Correct needle gauge size

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Mocha's_mom

Mocha's_mom

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Mocha was diagnosed last week with diabetes and we were sent home with Vetsulin (Caninsulin) and u40 29g 1/2" needles & syringes. My cat definitely feels the shot and meows when we give it to him. I feel like I'm hurting him! Maybe the 29 gauge is too big? I found some syringes online (u40 31g 0.3cc 5/16") that I think may be better because they are smaller gauge. But I'm concerned the needle won't be long enough to get through his skin. Anyone have experience with the smaller/shorter needles?
 
My husband bent the 29g needle so we'll see how he does with the 31g lol! He's used to "manhandling" needles as he gives injections to humans using much larger needles than that.
 
Next time you need those syringes get the ones with the half unit markings
We increase or decrease by 0.25 units
The half unit marking syringes makes it easier to do
You can get syringes with half unit markings


30-unit-insulin-syringe-markings.jpg
 
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Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Next time you need those syringes get the ones with the half unit markings
We increase or decrease by 0.25 units
The half unit marking syringes makes it easier to do
You can get syringes with half unit markings


30-unit-insulin-syringe-markings.jpg
Click to expand...

So those are the u100 syringes that you convert? And you do tight regulation? I think that'll be the smartest way to dose. I originally asked for the VetPen which has 1/2 unit markings but my vet said she didn't feel comfortable giving that to me because she's never used it before. I told her it's the exact same thing as Vetsulin but in a pen form which makes it easier to dose and she didn't believe me!! And she said she'll never recommend using less than 1 unit at a time so I wouldn't need 1/2 unit markings. I hate going behind her back and dosing on my own but I don't feel like she understands tight control, nor does she want to.
 
Mocha's_mom said:
So those are the u100 syringes that you convert? And you do tight regulation? I think that'll be the smartest way to dose. I originally asked for the VetPen which has 1/2 unit markings but my vet said she didn't feel comfortable giving that to me because she's never used it before. I told her it's the exact same thing as Vetsulin but in a pen form which makes it easier to dose and she didn't believe me!! And she said she'll never recommend using less than 1 unit at a time so I wouldn't need 1/2 unit markings. I hate going behind her back and dosing on my own but I don't feel like she understands tight control, nor does she want to.
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I was just showing you what half unit markings are , you are using vetsulin correct?
They do sell U-40 syringes when using Vetsulin with half unit markings.
I don't know how to do convert


Here is the link to read about Vetsulin reading about this I don't think there is tight regulation for Vetsulin. Only for Lantus and Levemir
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/beginners-guide-to-caninsulin-vetsulin.231587/
@Mocha's_mom
 
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Mocha's_mom said:
I didn't realize the u40 syringes came in 1/2 unit markings. That will be helpful.

I found this link for tight regulation. Not sure if this is current or updated for Vetsulin. I don't know if I'm quite ready for tight regulation but I definitely think changing his dose weekly by 1/2 unit increments up or down might be the best bet for now.

http://www.diabeticcatcare.com/DCCCOK/InsulinScales.html#Caninsulin/Vetsulin_-_U40_Strength
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Hi I'm just reading what it says about Vetsulin on our forum ,I gave you the link above in #6

@Mocha's_mom
 
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Mocha's_mom said:
I didn't realize the u40 syringes came in 1/2 unit markings. That will be helpful.

I found this link for tight regulation. Not sure if this is current or updated for Vetsulin. I don't know if I'm quite ready for tight regulation but I definitely think changing his dose weekly by 1/2 unit increments up or down might be the best bet for now.

http://www.diabeticcatcare.com/DCCCOK/InsulinScales.html#Caninsulin/Vetsulin_-_U40_Strength
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I'm sorry you are correct, no half unit markings for U-40 syringes that are short.
I only see them come 29G and are longer which you don't want so you will just eye ball the syringes you have. If you ever need help with dosing we have 2 members that are familiar with Vetsulin, we can tag them for you
@Mochi & Me
 
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I'm hoping that my vet will want to switch him to Lantus after seeing that the Vetsulin isn't working. Then I would be using u100 syringes that have the 1/2 unit markings. Or I could switch to u100 and just do the conversion using the chart. It makes me a little nervous though
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
I'm sorry you are correct, no half unit markings for U-40 syringes that are short.
I only see them come 29G and are longer which you don't want so you will just eye ball the syringes you have. If you ever need help with dosing we have 2 members that are familiar with Vetsulin, we can tag them for you
@Mochi & Me
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So I actually found some u40 syringes with 1/2 unit markings! I had ordered 31g short needle syringes because I felt like the 29g that I got from the vet was hurting him. The box came yesterday and to my surprise it has 1/2 unit markings! That makes me feel so much better so I can tweak his dose without having to go up a whole unit

https://shoppettest.com/advocate-pettest-u-40-insulin-syringes-31g-3cc-5-16-100-box/
 
The information that you found on Tight Regulation is not accurate. TR was developed for use with Lantus and Levemir. The site you linked was developed by Elizabeth Hodgkins, DVM who is a strong proponent of PZI (the original formulation of Prozinc). She "poached" the idea of tight regulation from the research conducted by Roomp & Rand. She also took a peculiar stance on low numbers. She was very much anti-intervening with high carb food if a cat was in low numbers. There was a time when her site was very popular until cats were dying from symptomatic hypoglycemic events. If anyone dared to point out that BG numbers in the 30s required fast intervention with Karo, honey, HC food, etc. you were evicted from the message board.

There are only two types of insulin for which there is a tight regulation approach. As noted, the depot insulins, Lantus and Levemir are one and there is an similar method for Prozinc. There is no tight regulation for Vetsulin -- or not one that we endorse here.
 
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Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
The information that you found on Tight Regulation is not accurate. TR was developed for use with Lantus and Levemir. The site you linked was developed by Elizabeth Hodgkins, DVM who is a strong proponent of PZI (the original formulation of Prozinc). She "poached" the idea of tight regulation from the research conducted by Roomp & Rand. She also took a peculiar stance on low numbers. She was very much anti-intervening with high carb food if a cat was in low numbers. There was a time when her site was very popular until cats were dying from symptomatic hypoglycemic events. If anyone dared to point out that BG numbers in the 30s required fast intervention with Karo, homey, HC food, etc. you were evicted from the message board.

There are only two types of insulin for which there is a tight regulation approach. As noted, the depot insulins, Lantus and Levemir are one and there is an similar method for Prozinc. There is no tight regulation for Vetsulin -- or not one that we endorse here.
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Yeah I kinda figured that. That website seemed old and not updated. I haven't found anywhere that does tight regulation with Vetsulin. I may try to do tight regulation once I get him moved over to Lantus. But I'll see. If he gets stabilized with some solid low numbers then hopefully that'll be enough. I'm just praying for remission!
 
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