scar tissue? / bent needle / changing injection sites

Status
Not open for further replies.
Noah & me (GA)

Noah & me (GA)

Member Since 2016
I can't imagine a 29 gauge syringe leaving scar tissue but on our previous cat, on our vets advice, we switched from behind the scruff (a year of this) to his rear shoulders. Scar tissue or not his numbers stabilized. Our new patient is long haired and needs a shave/haircut which I'll obviously do today. Injecting him now is like working in the dark. So... this morning I didn't get the "I'm in there" feeling and aborted the injection. When I withdrew the syringe the needle was bent! This was in his rear shoulder blades, plenty of "meat", no where near his spine. What did I hit? Tendons, a nerve bundle (he didn't squeak), certainly not a bone. Has this happened to anyone else?
 
Nigel&Noah said:
I can't imagine a 29 gauge syringe leaving scar tissue but on our previous cat, on our vets advice, we switched from behind the scruff (a year of this) to his rear shoulders. Scar tissue or not his numbers stabilized. Our new patient is long haired and needs a shave/haircut which I'll obviously do today. Injecting him now is like working in the dark. So... this morning I didn't get the "I'm in there" feeling and aborted the injection. When I withdrew the syringe the needle was bent! This was in his rear shoulder blades, plenty of "meat", no where near his spine. What did I hit? Tendons, a nerve bundle (he didn't squeak), certainly not a bone. Has this happened to anyone else?
Click to expand...
Yes, I've had a bent needle once before and, like you, wondered what the heck I'd hit. Kitty didn't flinch. I used the scruff/shoulder blades area exclusively for a long time but he starting getting some thickening there. I switched to anywhere along his sides and the scruff thickening seems to have gone away. Still not certain that the area has influenced his numbers - they're always crazy.
 
For once I can use Canadian crazy numbers. Noah goes from 8 to 33 and back. We have 6 cats so feeding time is any time.
 
Here are injection sites you can use.

injsitesforcats1.jpg
 
I kept getting bent needles. I spoke to the vet at the Royal Veterinary College about it and she said it's the needles rather than the cat. If it had happened while inside the skin it wouldn't have come out without some serious wounding. She said it was quite common because the needles are so fine and sometimes you can just get a bad batch. I had one bend when I put it through the membrane on the insulin vial.
 
Nigel&Noah said:
Noah goes from 8 to 33 and back.
Click to expand...
Kris & Teasel said:
My guy very easily goes from 7 to 20 in a day
Click to expand...
More sympathy/empathy for both of you! When my little sweetie wants to be dramatic she does it with flare and has gone from mid/high teens all the way to 2.2 mmol. in a cycle. :nailbiting: They sure do keep us on our toes!

With the BD syringes, I have found a few where it was extremely difficult to get the orange cap off and I've ended up bending the needle just a tiny bit when the cap finally gave way so I always check the needle before I start to draw the insulin. Terrifies me to think the needle could break off while injecting especially if kitty decides to shift their body at just the wrong moment. I always get another syringe and start over if there is any question of any bend in the needle. The tiniest bit of pressure weakens those very fine needles so just changing the angle slightly when withdrawing could have caused the needle to bend.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
More sympathy/empathy for both of you! When my little sweetie wants to be dramatic she does it with flare and has gone from mid/high teens all the way to 2.2 mmol. in a cycle. :nailbiting: They sure do keep us on our toes!

With the BD syringes, I have found a few where it was extremely difficult to get the orange cap off and I've ended up bending the needle just a tiny bit when the cap finally gave way so I always check the needle before I start to draw the insulin. Terrifies me to think the needle could break off while injecting especially if kitty decides to shift their body at just the wrong moment. I always get another syringe and start over if there is any question of any bend in the needle. The tiniest bit of pressure weakens those very fine needles so just changing the angle slightly when withdrawing could have caused the needle to bend.
Click to expand...
That's it! They just have a flare for drama ... love this perspective. :)

I also pay attention to the needle because I've bent mine (29G) if my hand moved slightly the wrong way inserting needle into vial.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top