08/20 Mouse PMPS 388, +2 451

Angela & Cleo said:
Please do not give another shot. Like you said, you don't know how much went in.
Tagging Bhooma @Bandit's Mom for tonight's dose.
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I get what you're saying and I wouldn't normally even consider it... I just figured since I had the option to raise the dose to 1.25u today instead of tomorrow and I only had 1 u in the syringe that even if I gave .25 u more that still wouldn't take her above the 1.25 u that I had the option to shoot this morning.
 
Totally reasonable question (and one I personally have asked two times before :bighug:). The answer was the same, wait until the next shot time to shoot again and enjoy the cycle off.
 
Angela & Cleo said:
Totally reasonable question (and one I personally have asked two times before :bighug:). The answer was the same, wait until the next shot time to shoot again and enjoy the cycle off.
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Ok... This is so frustrating... I haven't done a fur shot in awhile, not sure what I'm doing wrong. I've never had so many issues giving subq shots before. I pull up on her skin to tent it and shoot in the middle of the "tent opening" and her skin is so loose that it kind of comes in on the back of the tent so sometimes the needle goes in and through the back but I don't know it til I've already shot... I don't know if the needles just too long or if I'm just not doing it right... I hope the way I'm explaining it makes sense...
 
Phoenix R. said:
hope the way I'm explaining it makes sense...
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Makes perfect sense to me!
I have been guilty of the same. Shots go perfect for weeks at a time then it seems like I'm all thumbs and have several fur shots in a row. It's extremely frustrating :mad:.
The good news is that this too shall pass and the better news is that our kitty's recover from fur shots quickly :).
There are a few posts (I'll look for them and link) with pics and videos.
 
Angela & Cleo said:
Makes perfect sense to me!
I have been guilty of the same. Shots go perfect for weeks at a time then it seems like I'm all thumbs and have several fur shots in a row. It's extremely frustrating :mad:.
The good news is that this too shall pass and the better news is that our kitty's recover from fur shots quickly :).
There are a few posts (I'll look for them and link) with pics and videos.
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Thank you:bighug:
 
Sorry, I'm only just seeing this. Like Angela said, we don't shoot again after a furshot because we don't know how much has gone in. She will recover. :bighug: You can take her up to 1.25U tonight. Might help her get back on track faster. Till then enjoy the time off :-)
 
Bandit's Mom said:
Sorry, I'm only just seeing this. Like Angela said, we don't shoot again after a furshot because we don't know how much has gone in. She will recover. :bighug: You can take her up to 1.25U tonight. Might help her get back on track faster. Till then enjoy the time off :)
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Ok... Will do, thank you!
 
I had gone months with out a furshot and had two recently. It scares me with Charlies DKA history. He is usually chill about getting his shots but like scooted away from me the other day and I only got about half in him. I'm always like sniffing him after to check for that bandaid smell!
 
Sarah & Charlie-cat said:
I had gone months with out a furshot and had two recently. It scares me with Charlies DKA history. He is usually chill about getting his shots but like scooted away from me the other day and I only got about half in him. I'm always like sniffing him after to check for that bandaid smell!
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The lighting in our house is terrible so I have to put her on the counter and turn on the light under the cabinet to see what I'm doing, mouse isn't a fan of being on the counter so sometimes she gets to get away and unfortunately food is not a good enough distraction for her.
I'm grateful that mouse doesn't have a history of keytones but I still worry she could develop them and she's very difficult to get a pee sample from to test her urine.
I also do the post shot sniff to see if I smell bandaid smell :p
 
Wow... Another (partial) fur shot... I just need to find her a new home with someone that can do better for her because for some reason I can't seem to get this right now. I read over the post on injections and tried the roll one and apparently I screwed that up to, I thought I had it right until I saw a tiny wet spot that smelled like bandaids. Its not fair to Mouse. She deserves better.
 
It could have been just a bit of insulin from the tip of the syringe since it was a tiny wet spot. Also the higher numbers you're seeing could be partially due to a bounce from the long stretch of blues last night :bighug:
 
Phoenix R. said:
Wow... Another (partial) fur shot... I just need to find her a new home with someone that can do better for her because for some reason I can't seem to get this right now. I read over the post on injections and tried the roll one and apparently I screwed that up to, I thought I had it right until I saw a tiny wet spot that smelled like bandaids. Its not fair to Mouse. She deserves better.
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Stop! You are unnecessarily being too hard on yourself. You are a great cat parent! Not many people will stay up half the night testing their cat. And like Angela says, it might not be a FS at all!

I'm going to tag @TankNRK who was also giving a lot of furshots at one point to see if they can help you with what they did about that.
 
Angela & Cleo said:
It could have been just a bit of insulin from the tip of the syringe since it was a tiny wet spot. Also the higher numbers you're seeing could be partially due to a bounce from the long stretch of blues last night :bighug:
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I don't know... Her +2 is even higher than PMPS
 
Bandit's Mom said:
Stop! You are unnecessarily being too hard on yourself. You are a great cat parent! Not many people will stay up half the night testing their cat. And like Angela says, it might not be a FS at all!

I'm going to tag @TankNRK who was also giving a lot of furshots at one point to see if they can help you with what they did about that.
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I think it was a fur shot... Her +2 isn't usually higher than her PMPS:banghead:
Bandit's Mom said:
Just enjoy your night off and recharge for the days (nights!) to come :bighug:
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Is there any way to find out if there's somebody close by to where I live that can show me how they do their cat's insulin shot so I can hopefully figure out what I'm doing wrong, I watched some videos but I still can't tell what I'm doing wrong. I can't screw this up again these numbers are terrible... I'm so worried about messing up her shot again tomorrow morning...
 
Hello! I had a rough patch with constant furshots and I've been where you are right now. It's so frustrating! I burst into tears over it before cause I did it almost 3 times in a row. It happens! I have some tips that I learned that helped me.

#1: don't obsess over it! You're stressed and anxious. I get that. It's enough to bring you to tears. You gotta take a couple deep breaths and shake it out before you begin. Don't overthink it and instantly start smelling and feeling the fur as soon as you shoot, and don't panic if you check a +2 or something and it's higher then you expected and assume you messed up again <3

#2: when you tent the fur, if you're having issues where it goes in and out the other side: make the tent but make it "wide/long", (if that makes sense?) And pinch it with multiple fingers and hold for a second to make sure you have a good tent. Don't rush it! so when you insert the needle the tent is wide/ long enough that the needle can't pop out the other side.

#3: I tried shaving a spot on the back of the shoulder blades but Lando wouldn't let me get the electric razor near him lol, so I took scissors and trimmed the fur down as low as I could all around the shoulders and went back to focusing on that part of the body for shots. It helped a TON! This was a game changer for us. Lando has short fur and it still changed my life, so far we've been months without furshots because of it, after I'd had a huge run in with them constantly. I STILL trim his fur around the shoulders!

#4: When you inject the needle just give yourself a second to look around and make sure it's in, push it to the beginning of the syringe so you know it's all the way in (if your cat will allow it) and when you inject just hold yourself there for a second or two, so you can make sure the insulin is going in and isn't coming out as you remove the syringe.

#5 when you remove the syringe, don't rub the spot immediately. Just wait a couple seconds, that way you don't accidentally push the insulin out by rubbing it.

#6 it's normal to smell a little insulin, it's got a strong smell. This is part of not obsessing over it! Your cat will know if you're stressed to the point of losing your mind. If it really IS a furshot, just take a couple slow deep breaths. It happens. Sometimes more in the beginning and even seasoned people may have bouts of furshots. It's gonna be okay! You'll find a way that works for you.

We've all been there! Don't give up or think you're not capable. You're doing your best and if you don't take care of you, you can't take care of them. It's just a little bad run in with the dreaded fur shot, you're gonna get it under control but it takes time and practice and care <3
 
TankNRK said:
Hello! I had a rough patch with constant furshots and I've been where you are right now. It's so frustrating! I burst into tears over it before cause I did it almost 3 times in a row. It happens!
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Thank you... I was definitely in tears last night especially because it was the second fur shot In a row :(
 
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TankNRK said:
#1: don't obsess over it! You're stressed and anxious. I get that. It's enough to bring you to tears. You gotta take a couple deep breaths and shake it out before you begin. Don't overthink it and instantly start smelling and feeling the fur as soon as you shoot, and don't panic if you check a +2 or something and it's higher then you expected and assume you messed up again <3
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Honestly it's hard not to obsess over it courtesy of my OCD...
 
TankNRK said:
#3: I tried shaving a spot on the back of the shoulder blades but Lando wouldn't let me get the electric razor near him lol, so I took scissors and trimmed the fur down as low as I could all around the shoulders and went back to focusing on that part of the body for shots. It helped a TON! This was a game changer for us. Lando has short fur and it still changed my life, so far we've been months without furshots because of it, after I'd had a huge run in with them constantly. I STILL trim his fur around the shoulders!
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I actually shave her and continue to because Mouse's short hair did make it harder to see her skin, she's shaved over her shoulders and down her sides of her chest and belly(I kept looking at how big her belly looked because of her hair so i decided to shave back further so that i could see her belly wasn't so wide. )
 
TankNRK said:
#5 when you remove the syringe, don't rub the spot immediately. Just wait a couple seconds, that way you don't accidentally push the insulin out by rubbing it.
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I learned my lesson awhile ago on that one lol... I try to not even pet her in that spot til awhile after her shot...
 
TankNRK said:
#2: when you tent the fur, if you're having issues where it goes in and out the other side: make the tent but make it "wide/long", (if that makes sense?) And pinch it with multiple fingers and hold for a second to make sure you have a good tent. Don't rush it! so when you insert the needle the tent is wide/ long enough that the needle can't pop out the other side.
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My biggest issue with tenting her skin is that it's so loose that I can't get a good wide tent so what's happening is when I push the needle in it causes the sides of the tent to suck in a little and that's how the needle is poking through and coming out the side of the tent, that's what happened these past 2 times is that it was into the tent and out the side because the sides collapse in when I poke the needle in, last night I tried the roll and that didn't work either. All the videos I watched had thicker cats, Mouse is very petite and loose skinned.
 
Phoenix R. said:
My biggest issue with tenting her skin is that it's so loose that I can't get a good wide tent so what's happening is when I push the needle in it causes the sides of the tent to suck in a little and that's how the needle is poking through and coming out the side of the tent, that's what happened these past 2 times is that it was into the tent and out the side because the sides collapse in when I poke the needle in, last night I tried the roll and that didn't work either. All the videos I watched had thicker cats, Mouse is very petite and loose skinned.
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I understand that! I know it's all easier said then done.
Lando's got a lot of loose skin up there too, and if I don't tent it just right it'll pop right through. I wish that there was a way that I could film it and do it for you so I could show you, cuz I use three fingers as a type of claw grip along with my thumb, and put my thumb inside the part of the tent that I'm going to insert the syringe into. So I'm kind of holding it wide and long. And I pull the tent WAY UP so it's nice and taught. I could never get the

I'm gonna see if I can find someone who's good with a camera to help me film it for you!:(

I'd ask my babe but he is notorious for the most Shakey, out of focus shots you can imagine and I don't want to subject you through that :confused: you literally won't be able to see anything if he does it.

How did it go today, did she get her shot already?
 
Staci & Ivy said:
Hang in there! You're doing such a great job with Mouse. Breathe :bighug:
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Thank you... I was definitely worried about messing it up again this morning but I got the shot in her and after a morning of fast drops despite hourly snacks she finally stopped, unfortunately it was just short of greens but there's always next cycle as long as she doesn't bounce tonight (so far that's been Mouse's M.O.;)) I'm pretty happy with all the blues though and we're even at +9 and she's still surfing the blues!
 
Hurray! So glad things went better for you today. I was thinking about you when I was at work.

You'll get back on track my friend! I had a bad spell and I remember posting here in absolute tears over it. It'll pass! Just gotta shake it off, we're doin the sugar dance :banghead:;)
 
TankNRK said:
Hurray! So glad things went better for you today. I was thinking about you when I was at work.

You'll get back on track my friend! I had a bad spell and I remember posting here in absolute tears over it. It'll pass! Just gotta shake it off, we're doin the sugar dance :banghead:;)
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Pretty sure I got it right tonight too! Just gave her shot a couple minutes ago. Tonight should be interesting to say the least... her PMPS was 201and this her first night on this higher dose so Please keep you fingers crossed and send positive energy that she doesn't decide to do any fast dives tonight.
 
I gave mouse her LC supper (½ can ff savory centers) tonight and gave her 1 tsp of of Friskies Pate just before I left to pick up my wife from work so about 15 min. after shot time and supper... I'll hopefully be back home a little before +1 to give her another snack... Should I add like ½ tsp mc to her 1 tsp lc +1 snack to try to make sure she doesn't drop too fast or should I give her usual +1 lc snack and see what happens?
 
Phoenix R. said:
I gave mouse her LC supper (½ can ff savory centers) tonight and gave her 1 tsp of of Friskies Pate just before I left to pick up my wife from work so about 15 min. after shot time and supper... I'll hopefully be back home a little before +1 to give her another snack... Should I add like ½ tsp mc to her 1 tsp lc +1 snack to try to make sure she doesn't drop too fast or should I give her usual +1 lc snack and see what happens?
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Hey! Sorry I just saw this! I sleep early for work in the AM.... For me and Lando, I usually just wait until the +2 to see how it's going. I see you just started TR! (It's so scary at first, I know!) I assume you have a Hypo Kit just in case? I've never found the need (for me) to preemptively give mc to hc food unless I was going to be leaving for a few hours and was worried about him.

TR is fantastic and it's nerve wrecking in the beginning, but you'll get the hang of it. I started seeing results really early (you can check my spreadsheet to see the almost immediate difference we saw!) I've given Lando token doses of insulin when he was in the 50s PMPS when I was going to be gone for the evening, before when I gave him a shot around 100 I almost cried :D balls of steel badge!

With Lando our routine ended up being a LC snack at +2, and usually a check between +2 and +3 to see how it was going. If he was dropping fast I'll give an hourly LC snack/check or more often if I was concerned. I had to kind of relearn how Lando responded once we started TR. I had to tailor everything to how he responds.

Lando's nadir is usually around +3 to +5 in the PM (where he drops lowest and fastest!) so that's what worked for us but again Every Cat Is Different. I usually avoid the MC and HC food unless I already see a crazy drop happening. Something that helped me during the beginning of tight regulation, is I would mark on the spreadsheet when I was giving snacks so I could look back and see what timing worked well for us. Then, once we found a perfect snack routine I stopped marking it unless I was going to change something up. This may help you if you put it in the notes section! For a long time I had the autofeeder to go off in the AM (my working hours) to +2, +3.5, +4.5, +6 just so I didn't have to worry while I was at work. PM cycles for a long time had to be +2, +3, +4, and sometimes a +5. Now over the last week I've been able to space out the PM snacks some more and skip the +6 AM cycle snack completely cause he cruises in greens all day and night!

I hope this helps! I'm not an expert so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I hope it can help you
 
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