Cat won't tolerate shots anymore

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Timewarpcat

Timewarpcat

Member Since 2022
I've been giving insulin to my cat 2 or 3 months and she has gotten more and more angry and is getting very difficult. The shots HURT her.

She gets 2 units of prozinc 2x per day. I leave the syringe on the counter 5 minutes or so for the insulin to warm a bit.

She is only 6 years old and has no old stretchy skin like ALL the online directions refer to when giving shots. I do pull up a pocket, but it's nothing like on an old cat. She's maybe half a pound overweight.

She got diabetes from an illness (toxoplasmosis) and it probably won't remit. She also takes an anti seizure med, but she accepts the pill pockets, which have a small amount of carbs. She eats about 40% pate Fancy Feast, which is the best I have done with 4 years trying to get her to eat more wet food.

I do cuddle her. She lap sits on me 2+ hours a day. The shots clearly HURT and according to what I read, they supposedly don't hurt, so I think maybe her skin is so tight because she's young.
 
Are you injecting when she is finishing eating?
How are here BG doing? You did not mention omte testing BG. In the past it had been reported that a some cats when BG goes to low repeatedly try to avoid shots in the future.
 
I'm using 29g. !!!

I'll be switching her to a different insulin soon and then I can get the fine gauge needles then, awesome! Thank you very much!

I used freestyle libre on her and at 2 units she went too low one time and so I do 1.75 units. We're going to put another freestyle libre on her in a week or two and switch her to a longer acting insulin, Levemir.

Her control is not enough, but she clinically improved a lot. I make sure she eats. I watch her eat. I think it is impossible she is going too low at 1.75 units based on the 13 days she had the Freestyle Libre.
 
Also make sure you’re going in at a 45 degree angle as opposed to straight down into the skin. If you aim straight down, you could hit a muscle and it would hurt. You want the angle so that your shooting into the skin and fat not going deep into the muscle area. I used short needles too. A lot less chance of hustling even if all of it goes in!
 
I've been going a little closer to parallel due to the tight skin that won't pull up too much. I think I must need to review with the vet.
 
You could try holding the syringe at the place where the insulin is between your fingers to help warm it up a little. Also try having her eating while you inject, when she is distracted by eating, she may not notice the shot.

Lastly, look for the bevel edge on the syringe, you want that facing upward when you inject, otherwise it will drag and pull on the skin, which might cause her some discomfort.
 
I have never tented with my boy. I shoot on both sides of his shoulder blades while he is eating. I use the 31 gauge 6mm (15/64") legth needle 3/10mL syringe. I get them at Walmart. Now when I was using a longer needle he would pull away but he does great with these.
 
I'll take a look at the shot with a magnifying glass. I do know about the bevel because I have given other shots, but those needles were a lot bigger and I could see. I'll try that for sure.

Looks like a finer needle will be the way to go, and I'm glad I didn't order the different syringes for the Levemir yet!!!!

I'll try warning it up a bit more, but it's the needle poke she's fussing over. I have been having my husband do some shots and she is behaving better with him for now.

Thanks so much for all the help! I have had nothing but stress with kitties for many months.

Esther is a lot better. She jumps around like she did before her serious toxoplasmosis illness with the seizures. She has reasonable seizure control and her blood sugar level overall is closer to normal. The vet did not really think she and the other stricken cat would make it, and we did a lot of treatment to kill back the toxoplasmosis in their brains, but they are both happy and mostly back to normal. We're still tweaking meds and insulin to find the optimum dosages, but both kitties could do quite well where they're at.
 
I also have a young (4.5 years), healthy-weight cat with tight skin. I use 31g needles and rotate the injection site through three separate areas: the shoulder blade, the abdomen closer to her spine, and the abdomen closer to her belly. I inject on her left side in the mornings and on her right side in the evenings.

When I first started giving her shots she definitely felt (and hated) the needle. It took me a while to learn how to actually grab her skin and make a little tent. What helped most was feeding her on our kitchen counter and then injecting her while she ate. By being on the counter it was easier for me to handle her, and since she was distracted by her food I was given more leeway to grope around and get a good pinch of skin.

Because she's young and has tight skin it took a bit of experimenting to learn how to get a fold of skin in each of the injection sites. I have to grab a larger area of flesh than is intuitive, and gently pull it together so I only get the skin and not the muscle/flesh underneath the skin. I also have to be careful not to get too small of a pinch of skin because then the pinch itself hurts, let alone the injection. I found the shoulder blade area to be the easiest location to get a good pinch, the abdomen by her belly the second easiest (though I can't get too close to her belly because she's touchy), and then finally the abdomen up by her spine is the hardest. Because I do this all while she's eating I can try two or three times to get a good handful without bothering her.

Once I was able to get a good pinch of skin the injections became less painful. She clearly still feels the injection a little bit, but because she's distracted by her food she usually doesn't mind.
 
I'd encourage you to take a look at the sticky notes at the top of the Lantus/Levemir board. There's lots of information there as it sounds like you're switching insulin.

As for syringes, do not use the needle tip that you can purchase for the pens. Use a syringe.
Using syringes with a pen, cartridge, or vial:
  • U-100 3/10cc syringes with half unit markings are the best to use for drawing Lantus, Levemir, or the Biosimilars from vials, cartridges, and pens.
  • BD Ultra-Fine, CarePoint Vet, Monoject, GNP, UltiCare Vet Rx, Sure Comfort, and ReliOn are just some of the brands available with half unit markings.
  • Syringes come in ½ inch or 5/16 inch needle lengths. Needle gauges are 29, 30 or 31 (31 being the thinnest)
 
Chrispooky12 said:
I have never tented with my boy. I shoot on both sides of his shoulder blades while he is eating. I use the 31 gauge 6mm (15/64") legth needle 3/10mL syringe. I get them at Walmart. Now when I was using a longer needle he would pull away but he does great with these.
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….do you mean the needle is so short that it don’t tent and just shoot directly into the cat? On an angle? Have you ever felt that you might have hit muscle? Looking into all my options to try and alleviate the shoot tension and stress!
 
Amy & Herman said:
….do you mean the needle is so short that it don’t tent and just shoot directly into the cat? On an angle? Have you ever felt that you might have hit muscle? Looking into all my options to try and alleviate the shoot tension and stress!
Click to expand...
The needle is very short but he was on prozinc before switching to Lantus & I know those are much longer. I just wait until he's eating & I put the needle in & push the plunger. I do either on his right upper side of the scruff by his shoulder blade or his left side same place, I try to alternate. He's a 17lb kitty so he's got some fat to work with. Nope I've never hit any muscle or tented him. Just put it in & shoot.
 
I have been careful not to insert the needle all the way. These are Monoject U-40 29 G x 1/2"

I am able to pull up her skin, but she doesn't like the pinching and she really feels the needle. I notice as I age that I can "tent" the skin on the back of my hands, but when I was young I don't think so. Skin just gets looser with age. She's a young little kitty, about 8 pounds.

I'm going to call the vet for an appointment today or tomorrow as soon as I figure out what syringes to get for the Levemir and how to switch. I'll go to the sticky notes and read those right now. Kitty will need another Freestyle Libre put on. I don't think the vet has dealt with Levemir before, due to cost. It's a low income farm area and cats are usually disposable here, which is how I end up with strays and ferals. Esther was a witchy half-wild farm cat for a few months and eventually became a total cuddle bum. The vet and the vet techs and office staff are super. My sister helps me too. But I have such specific problems! That's why I come here. :)
 
I ordered syringes today. I decided to wait until November to switch her to Levemir because I have other stuff going on. She's doing pretty good on Prozinc, although I didn't get her dosage optimized. Very improved.

I got some 31 gauge U-40s from Chewy, and then some SureComfort 31 gauge U-100s from that diabetic supply linked to by Sienne and Gabby. IDK how long the Chewy ones are, but I think I got 8mm SureComforts. I have to practice with a caliper. The monojects I'm using from the vet have been excellent, but I read that it varies.
 
I also had better luck with the shoulder blade area, the scruff never worked for me.
Has she lost weight? That might account for the needle going through too far and possibly hitting muscle mass or even bone.
 
It might seem like an act of desperation but you could try swaddling her. That's when you wrap a cat up in a towel and if you can, hold their back feet together and scruff them. It probably takes two people and can look like a Houdini act but we all do what we have to do. The trick then is not to have her react badly when she sees the towel coming and worst of all resenting you for it.
 
Timewarpcat said:
She's a bit plump. I think she's just a grumbly girl. I've been trying to do left side in the morning, right side at night.
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I have been doing just that with my own grumbly girl who doesn’t have much skin to pull. I take a big pinch behind the shoulder blade, right above the abdomen, and pull it upward while rolling it slightly to the side - it works better for me than the “tent” method. I use 8mm 31G needles and she does sooo much better with those. Rarely ever hisses or growls, while she always does with longer/bigger ones.
When we first started on insulin, I started spreading a bit of tuna churu on a plate and sticking it under her nose on the floor while injecting her. It does a good job of improving her tolerance, even though she stops eating for a second when she senses I’m about to inject.

Glad to hear rotating sides and giving treats is helping :cat: It also seems to get easier with time and increased confidence, so you’re on the right path!
 
I'm a LOT faster now!! The 31 gauge needles are beyond wonderful. I'm so glad I asked. I have to suck up my courage and try these other injection sites. I've been doing over the shoulders mostly.
 
Chrispooky12 said:
The needle is very short but he was on prozinc before switching to Lantus & I know those are much longer. I just wait until he's eating & I put the needle in & push the plunger. I do either on his right upper side of the scruff by his shoulder blade or his left side same place, I try to alternate. He's a 17lb kitty so he's got some fat to work with. Nope I've never hit any muscle or tented him. Just put it in & shoot.
Click to expand...

is it OK to Dose Lantus while they are eating one of their meals? Vet insisted I wait 30 mins
 
My kitty wants to eat a little, then a little more. I wait until I judge she ate enough to be ok with the insulin dose.
 
James Passinos said:
s it OK to Dose Lantus while they are eating one of their meals? Vet insisted I wait 30 mins
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The 30 minutes is for insulins such as Caninsulin/Vetsulin. Lantus doesn't onset (start to take effect) until a couple hours after the shot, so you have time to get food into her. Most people give Lantus either when their head is in the bowl, or just after.
 
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