How worried should I be?

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kds0200

kds0200

Member Since 2014
I've been super controlling about Bailey's dosage and testing right from the start. But last night I had to go to a wedding rehearsal dinner for a wedding so I enlisted a family member to give the shot (no test, his pre shots have been consistent enough I wasn't worried). I said to do a 1.75 dose which meant to draw to just under the curve of the two (eyeballing it) on the syringe.

I put the correct U-40 syringes in plain sight (I didn't want to pre fill, after all I've read on that), and they should've been the first open package to touch, but in the back of the little box I had some U-100s that I'd used for odd doses before. Of course he got the wrong syringe, and filling to just below the two on those is looking at the 20 mark, so doing the conversion, that means Bailey got around 7.5 units of ProZinc last night instead of his usual 1.75. He said Bailey kind of yowled a little, like he probably went too deep with the needle. But this family member gives himself allergy shots on a regular basis, and he's given Bailey shots before (on syringes I prepared), so I didn't think it would be an issue.

Bailey was playful and chasing his tail and stuff, and this morning when I went to test him he was his usual sleepy self (aside from a little hairball problem), but I couldn't believe that test for a pre shot!! He doesn't even get that low at his nadirs. Once I found out what happened I immediately freaked out. He's eating his usual can of Fancy Feast (with 1/2 packet Fortiflora) and I smeared a dab of honey on his chin since he wouldn't lick it off my finger. But I'm very worried (and I guess pretty much lucky I don't have a dead cat on my hands?) and mostly furious at myself for not going over again what the shot routine should be like.

Going to test again in an hour. Reassurance or advice, whatever you have to say is appreciated. I have to go to a wedding this afternoon and I'm not sure how long the reception will go but even if I have to leave and come back, I'm planning to make the 30 minute drive home to test and (if needed) give the evening shot myself.
 
So you think it was the 2 on the U100s or the 20? If the 2, no problem, it'll be less than usual. If the 20 (would they really make that mistake?) I would guess he wouldn't be acting at all normally this morning. You didn't say what his preshot was this am? How low is is it?
 
Yes, it was definitely the 20 on the U100s. I asked and showed him the two syringes to make sure. Since I'd said, "Draw to just below the curve on the 2," and 20 is the only actual number 2 on the U100s, that's what he drew to. Looking at the conversion chart and the syringe, just below the curve on the 2 is about 19 units of U100, or 7.6 of U40.

Bailey's pre shot was 63 (was shocked so tested again and it was 62). (Sorry, I updated the spreadsheet but forgot to put the number in the post! :roll: )
 
And it's weird because he is acting pretty normal. He's a little sleepy (but he always is in the morning) but he's alert and attentive and not staggering around or anything dreadful like that. I'm due for another test in about 15 minutes so hopefully he's come up a little (never thought I'd have that worry!)...
 
So he is at 63 at +12? I think you may need to continue testing for a while this am. Do you have some gravied food? If so, I'd give him the gravy off that food and retest in 20 minutes. If he continues to drop and gets in the 50s, definitely some honey and retest. If the 40s, I think I'd get him to the vet. If this is going to be a 24 hour cycle, you'll need some help keeping his numbers up.

It may be 63 is the lowest he'll go and then he'll start to rise. If so, you are very lucky! 63 is a good number so he probably feels fine. It could be that he just dropped steadily overnight and this is his lowest spot (so far) or it could be that he did have a low nadir overnight and is coming back up.
 
Yes, he was 63 at +12 and now he's 151 at +13 (or +1 as the spreadsheet will have it). That's just after eating some of his regular Fancy Feast pate and licking a little dab of honey off his chin. Maybe I shouldn't have jumped to the honey so quickly, but oh well... Now I'm just hoping he's not going to have a major bounce, since he is so prone to bounciness :?

"Very lucky" is exactly what I think we are at this point.
 
Looks like he is okay. I would test more this morning, just in case the honey brought him up and he starts down again, but it is looking encouraging. And yes, I would expect a bounce but I would just give the regular dose. (as long as he continues up and is in shootable numbers)
 
I was wondering about that actually. Regular dose at the regular time tonight, with testing of course. But would a small dose (maybe just 1/2 a unit) hurt if he starts getting too high (like >400) this afternoon?
 
I don't know. I'd be reluctant to throw something odd in the mix. I think I'd consider this an off day (like a fur shot) and start again tonight. If he is super high and you want to shoot early (and that won't mess up your 12/12 schedule moving forward) shooting at +10 or so could be an option?
 
Okay, cool, I'll keep that in mind. I feel like he's already been messed up enough, so I don't want to make things even more whacky. I have a wedding to go to this afternoon at 3pm so +10 probably won't work. I don't know how long the after-wedding stuff will go, but no matter what, I'm going to be home to test/feed/shoot at our usual 6:45 to 7pm time slot!

And THANK YOU so very much, Sue, for your quick response and wonderful help. You are, as always, amazing ;-)
 
394 at +2, I'd say he's definitely bouncing hard and high. If he's higher still at +3 I'm going to give him just 1 unit of ProZinc and then keep testing until I have to go out this afternoon...

And thanks, Dyana! We're very lucky indeed.
 
So I did give one unit at +3 because he'd climbed to 456 and I didn't want him to hit the black numbers. At +5 now he's down to 277 which seems about where he usually is in a regular cycle. Will test again at +6 before leaving for the wedding stuff and will of course test and make sure he's rising at the regular shot time tonight. I'm thinking it's good he got this little booster dose because then if I get stuck in traffic and don't make it back right in time, I won't be too worried. I have someone to look in on him while I'm gone (but not test) though he usually sleeps in the afternoon anyway.

When I gave him the one unit shot though, I found a raised pinkish, sort of rough feeling bump on his back right hip, about the size of a pencil eraser, near where I was going to give the shot (Bailey started hissing and bit my arm so I backed off and took a closer look, that's when I felt the bump). I'm told that's about where he got the shot last night. It's definitely not a tick or some other parasite. Could the excess insulin cause something like that? Will be keeping an eye on it for sure.
 
If that hasn't receded with a week, take him to a vet. That sounds suspiciously like a mast cell tumor. They can be locally invasive. Or it could be another kind of tumor, one that could be malignant. If you can afford to have the vet remove it with wide margins, excision can be curative, although the conditions which caused 1 to develop may cause another to develop elsewhere, later.
 
Ooh ouch. Thanks for the heads up, BJM. I'm keeping an eye on it. Took a picture of it before giving Bailey's shot tonight (obviously in another location). Is that something that can be caused by regular injections? I do rotate left and right, shoulders and hips, but it seemed odd that I should notice it immediately after and at the injection site for that overdose. It almost feels like a scab, and he gets a little twitchy if I touch it, like it must hurt a little. I'm going to be moving the first week of December so if it does end up being a tumor of some kind, hopefully it can wait long enough for us to get settled into our new place and for me to find him a good vet.

On the plus side, he seems to have done fine with that one unit boost at +3 and didn't bounce up too high before his regular shot time. I'm still a little worried, of course (as always), but I'm glad to be able to keep testing him and see how this is all playing out.
 
Routine skin checks are a good idea for all cats. You can identify problems sooner and, if possible, deal with them.

(notes to self: time to go check all 14 cats' skin! I think some snuggling is in order, with a side of Braille reading technique!)
 
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