how do I know if syringe needle is going into muscle ?

[KarenAmelia]

This is the end of my first week of injecting (Lantus). Getting more confident with testing BG and with the whole procedure. My vet showed me how to make a tent of the skin and all that, which I thought was easy. My cat almost seems to know that the insulin shot is helping her and comes to me to get it. She seems not even to notice the needle going in. However, doubt often creeps in after the initial burst of beginner's confidence. Now I'm noticing that my cat doesn't have a lot of looseness in her skin, so the "tent" is very small. I know that the insulin needs to go subcutaneously and not either into the muscle itself nor into the subcutaneous fat layer, just under the skin and fat but not into the muscle. I just don't know if I would notice resistance against the needle to let me know if it's hitting muscle ; the needle enters through the skin so easily , and without much resistance, that I wonder if the same would happen if it's going into a place that it shouldn't. Any advice welcomed.

 

[tuckers mom]

Where do you shoot? On the sides or scruff? I shoot sides or sometimes flank area, for me it would be hard to get muscle and if I did Kiki would swat at me to let me know that I did

 

[squeem3]

Are you using insulin syringes with 5/16 inch long needles? If so, you can fully insert the entire needle into the skin without any worry of hitting muscle. With 1/2 inch needles, you can insert up to half the needle.

 

[KarenAmelia]

Hi Jennifer and Squeem,

I am using 1/2 " needles, and am shooting along the spine , which is where I was told to shoot. Squeem, when you say you can insert the shorter needle without hitting muscle, is that with the skin pulled up into a tent, or is that just shooting straight in w/o pulling the skin up? And would I feel the needle hitting or going into muscle? Jennifer, you seem to be saying that the cat would feel it and let me know.

 

[tuckers mom]

The very few times I had to do muscle shots was for my diabetic named Sadie who had Congestive Heart Failure and towards the end she would retain fluids around her heart and need chest taps. Because of the other issues her diabetes was hard to control and her numbers were often high. This was years ago, before I learned how to use another short acting insulin with the PZI I was using at the time. When I could not get her numbers down my vet taught me to give the shot Intra Muscular in her leg. It hurt her a lot.

I had used 1/2 needles for a couple of years before I learned about the 5/16" needle and I don't recall ever hearing that I needed to insert only halfway. I used to simply play with my cats' sides while they were eating and would pull the skin up and shoot. After I had those two (Tucker and Sadie) I adopted a third who hated shots, she was like a cat on a hot tin roof, her name was Misty. After Misty's adoption I learned about the short needles and I would never go back to the 1/2 inch now, not for anything. The short are so much more comfortable.

They are short enough that if Kiki won't sit still when eating, she's my tough kitty, sometimes I can't tent the skin and I do shoot right into her side, it never hits muscle.

Are you shooting near the scruff between the shoulders?

Check out this link to BD's site where they show places to shoot: http://www.bd.com/us/diabetes/page.aspx?cat=7001&id=7374

 

[Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)]

As long as you are tenting the skin, and shooting into the tent, and holding the syringe parallel to the cat's body, you shouldn't be hitting muscle no matter whether the needle is 5/16 or 1/2 inches long.

I gave over 100 shots into muscle in Bob's upper legs for 9 or 10 weeks. I used u40 syringes with 1/2 long needles. When I shot him, I held the needle perpendicular to his leg. Unlike Jennifer (and Sadie), the shot never seemed to bother Bob at all. The needle went halfway in, and halfway thru the muscle, I'd draw the plunger back a smidge to make sure I hadn't hit a blood vessel, and then push the plunger. He never squirmed, yelped, or looked like it hurt.
The first week he was on insulin, I shot the scruff, sub-q. As far as how the needle felt when it went in? I didn't really notice a difference between sub-q and IM. Both went in easily. I was using 29 gauge (which I think is the "standard" gauge) needle.

Basically, unless you are holding the syringe at an angle instead of parallel to her body, the chance that you are going to hit muscle is highly unlikely.

Carl

 

[squeem3]

I am using 1/2 " needles, and am shooting along the spine , which is where I was told to shoot.

Most people tent up the skin at the neck just above the shoulder blades. More skin to tent there :smile: Try shooting there next time.

Squeem, when you say you can insert the shorter needle without hitting muscle, is that with the skin pulled up into a tent, or is that just shooting straight in w/o pulling the skin up?

Either. Some peoplpe tent the skin, others don't. Personally I feel that tenting further prevents even a short needle from possibly hitting muscle. Even if you don't get a big tent, the short needle still won't hit anything.

 

[Dyana]

I use the 1/2 inch needle. I was told that those would be better, since my kitty is a big boy (a little more fat than normal). I shoot in the flank area and along his sides.
Sometimes, my kitty flinches and I think that's when I accidently hit the muscle, so I pull the needle out and try a different spot and alter my angle. Normally, my kitty doesn't even seem to notice the injection.