? Petsitter shooting blind this weekend - dosage?

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JenM

JenM

Member Since 2013
Well... I leave Saturday morning and I'm not real sure that to do with Tink's shots. Popped in here a few weeks ago and the consensus was to have my petsitter (daughter) blind shoot a reduced dose, rather than skipping two doses.

Tink's number haven't been great. I was going to increase a couple weeks ago, then he threw a green into the mix. But, that's only happened a couple times in the last few weeks and always high/totally safe green.

I'm tempted to just have her keep shooting 4u - since he's not even getting into green most of the time. Then again, I'm not sure where that handful of pinks are coming from - did he go low or did he find a dish to lick? Or did a polar bear sneeze in Antarctica? I'll likely increase him to 4.25 next weekend and may go ahead with our switch to Lev in the near future (though I will be starting a brand new Lantus pen in the next day or two, so that'll have to wait another month). We'd discussed shooting a super safe 3u - but given how high his numbers have been (mostly yellow/blue with a handful of pinks thrown in - which obviously I don't like to see) - I'm reluctant to go that low.

I will be giving him his AM shot on Saturday, but then leaving (no +2 test). Assuming he doesn't throw me a low preshot, I'm planning to do his regular 4u dose for that one. DD will be doing his Saturday PM, Sunday AM & Sunday PM shots. I COULD do Sunday PM, but am not going to be home until what would be a normal +5 - so I figure it's best if she just gives it on time.

If it were your cat, based on the numbers we're seeing - would you blind shoot 4u? Or reduce? If I reduce, I'm thinking 3.5u. Appreciate your thoughts.
 
No dosing advice from me except that I would reduce some as I'd be afraid to shoot the current dose. I know so many people that had diabetic cats and shot blind and never tested and only changed doses depending on vet office curves who never went hypo. The knowledge I've acquired here makes me more conservative. See what the dosing advisors suggest and then have a wonderful time!
 
Jen, I am also not an advice giver, but if it were me, I'd go with the 3.5. These kitties are so unpredictable. "Better a day too high than a minute too low". I hope you enjoy your time away.
 
Piling on another vote for a reduced dose. If you were using calipers I'd suggest 3.75U, but 3.5 is on the line and much easier. I'd start with 3.5U on Saturday morning or even Friday night if he gives you a mid blues or lower PMPS Friday night. The depot can still make things interesting for a couple of cycles and without testing I wouldn't do it. A couple of weekends ago I reduced Neko ahead of being away, and the second cycle of her "safe" reduction she surfed green all day. :rolleyes: Even if you count Friday night, that's only 5 cycles on a reduced dose. He'll get back on track in no time.

You might want to fill a syringe with some colored water or juice as a sample to show 3.5U - just so there are no mistakes.

I suspect the pinks are because he's getting out of practice with greens. Increasing when you are back is a good idea.
 
Ok... I'll do that - reducing Friday night or Saturday morning. Good point about the depot. And it would be JUST his style to throw something totally random at us, just because I'm not there. Also like the idea of colored water as an example dose.

The other issue is that she was SUPPOSED to practice with me last weekend - but ended up not being home at shot time. She works until later than shot time during the week - so now she can't get even one practice shot in. I SHOWED her (without actually inserting the needle)... but I was really hoping to have her DO a shot before I go. Her work schedule wont be an issue while I'm gone, since it's the weekend... I think I might have her "practice" with just sticking the syringe into a cloth or something (if I can find something that mimics the feel of it piercing skin) - just so she can tell when she's got it through. I guess potential furshots are better than not even trying... but ugh...
 
Our vet suggested practicing on an orange. I've heard other people say potholders work as possible practice objects.

I hope you have a good time and can resist worrying about Tink while you're gone!
 
I've seen people suggest using an orange as a test subject, maybe a mandarin? Or she can just inject water or air into Tink after shot time. When we went to the vet after Neko's diabetes diagnosis, they had us just practice shooting air into her.

Oh yes - do have fun!!
 
A lot of times they use oranges or apples to "practice" shooting in human diabetic classes

The most important thing is for you to try to have a good time while you're gone! :)
 
I was curious if shooting water or air might be an option. Since it's just subQ - maybe I'll have her do a water shot. Would be nice to BE there the first time she tries it, so she's more confident (and so I can worry less).
 
Sure..there's no reason you can't use water to practice with. It's a whole lot cheaper than insulin!

You could also use some colored water (like tea, coffee, grape juice, or just food coloring) and pull up a dose for your sitter to compare to each time....just to have a "sample" to look at
 
JenM said:
I was curious if shooting water or air might be an option. Since it's just subQ - maybe I'll have her do a water shot. Would be nice to BE there the first time she tries it, so she's more confident (and so I can worry less).
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If you are asking about shooting unsterile water or air into the cat, I wouldn't do it, even if it is sub Q. You could have her insert an unused empty sterile needle under the skin to get the feel of where to place it and not inject anything.
 
Can you get some sterile saline? Not sure if a pharmacy would carry it. When I was in nursing school back in the olden days, we practiced injections on each other :eek: and used sterile saline.
 
Linda and Bear Man said:
If you are asking about shooting unsterile water or air into the cat, I wouldn't do it, even if it is sub Q. You could have her insert an unused empty sterile needle under the skin to get the feel of where to place it and not inject anything.
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Ahhh... great idea. Just the poke. I like it. :) I was a bit concerned about the possibility of something weird being in the water... don't need any vet visits. I do have some LRS, but I'd hate to open the bag just for that.
 
The needle for the subq fluids isn't really the same as an insulin syringe needle. I'd want her to try shooting in front of me. seems like just the new, empty needle without injecting anything would be the best bet. I'd want her to try a couple of times on an orange actually pushing the plunger, before trying it on Tink with the new, empty needle.
 
Thanks everyone for your advice. I had her insert the needle before I left. Has a minor freak-out moment when she became nearly hysterical saying she can't do it - when I had NO time to find someone else. So I pulled the "mom card" and pushed her to do it. LOL Once she did it she was fine. She was terrified of poking herself with the needle, which I tried to explain to her wasn't a big deal even if she DID manage to do it. Anyway... she was able to do it once in front of me and I did tell her NEVER to re-shoot a furshot. I also explained that IF she DOES have to shoot late, that all the other shots would have a new shot time - but that it's far better if she just keeps our 5a/5p schedule.

She was proud of herself when I got home - said she's pretty sure she didn't "miss" (furshot) on any of the 3 doses she administered. Tink's numbers were a bit high (270ish) Sunday night when I got home, but that was expected with the reduction to 3.5 for the blind shoots.

I wasn't sure if I should jump right back to 4u or if I had to go up gradually like I would with an increase... but I went ahead and just treated the blind shoots as an anomaly and returned to our old 4u dose (with the extra piece of mind that it hadn't really been working well enough lately and we were looking at another increase anyway). While it may not have been the safest option, it seems to have worked well. He returned to blues and we've even seen some low blues - so that's awesome to see. I'm being careful to get a +2 or +3 to make sure the quick jump back to 4u isn't going to cause problems - but so far so good.

Nice to know that I can actually leave without chaos ensuing. What a relief! :)
 
Hey! Glad this weekend went so well for you! I had been keeping an eye on your thread to see what kind of advice you'd be given since we are leaving on vacation in two months and I want to get all my ducks in a row :)

Your experience, and everyones advice, has been super helpful and I'm happy to see that you even got some blues back right away. I hope I get that lucky as well.

Cheers!
 
I'm glad things went well over the weekend. FWIW, whenever I reduce Gabby's dose because I have my cat sitter shooting, I go right back up to her usual dose.
 
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