Insulin leaking out of skin ???

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Mary E. Beavers

Mary E. Beavers

Member Since 2018
Can the insulin leak from the needle hole ??? I know that I put the needle in and I waited a couple seconds before pulling it out. He was still eating when I gave the shot and a few minutes later I pet him and I could smell the insulin on my hand.

8:44 am 463 then Gave him Special Kitty Turkey and Giblets 4% carbs

9:10 am gave 1u Novolin N (believe it leaked out for I made sure it was in the skin this time. I wet his fur to get it out of the way)

9:30 am he had a bowel movement and Vomited all his food up
 
Poor guy, he must have a little tummy trouble going on. Do you think any of the food got in him, or did it all come up? You do want him to have some food "on board" for the insulin to work on (it's a good thing he started so high this morning-- it's probably because he was feeling yucky already, but it gives him more of a safety buffer).
 
Adding: if he's feeling yucky, I'd give him a little time to see if things settle down before offering more food (unless of course he throws you a low BG number). If he's nauseated, he won't want to eat even his favorite foods, and you don't want to get him associating those favorites with feeling lousy, cats can develop aversions to food pretty readily.

Hope he's feeling better soon!
 
Nan & Amber said:
Adding: if he's feeling yucky, I'd give him a little time to see if things settle down before offering more food (unless of course he throws you a low BG number). If he's nauseated, he won't want to eat even his favorite foods, and you don't want to get him associating those favorites with feeling lousy, cats can develop aversions to food pretty readily.

Hope he's feeling better soon!
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That is for sure all of my cats a feral rescues from the yard and they are extremely picky they will not eat for days rather then eat the things they don't want to.
I don't think I will have to worry about a low BG this morning because At least some of the insulin leaked out if not all.
 
if you are sure needle went in right and it wasn't a fur shot, than chances are it was just a drop or two of insulin that was on outside of syringe/needle tip area that gets there when you squeeze some out to get the dose right and it got on his fur. happens with the syringes i use when i don't gently tap it to get drops off the outside part.

if not needle issue above, i do the following; after i pull needle out, i put light pressure with my finger tip on injection spot and lightly massage area to make sure insulin doesn't pool and come back out. forget where i read to do that but, that is what i do.
 
Sylvie said:
if you are sure needle went in right and it wasn't a fur shot, than chances are it was just a drop or two of insulin that was on outside of syringe/needle tip area that gets there when you squeeze some out to get the dose right and it got on his fur. happens with the syringes i use when i don't gently tap it to get drops off the outside part.

if not needle issue above, i do the following; after i pull needle out, i put light pressure with my finger tip on injection spot and lightly massage area to make sure insulin doesn't pool and come back out. forget where i read to do that but, that is what i do.
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I will certainly try that
 
The skin will close up too fast for any insulin to leak, you've shot through the tent. Don't beat yourself up, my vet has seen her techs and her partner do it over the years.
Inject/plunge/whoosh! Right across the room like a squirt gun. :eek:
More than one senior member has told me you can rub a cat anywhere you want but never rub down on the injection site
Have a quiet laugh, lesson learned. It's not like my first cat running down the hall with a syringe hanging off his back. THAT was not funny. Well, it's kind of funny now years later. :blackeye: :banghead: :rolleyes:
 
Noah & me (GA) said:
The skin will close up too fast for any insulin to leak, you've shot through the tent. Don't beat yourself up, my vet has seen her techs and her partner do it over the years.
Inject/plunge/whoosh! Right across the room like a squirt gun. :eek:
More than one senior member has told me you can rub a cat anywhere you want but never rub down on the injection site
Have a quiet laugh, lesson learned. It's not like my first cat running down the hall with a syringe hanging off his back. THAT was not funny. Well, it's kind of funny now years later. :blackeye: :banghead: :rolleyes:
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it is a known occurence that some insulin can leak back out when you use short needles like most of us use, especially if you take needle out before letting go of tent/pinched skin.
lol imagining you seeing your cat running down hall that way is funny too :)
 
Beck and Grandpa said:
I also care for ferals and tried Special Kitty. They won't touch it.
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automatically thought of favorite litter of all time (the crystal one in burgundy boxes they discontinued) when i read this, i forgot they make food too and am like why in the world are you using litter with feral cats outside lol
 
Sylvie said:
a known occurence
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My bad. :blackeye: I use 1/2" needles, Monoject 1/2cc. It's a bit creepy waving that thing around like a sword but I haven't had a fur shot in ages. Noah gets his shot in the back shoulder because plunging that monster needle in the scruff just looked too close to his spine. Sorry Mary.
 
Sylvie said:
automatically thought of favorite litter of all time (the crystal one in burgundy boxes they discontinued) when i read this, i forgot they make food too and am like why in the world are you using litter with feral cats outside lol
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Ha! I haven't tried the litter.
 
First off THANKS for all the Comments and Help ! Sorry I have not been back on for a bit but I have been extremely ill. The Dr wants me to in the hospital to see what is wrong but there is no way...My Squeakers and my other 24 cats need me. My boyfriend will tsme care of my dogs but not my cats....so I refuse to leave them they will die without me and I will die without them. Let me get to what is important here...Squeakers...

I still think he is leaking the insulin out maybe...I should try the longer needles on him. I am using short needles and I have made sure to part hair so I see skin and and I also make sure that the needle is angled right in the middle of the tent at the right angle and I do not feel the wetness minutes later but I certainly smell the insulin. The poor guy is skin and bone so there is plenty big enough ten anywhere I want. Sometimes enough stays in the lower the BG but he hasn't dropped much...or maybe 1u is just not enough...I will check him after 3 hrs and see if he is going down today
5:50 am BG 406
Fed Special Kitty Super Super
6:10 1u Novolin N
 
We have a saying here Mary. You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of a cat. Obviously easier said than down and I'm a good/bad example having Trigeminal neuralgia so it's not unheard of that Noah will miss a shot because I'm suddenly under the covers and cannot move. That's me NOT practicing what I preach. Get well soon and always have a backup plan.
If you can't find longer needles try Monoject syringes. You're most definitely on the right path.
 
Noah & me (GA) said:
We have a saying here Mary. You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of a cat. Obviously easier said than down and I'm a good/bad example having Trigeminal neuralgia so it's not unheard of that Noah will miss a shot because I'm suddenly under the covers and cannot move. That's me NOT practicing what I preach. Get well soon and always have a backup plan.
If you can't find longer needles try Monoject syringes. You're most definitely on the right path.
Click to expand...
 
Noah & me (GA) said:
We have a saying here Mary. You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of a cat. Obviously easier said than down and I'm a good/bad example having Trigeminal neuralgia so it's not unheard of that Noah will miss a shot because I'm suddenly under the covers and cannot move. That's me NOT practicing what I preach. Get well soon and always have a backup plan.
If you can't find longer needles try Monoject syringes. You're most definitely on the right path.
Click to expand...
At 1 1/2 hours after injection his BG went up from 406 to 446 so I knew he did not get the insulin or if he did then 1u is not enough so I decided to give him another 1u and this time I held that tent as high as I could...a little wimped from Squeakers and I shot the insulin an held the needle in very tight for about 20 to 30 seconds then let down the tent. I tested 1 hour later and BG down to 362...2 hours later 240
So finally got success with insulin staying in. Feeling Hopeful !
 
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Glad you're seeing some movement in the numbers!

That said, please keep testing today!!!! We do NOT recommend re-shooting when you suspect a "fur shot" (miss); you just never know how much insulin might have gone in, and there's a risk of overdosing. As frustrating as it is to see numbers staying high, safety first!
 
Also, I totally agree with Dickson-- you need to take care of yourself, first! It doesn't help the kitties if you wear yourself out and what would have been a brief hospital stay turns into a long one :(.

I hope you are feeling much better soon. :bighug: :bighug:
 
Nan & Amber said:
Glad you're seeing some movement in the numbers!

That said, please keep testing today!!!! We do NOT recommend re-shooting when you suspect a "fur shot" (miss); you just never know how much insulin might have gone in, and there's a risk of overdosing. As frustrating as it is to see numbers staying high, safety first!
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I know it is not recommended to do a reshoot but once I saw his numbers I knew he did not get the insulin because he always starts dropping within the hour and he went up. I have been testing every hour since the reshoot and he is doing wonderful I will test again in a few minutes and that will tell me how things are headed. I have no choice but to leave him by himself in the next hour for I have an emergency Dr appointment for myself.
 
1:50 pm BG 239 (6 hrs after injection)
Either he is already starting to go up or he had a spike from the little bit of food he ate about 20 to 30 mins ago.
 
Mary E. Beavers said:
Either he is already starting to go up or he had a spike from the little bit of food he ate about 20 to 30 mins ago.
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Hi,
solid food takes about 30 min to get into the blood stream and to affect the BG level.
The 239 read is food influenced IMHO.
You 'll get more info with another test about an hour after he was done eating or later if you wish. Do not feed between last food and the next test (unless he asks, of course and if not too long away)- this way you can note how much of a food bump this particular food bumps gives him.

To answer to your other thread: food influence duration /strength is vary greatly per cat.
The HC foods as well as any dry stay in the system longer, sometimes for cycles and might keep influencing BG a little.
The low carbs has no lasting effect to the best of my knowledge.
 
Me again mama bean. I only half wanted to put The Fear of God (dah dah dum...) into you about all the nasty things that can go wrong. But I wasn't being flat out nasty, that's the quickest way to have a new member leave and never want to come back. That's not why we're here.
I'm a visual learner so most of what I know has come from printing out what we call Stickies, the yellow INFO threads you'll see at the top of some forums. I need to curl up on the sofa with real paper and a highlighter to soak stuff in. This is one you should print out and attach firmly to the side of the fridge. It's the sticky in Prozinc about HYPO and what to do. Do you know how to create shortcuts on your screen? (computer, not phone)
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hypo-links-be-prepared-just-in-case.48385/
When you graduate to "Heimlich maneuver for cats" you're halfway there. ;)
PS I'm known for not being a good communicator....sometimes :oops:
 
Noah & me (GA) said:
Me again mama bean. I only half wanted to put The Fear of God (dah dah dum...) into you about all the nasty things that can go wrong. But I wasn't being flat out nasty, that's the quickest way to have a new member leave and never want to come back. That's not why we're here.
I'm a visual learner so most of what I know has come from printing out what we call Stickies, the yellow INFO threads you'll see at the top of some forums. I need to curl up on the sofa with real paper and a highlighter to soak stuff in. This is one you should print out and attach firmly to the side of the fridge. It's the sticky in Prozinc about HYPO and what to do. Do you know how to create shortcuts on your screen? (computer, not phone)
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hypo-links-be-prepared-just-in-case.48385/
When you graduate to "Heimlich maneuver for cats" you're halfway there. ;)
PS I'm known for not being a good communicator....sometimes :oops:
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I do not take things to heart so no worries. Ultimately I am going to do what I feel is in the best interest of my Baby regardless of what others say, but I do listen and I am here to learn. However, like I said I Will do what is in the Best interest of my Baby and today happened to be a reshoot because I knew from all the testing I have been doing that he DID NOT get the insulin on the first shot.

As for the other stuff I Don't have access to computer so can't even copy/link other threads. I can't make a spreadsheet either...I tried. I sometimes have access to my Boyfriend's PC but that is very rare.
 
Tanya and Ducia said:
Hi,
solid food takes about 30 min to get into the blood stream and to affect the BG level.
The 239 read is food influenced IMHO.
You 'll get more info with another test about an hour after he was done eating or later if you wish. Do not feed between last food and the next test (unless he asks, of course and if not too long away)- this way you can note how much of a food bump this particular food bumps gives him.

To answer to your other thread: food influence duration /strength is vary greatly per cat.
The HC foods as well as any dry stay in the system longer, sometimes for cycles and might keep influencing BG a little.
The low carbs has no lasting effect to the best of my knowledge.
Click to expand...
Thank You Very Much I greatly appreciate it. He ate a very small amount of 4% carb canned food...mostly licked the gravy I make by adding water.
 
Noah & me (GA) said:
I started with a little notebook for Nigel. I still have it of course and if I scroll far enough back in my meter's memory there he is!
You never have to wait for paper to boot up, no error messages, no updates.
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I have it written down and on my phone's notepad as well. Also, I have most of his tests here in my threads. :)
 
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