Am i incorrectly injecting???

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TheBowHuntress

TheBowHuntress

Member Since 2012
I have been giving gobbles lantus 1 u. every 12 hours for five weeks now...i have been injecting him either in right/left shoulder or hip by putting the needle in the "tent" and then plunging in the insulin..well, i just read on a different website (vetmed.wsy.edu) that the correct way to give the shot is: give the shot anywhere along the neck or back and once the needle is in the skin to pull back on plunger and if air then needle went through and if there is blood, the tip is in a blood vessel so try again...and if no air nor blood, the needle was placed correctly...what would be in the needle if there was no blood or air? Can someone here tell me the correct procedure please? Thanks!
 
I think most of us shoot the way you were taught, but there are varying techniques. I've never heard of the procedure that you describe. Quite frankly I think it unnecessary, in the nearly three years I have bee giving insulin I think I have only drawn blood once or twice.

Try to shoot near the base of the tent w/ the bevel of the needle facing up. If the bevel faces down the needle can be drawn deeper under the skin and more chance of a muscle shot. Also be sure to stay at least an inch to the side of the spine.
 
I have seen those types of instructions on some of the videos for giving insulin on youtube. Once you insert the needle into/under the skin, they tell you to draw back a little on the plunger (before depressing the plunger). My understanding is that was to make sure you weren't in a blood vessel. If you saw any pink color in the syringe, that means you were in a blood vessel and you needed to pick another spot (because you don't want to shoot directly into the bloodstream.)

This is much less a concern when you are shooting "sub Q", because you theoretically wouldn't find a blood vessel that close to the skin. If you were shooting into muscle instead of just under the skin, you'd have a better chance of hitting a vein or artery.

However, I never read or saw anything that recommended you check for "air". I suppose it would mean that you had poked too far, and the tip of the needle had made it all the way through the tented skin, and came out the other side. The likelihood of doing that is small, and it would usually result in what we call a "fur shot".

But, I would think, even if you were in the right place, lifting up the skin to form a tent, and under the skin, if you drew back on the plunger, you'd still be able to to it. I don't know if it would be "air" our some other body fluid, or whatever, but I don't think it's like a "vacuum" in there, where you wouldn't be able to pull the plunger back. Not sure if anything at all would come back into the syringe though.

I think you've been doing it right. If you haven't felt a wet spot after you shot the insulin, then you got it under the skin between the skin layer and the muscle layer. Sometimes the cat will move, and it will cause the needle to poke beyond the tent, or pull out of the tent - a "fur shot". Otherwise, I think you're okay.

Carl
 
I was told to do that with big syringes I was using with a pet rabbit but not with insulin sinceI use the BD short syringes and always make sure that I tent or that the syringe is parallel with the body so I cant hit a vein or muscle. Are you testing your cats blood? If so you should be able to see the insulin action and know if its working well!
 
Wendy&Tiggy said:
I was told to do that with big syringes I was using with a pet rabbit but not with insulin sinceI use the BD short syringes and always make sure that I tent or that the syringe is parallel with the body so I cant hit a vein or muscle. Are you testing your cats blood? If so you should be able to see the insulin action and know if its working well!
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yes i do test him...though he doesn't seem regulated yet...his average at present is 218
 
Carl & Bob said:
I have seen those types of instructions on some of the videos for giving insulin on youtube. Once you insert the needle into/under the skin, they tell you to draw back a little on the plunger (before depressing the plunger). My understanding is that was to make sure you weren't in a blood vessel. If you saw any pink color in the syringe, that means you were in a blood vessel and you needed to pick another spot (because you don't want to shoot directly into the bloodstream.)

This is much less a concern when you are shooting "sub Q", because you theoretically wouldn't find a blood vessel that close to the skin. If you were shooting into muscle instead of just under the skin, you'd have a better chance of hitting a vein or artery.

However, I never read or saw anything that recommended you check for "air". I suppose it would mean that you had poked too far, and the tip of the needle had made it all the way through the tented skin, and came out the other side. The likelihood of doing that is small, and it would usually result in what we call a "fur shot".

But, I would think, even if you were in the right place, lifting up the skin to form a tent, and under the skin, if you drew back on the plunger, you'd still be able to to it. I don't know if it would be "air" our some other body fluid, or whatever, but I don't think it's like a "vacuum" in there, where you wouldn't be able to pull the plunger back. Not sure if anything at all would come back into the syringe though.

I think you've been doing it right. If you haven't felt a wet spot after you shot the insulin, then you got it under the skin between the skin layer and the muscle layer. Sometimes the cat will move, and it will cause the needle to poke beyond the tent, or pull out of the tent - a "fur shot". Otherwise, I think you're okay.

Carl
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thanks...the bood/air thing makes no sense!
 
Ann & Tess said:
I think most of us shoot the way you were taught, but there are varying techniques. I've never heard of the procedure that you describe. Quite frankly I think it unnecessary, in the nearly three years I have bee giving insulin I think I have only drawn blood once or twice.

Try to shoot near the base of the tent w/ the bevel of the needle facing up. If the bevel faces down the needle can be drawn deeper under the skin and more chance of a muscle shot. Also be sure to stay at least an inch to the side of the spine.
Click to expand...
So down the spine (form neck to tail base?) at least an inch from spine? Also, them the shoulder would be included in those areas?
 
This is a diagram of insulin shot sites for cats:
resource.aspx


I've never heard of shots along the spine being recommended.

One of the vet techs at my vet's office recommended drawing back on the plunger to check for blood in the syringe. Frankly, I shoot when my cat's face is in her food. She's on the floor. It's not easy to see if there's anything in the syringe. I think that method is probably useful if the cat is at your line of sight -- like on a table. It's also less of an issue with a subcutaneous injection vs. an IM shot. The method you described is also how you can tell if, when giving IV infusions, if the needle is in the vein.
 
Sienne and Gabby said:
I've never heard of shots along the spine being recommended.
Click to expand...

This is an interesting point. From the chart and things I've read, I got the impression that you could shoot just about anywhere in front of the back hips. I sometimes shoot Leo in the scruff but also along his shoulders. But I realize that often I shoot along his spine. I don't think I consciously decided to do that - I go for scruff and sometimes in my grabbing fur I happen to be further down his body. Do you see this being a concern?

BTW - I don't tent the skin. I grab some fur and pull up and roll, and aim for the skin with the bevel up and angled appropriately to avoid muscle, etc. I often have to grab several times to clearly see skin rather than more fur, so I don't always end up shooting where I originally started grabbing fur.
 
We gave Zener Cerenia injections and the vet tech gave us instructions like you describe. We don't do that with the insulin injections.
Liz
 
TheBowHuntress said:
.what would be in the needle if there was no blood or air?
Click to expand...

Several places say to pull back and I wondered what would go in the syringe if it wasn't in a blood vessel. That really creeped me out. If it's inside his body wouldn't it pull something out? I asked my vet and he said it was really unlikely that I would hit a vessel but he didn't really answer about the something else. I asked what would happen if I injected into a blood vessel and he said the insulin would work much faster which he said was not good.

I do the same thing as you, I usually don't shoot the first place I pull skin. He is so hairy it's hard to find the skin sometimes. Even though he has a TON of excess skin. I think I have shot near the spine. The areas I can pick are limited because he is very sensitive in several places. He would bite me if I tried anywhere even remotely close to his stomach or anywhere on the back half of his body. I have a hard time grabbing skin at the scruff also. There is too much hair to see anything.
 
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