Boo's numbers on 1.75

[Wendy and Boo (GA)]

I think I'm shooting water lol. At least he's consistent

I checked out the refrigerator to make sure it wasn't too cold-it's 43 degrees.

He's doing well though. Very happy and 4 of the 5 p's are good.

Dumb question. My pet sitters (two college-age sisters) would like to learn to give shots (and test) as I'm going to be out of town a few times before Christmas. If they aren't able to be around during shot time, how can I show them how to inject him? Just do a "pretend" shot with nothing in the syringe? When I learned, the vet used saline. I do have some saline solution in my horse first aid kit...

Also, I can pre-draw the syringes with Levemir, correct? I'd be filling 8 syringes at the most (enough for 4 days)

 

[Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA]

I have done "pretend" shots with a syringe with the needle cut off, but both of the guys I have used for sitters, since I have had diabetics, have been able to come over for one or two actual shot sessions.

And, yes, you can pre-draw lev. That is what I did for my sitters. I was much more concerned with the dose being accurate than anything else. The first time I wanted to do it was because Beau was on .1u or even .05u and I knew there was no way a novice could draw that. "We" discussed predrawing here, and some said no way because the insulin would react with the internal lubricant in the syringe, but one person (Ilkka) got info from the manufacturer that led me to believe it was possible. Anyway, I did draw the doses (.05u) and I was gone for 9 days. I also set a slightly high no shoot number because Beau had a tendency to suddenly drop to the 30s even on .05u. He ended up never needing insulin while I was gone (sitter was testing) and I used those doses when I got back when he was in an "as needed" stage of going OTJ and they were fine. I think the last one might have been sitting in the syringe for 3 weeks or more.

I would let 1.75u settle a couple of more days. 3-5 days is usual, but some cats need even longer.

 

[Terri and Lucy]

Hi Wendy,

If you predraw the insulin, all the pet sitters need practice on is testing and shooting. Please make sure they come over and learn to test. They should also practice the stick since so many people get nervous doing that. I tried to train one friend who can do the test with no problem. But when it comes to the stick, she jabs really hard and pulls it out before she does the injection. She just gets too nervous so I don't use her.

I'd bump the dose to 2.0--you've given 1.75 3 full cycles.

Terri

 

[Wendy and Boo (GA)]

Thanks! Will see how 2.0 does