Feeling a little defeated

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SuziB

SuziB

Member Since 2019
Hi all!

Pardon the whine, but I just need to vent for a minute to people who might get it...

My little cat, Reece, is definitely feeling better. So much so that she is screeching when I try to check her BG and growling when I try to give her her insulin injections. Tonight she reared back as I was giving her her shot and the needle bent. Wasted needle/wasted dose of insulin. I had to poke her 3 times to get blood from her ear - she either screamed and shook her head or somehow got away from me twice before I was successful.

I feel badly that I’m not getting to check her BG more frequently, but it is causing me and her so much stress, and I’m still so bad at it, that I just don’t do it as frequently as I should. Mornings are horrible and I have been unsuccessful every time I’ve tried. I’m probably too stressed trying to get my teenagers up and ready for school, myself ready for work, my elderly dog walked and medicated, that I just don’t have the calmness to get Reece’s blood drawn successfully, too. At least I’ve gotten her fed (and medicated with her Metronidazole), and gotten insulin into her before we all have to go to school/work.

I’m not sure what to do about her new (and bad!) reactions to her shots. Initially, she would just continue eating her food, but now, as soon as I try to tent her fur, she tenses up and starts to rear back and growl. I have added treats to her food just before and just after her injection to try to distract/reward, but she’s still pretty mad at me.

I love her and want her happy and healthy, but this is really stressful and I’m feeling like a very bad (and frustrated) mom! :(
 
What gauge needles are you using? Can you practise at other times; tent up the skin and let go again, giving lots of lovely rubs and a treat EVERY time; even the unsuccessful times!
 
I changed up our morning routine a little and was successful in getting an AMPS reading (357), and it went ok. Unfortunately, she is starting to reject her food that has the Metronidazole in it, so getting enough breakfast into her to give her her insulin took awhile and her shot was delayed (about 15-20 minutes later than normal).

She let me do plenty of skin tugging/tenting, but as soon as I got the needle things went south. I’m pretty sure the insulin got into her before she freaked out, but not positive. I’m using a U40, 28G 1/2” needle. Does that gauge seem too large? What size needle is everyone else using?

I have been doing all her injections in her scruff, switching from left/right sides in the am/pm. Where else on her body might I be able to try that might help lesson the sensitivity in her scruff? Maybe she is just getting sore from repeated injections, even though I’ve tried to rotate sites?

Thanks for letting me vent!
Suzi
 
Do you have an open-minded vet? If they're willing to try fitting her with a Freestyle Libre that could make the BG monitoring effortless. Unfortunately I've yet to find a vet willing to try it despite excellent results reported throughout the world.
 
SuziB said:
I changed up our morning routine a little and was successful in getting an AMPS reading (357), and it went ok. Unfortunately, she is starting to reject her food that has the Metronidazole in it, so getting enough breakfast into her to give her her insulin took awhile and her shot was delayed (about 15-20 minutes later than normal).

She let me do plenty of skin tugging/tenting, but as soon as I got the needle things went south. I’m pretty sure the insulin got into her before she freaked out, but not positive. I’m using a U40, 28G 1/2” needle. Does that gauge seem too large? What size needle is everyone else using?

I have been doing all her injections in her scruff, switching from left/right sides in the am/pm. Where else on her body might I be able to try that might help lesson the sensitivity in her scruff? Maybe she is just getting sore from repeated injections, even though I’ve tried to rotate sites?

Thanks for letting me vent!
Suzi
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28g are the bigger/fatter ones, so yeah that might be affecting her! You might want to try get 30 or 31g ones that are finer and they often don’t even feel them.

You can shoot on their sides or belly as well. There is evidence that it hits them faster the closer to the abdomen it is too.
 
What size lancer are you using? I started with a bigger guage lancer 28 guage then went to a smaller guage 31 after Jones ears learned to bleed and I had my technic down. The bigger guage makes a bigger hole so more likely to bleed.
 
Can you put the meds in an empty gel cap? Size 4 or 5 caps are very tiny. That way she won't taste it
 
I am using 28G lancets. Today, I changed the location of blood draws to the bathroom counter where I have more/better lighting to see (black ears...), and have been doling out bonito flakes like they’re going out of style. Thankfully, she loves them right now - tomorrow may be a different story!

I left a message for her doctor about using a smaller needles for injections, as well as cutting the dosage of her Metronidazole in half, but feeding it 2x’s a day. I hadn’t thought about putting it in a gel cap, but pilling her has proven extremely difficult in the past, so I’m not sure if that would be better or worse.

I think I will try giving her insulin injection in the bathroom, as well. Then maybe she will start to associate the area with getting delicious treats??

Also, took away the dry kibble today and fed her at breakfast and again two hours later. Just now caught her trying to eat the dog’s dry kibble (giant, large breed dog food looked ridiculous in her tiny mouth! :D), so I gave her more of her wet food. That many feedings during the work week will be problematic, though.
 
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