Fur shots Help!

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Paula

Paula

Member Since 2014
When I gave Michael his shot last night and this morning, his fur was wet. I did not give another shot. However his bg this morning is 496. Would this cause the bg to be high? He is on 1.5U of lantus 2xday. What am I doing wrong for his fur to be wet when giving the shot? What do I need to do different?
Thanks,
Paula and kitty Michael.
 
Wet fur usually means you missed with some or all of the insulin. Since you have no idea how much he actually got (or didn't), protocol is to wait until the next scheduled shot. But yes, without insulin his BG will go up.

I find it helps to shave a patch of fur to give the shots if you aren't used to it. Get the fur out of the way until you are comfortable.
 
"Fur shots happen!"

Some people find that the choice of needle length can make a difference in giving a fur shot or not. It's a very personal preference between the short 5/16" needles and the longer 1/2" needle length. Some people have greater success getting the insulin in with the short needles, some have greater success with the long needles.

It's good you did not try to give any more insulin, as you never know how much insulin actually went in and do not to overdose your cat by giving any additional insulin.

"Better too high for a day, than too low for a moment."
 
I remember a couple of times when "tenting" Dusty's skin to give him his shot where it went all the way through to the other side and seeing it squirt the wall :-x . Wet fur shots happen but you did the right thing by not injecting again. All you can do it try to inject while in a well lit area and sort of point the needle at an angle downwards so you don't go all the way through to the other side like I did. :mrgreen:
 
Hi,

When I give a shot I hold the syringe in place for a count of 5 before removing it.
This gives me a little time to check that I do actually have the syringe correctly under the skin, and to check that I have thoroughly pushed down the plunger.

You may also want to check that you're not squeezing the injection site as you remove the syringe. Some folks have squeezed out insulin that way....

I'm sure you will get the hang of it. Don't worry.
As Deb said, 'fur shots happen'. I expect most - if not all - of us here have done that at some time or other.

Big reassuring hug to you,

Eliz
 
Thanks to all for the advice on fur shots.
I'm more at ease now. I'm doing better at giving shots.
Thanks again, everyone, your'e great!
Paula and kitty Michael
 
Just wanted to say thanks for the advice Eliz.....

I happen to be reading through the thread and for awhile since Skooter's numbers were not going down, I was starting to second guess if I was getting the insulin in him....the holding for a count of 5 is such a simple, yet perfect suggestion and it has been working great!
 
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