Vet visit yesterday. Not good & food question. (diabetes, prescription, dose)
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Catdad, what I did with Biggs is that first, I would put him on a towel on the bed, give him a good rubdown and some of the little (dry) cat treats (the ones in a pouch). Then I would lay him down with his head to my left (I'm right handed) and would gently but firmly "tent" his skin, and give the injection on the right side of the "tent". I think pinching the skin sort of numbed the area. You need to avoid having "shot time" be a traumatic even to the cat, I tried to make the overall experience a pleasant one. He would jump up on the bed, anticipating the whole event. I think he felt better after the shot so was willing to put up with it.
Going out of sequence here, to prepare the insulin dose, first I would put a larger needle (not necessarily new, but kept in fridge) on a new syringe, draw the correct dose of insulin into the syringe, draw all the insulin out of the needle after taking it out of the bottle, take the big needle off, put a new smaller needle on the syringe, this new small needle has not been used even to draw the insulin, so is dead sharp, I use it just once on the cat.
I would sometimes store the "big" needle on the syringe and leave the whole assembly in the fridge. The "big" needle was a different size just so I could keep up with which needle for the bottle, which for the cat.
Your vet is right that cats will react to the cold of the insulin, you need to warm up the dose, maybe just hold in your hand for a minute or two.
BTW those are huge blood sugar numbers, I think 120 is closer to normal for a cat.
Yeah, though, you need to "work up" the dose, sneaking up on "just enough" through several stages of "not quite enough".
Fancy Feast Classic was good for Biggs until his last day.
Catdad, what I did with Biggs is that first, I would put him on a towel on the bed, give him a good rubdown and some of the little (dry) cat treats (the ones in a pouch). Then I would lay him down with his head to my left (I'm right handed) and would gently but firmly "tent" his skin, and give the injection on the right side of the "tent". I think pinching the skin sort of numbed the area. You need to avoid having "shot time" be a traumatic even to the cat, I tried to make the overall experience a pleasant one. He would jump up on the bed, anticipating the whole event. I think he felt better after the shot so was willing to put up with it.
Going out of sequence here, to prepare the insulin dose, first I would put a larger needle (not necessarily new, but kept in fridge) on a new syringe, draw the correct dose of insulin into the syringe, draw all the insulin out of the needle after taking it out of the bottle, take the big needle off, put a new smaller needle on the syringe, this new small needle has not been used even to draw the insulin, so is dead sharp, I use it just once on the cat.
I would sometimes store the "big" needle on the syringe and leave the whole assembly in the fridge. The "big" needle was a different size just so I could keep up with which needle for the bottle, which for the cat.
Your vet is right that cats will react to the cold of the insulin, you need to warm up the dose, maybe just hold in your hand for a minute or two.
BTW those are huge blood sugar numbers, I think 120 is closer to normal for a cat.
Yeah, though, you need to "work up" the dose, sneaking up on "just enough" through several stages of "not quite enough".
Fancy Feast Classic was good for Biggs until his last day.
Thanks for the input, and I'm soaking up all this info like a sponge.
Actually, giving Angel her shots has been going very well. She doesn't seem to mind them at all, unless I get in a hurry and try to push it in too fast. Then she'll react. I just have to make myself slow down, and I'm going to do that. Her first 7-unit dose this morning went very well with no problems.
I'm using disposable syringes right now, but I may look into a reusable type if they're cheaper in the long run. I really like your tip about using a different needle to fill with. That's a heck of a good idea, and I'm taking notes (literally).
Yeah her numbers were high, and I feel bad because that may be partly my fault. I had some medical issues (anxiety/depress., COPD, and a virus that nearly killed me) rear their ugly heads last Dec. I was preoccupied with my own issues and just didn't pick up on the signs that something was off about Angel. She should have been to the vet several months ago. It was my responsibility, and I let her down. But I'm going to do whatever it takes to get her stable.
I think humans can get rid of diabetes (sometimes) when they lose weight.... not sure if that's true for cats.. and humans can also get it even when they are not overweight, so maybe that is true of cats as well.
Catdad, I was just re-using a "disposable" syringe for about a week. I figured the way I was using it, and on only one cat, it was OK. Since I didn't see any sense at all in not using the "big" needle a few times rather than just once, and that some insulin remains in the syringe after use, I just put the big needle back on it, and put the whole thing in the fridge (much to my wife's delight, although she put up with it because she liked that cat too.)
To really do a re-usable syringe "right" you would need an autoclave to sterilize it, although I guess boiling in ordinary water would work, although be inconvenient.
I think humans can get rid of diabetes (sometimes) when they lose weight.... not sure if that's true for cats.. and humans can also get it even when they are not overweight, so maybe that is true of cats as well.
No, she's not really overweight. She's a large-framed cat, and has always weighed around 10 to 11 lbs. She weighed right at 9.25 lbs when she was diagnosed with diabetes a few weeks ago. Eight days ago she was at 9.45, and Tuesday she weighed 10 lbs even. I'm keeping an eye on her weight gain for sure, but so far she's just returning to a normal (for her) weight. But thanks for the reminder .
Catdad, I was just re-using a "disposable" syringe for about a week. I figured the way I was using it, and on only one cat, it was OK. Since I didn't see any sense at all in not using the "big" needle a few times rather than just once, and that some insulin remains in the syringe after use, I just put the big needle back on it, and put the whole thing in the fridge (much to my wife's delight, although she put up with it because she liked that cat too.)
To really do a re-usable syringe "right" you would need an autoclave to sterilize it, although I guess boiling in ordinary water would work, although be inconvenient.
I didn't think about sterilization. I think I'll just stay with the disposables. My vet is charging me $5.70 for a 10-pack, which will last a week and a half or so. I'll probably look around for a better deal, or maybe a bulk purchase online. Hopefully I can get them a little cheaper.
I didn't think about sterilization. I think I'll just stay with the disposables. My vet is charging me $5.70 for a 10-pack, which will last a week and a half or so. I'll probably look around for a better deal, or maybe a bulk purchase online. Hopefully I can get them a little cheaper.
Not sure if this is the type you are using - but look at the price- $22 for 100 needles
As near as I can tell, they're the same. I figured they would be cheaper online, but hadn't got around to looking yet. And yeah, that's a pretty good savings. Appreciate the link very much.
Good news about the lowered blood glucose, Catdad! You can also leave the insulin bottle out for 30 minutes before you inject her, and that will allow you to inject it more quickly. Alternatively, you can draw up the dose and let the capped syringe/needle sit in a safe place for 10-15 minutes or so. I've done both and both techniques work. At one time, I was giving Annie 13 units at a time and she was not cooperative! So I had to do it quickly. Another trick is to walk around with the insulin bottle in your pocket for 10 minutes or so. As long as you don't leave the insulin bottle out for more than a half hour or so, it will not harm the insulin to be out of the refrigerator for that brief period of time.
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Appreciate the link very much.
