"Elizabeth Blake" wrote in message
...
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


Liz,

Please check your e-mail. I contacted a friend who is very experienced in
getting diabetic cats into remission, and she has sent you a private e-mail.

MaryL