommends using the
little vein in the ear. It's easy to see. The message board on that site
is wonderful, they have tons of cat diabetes experience.

I hope she finds a different vet. Cats can be hard to regulate and
sometimes the numbers look as though the cat needs more insulin when it
actually needs less. This is a strange ricochet effect you have to be
aware of.

By the way, have the vet refer them to an internist vet. That's what our
vet did and the internist was wonderful. She regulated his insulin and
helped us all of the way through his trials and tribulations. She didn't
suggest blood testing daily because too many people try to tweak the
insulin themselves and end up messing up the regulation. Cats do not
follow advice very well (eating at the right times and exercising...) so
cannot have as constant numbers as humans.

Good luck to the kitty!

Rhonda

Elizabeth Blake wrote:
A friend of mine has a female cat who is around 14 years old and was
recently diagnosed with diabetes. He & his wife had another female, much
younger, who was diagnosed several years ago and passed away soon after.
They could never get her regulated, she was constantly being rushed to the
24 hour emergency clinic or spending days at a time in their regular vet's
office.

Although I have no experience with diabetic cats, I've urged them to test
her blood sugar instead of relying on urine strips, or rushing her to the
vet weekly or more often. Kaylee is a very tiny cat bt she's a fighter. He
doesn't think he'll be able to get blood from her for the tests. I was
looking at this site: http://www.petdiabetes.org/ to see how one goes about
testing a cat's blood sugar and it doesn't seem too bad. I have Type 1
diabetes and I've offered them an extra meter & test strips, but he's still
unsure.

He loves his cats - they're his kids. I think he's just very nervous about
the whole blood sampling process. He said that she fights hard just for the
insulin injections. I feel that Kaylee would fare much better if they test
her at home. I used to go to the vet they use and I hate him with a
passion. I think Niamh (their other girl) would still be alive today if
they had seen a better vet who pushed home testing.

I'm going over to their apartment tomorrow to watch them give her an
injection, since we take care of each others cats when one of us is away.
I'm going to bring an extra meter & strips with me just in case. I don't
have any pipettes, though. I'm hoping we'll be able to control her long
enough to get the blood on the strip directly from her ear.

Does anyone with experience find that it's easier to get a sample from a
paw? Any hints or tips?

--
Liz