I keep giving fur shots!!

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monty_dweezil (GA)

monty_dweezil (GA)

Member Since 2014
I am becoming very discouraged. Over the past couple of weeks Dweezy has been getting much more "touchy" when i do his shots.

As soon as i touch his neck or surrounds, he hunches up and moves backwards to escape.

Lately, this week, he will simply abandon his dinner to avoid any more attempts at getting his shot.

I have thus tried using different areas, but this unfortunately has resulted in a few fur shots.

Last night there was too small an area of skin near the shoulder blade and i released the insulin partly before getting the needle all the way in. Got it on my finger.

Tonight i tried just near his hind leg and again, the amount of skin was too small and the needle went through to the other side. SIGH!!!

We have been doing this since mid December and i am STILL not good at it!!! Thank god my partner always gets it right when she does her's in the mornings.
 
I think the issue is that he moves around so much. Whenever i do get enough skin, he moves so it disappears.

My partner i notice literally grabs a fistful of skin and holds it very firmly. Dweezy seems to freeze then and she is able to give the shot easily. Whereas i only use my fingers and have always found it hard trying to get, and keep, enough skin while he moves, walks off and hunches down.
 
Do some kitty massage without shooting. Rub muscles. Pick up skin and release. Give low carb treats. Basically, work on desensitizing him to being handled by you.

Also, practice shooting on a piece of raw chicken. Use water in a syringe. Pick up the skin and shoot. A lot. There is a practice effect.
 
As you know, my Kramer is the same way during his shots. He wouldn't let me inject while he was eating, he would just stop eating and walk away. The only way he lets me inject is if I give him treats while I am doing it. One treat to get him on the counter, then another right before the shot, and one after. Before he would back up and jump while I gave him the shot. Now he will patiently wait while I inject him. I also found it helps to go slower and not rest the finger I use to push the plunger in with on the syringe. When I did that, it was a reflex for me that when he jumped or moved, I would push in on the plunger and get a fur shot if the needle wasn't all the way in. It also helped me to practice on a stuffed animal. Good luck! Don't feel bad, we ALL struggle with it from time to time!
 
It's happened to all of us lol. Best advice.....find the best distraction....either meals, treats, massages. Also search for good areas you can "tent", and like suggested you can shave the area to have better visibility.
 
I used to give Saoirse her insulin while she was on the ground. I'd kneel behind her so she could see an 'escape route' but if she backed up, she backed up into my knees. ;) (I do similar when giving her pills.)
 
I do this with Dweezy too, and yet somehow he manages to bunch himself up backwards and escape. Lol.

I also realised it is because he stands up to eat. When he is sitting, there is a lot more accessible skin to choose from.

He is actually already used to me stroking, holding and touching him. I do it all the time just cause he's so cute! Lol. Last night a few hours after the stupid fur shot, my partner and i were trying to find / show skin areas on him to use, and he kept walking around in circles to get away from our prying hands.
 
Yay! Got it done properly tonight, even though i had to follow him around the lounge room, trying to get bits of skin in different areas, and then finally got him when he returned to the bathroom for the rest of his dinner. Woo hoo!
 
I know how frustrating this whole dance is when you take into consideration all the variables such as food, doses, how kitty is feeling etc. And then you go and create yet another variable by giving a fur shot. Ugh. It seemed like there for a while I had a knack for giving fur shots too. I think part of the reason it happened to me was because I was so frustrated with all the variables that I wasn't fully focused when it came to shot time. After I finally accepted I need to put on those patient pants, I gave less fur shots. Hang in there!
 
Thank you!

It is a bit concerning, also, to notice that the two fur shot nights, he was much more himself than he has been at night for a while. He was alert but relaxed, snuggling with me on the couch like he used to, had a normal appetite and water consumption and his urine glucose was halfway down the colour chart in the morning (which is as low as it's ever gotten for him, though still too high).

Then, after last night's successful shot, he was quiet within 30 mins and subdued, spent most of the next few hours in the curtains like he's done for weeks. Not as much alert eye contact. Starving!!!!!!!! Drinking more. Playful again after about 5 hours and more alert, but still not as "right" feeling as the previous two nights. And this morning he is back up to the second highest urine glucose level again.

Sigh.
 
Take a look at Buds spreadsheet from January 8th to January 14th. There was a couple fur shots in that time and his preshot numbers kept getting lower without insulin. It was the weirdest and most confusing thing.

Are you testing before every shot? I couldn't tell much from your spreadsheet. I don't know a lot about Lantus but from what you're describing I'm wondering if that 2 units is too high a dose.
 
I wonder that too.

We have had difficulty in regularly testing. This monday dweezy is going to the vet for a morning AMPS test and a nadir test as well as fructosamine test. We will hopefully know a bit more then.
 
It took me a while to get the hang of testing. Bud started insulin 11/1/2014 but you can see my spreadsheet doesn't start until 11/27/2014. I was only testing sporadically, then every other night. The night of the 27th was an off night but I decided to test anyways. He was 98. It was then and there I decided I was going to test for every shot. I really believe had I given Bud his 1.6 unit dose that night, I would've killed him. It wasn't easy, but trust me, it gets easier. In the beginning I thought there was no way I would ever get the hang of it. There were lots of tears involved. Keep trying! I'm routing for you! Good luck at the vet tomorrow.
 
Max used to squirm and fight whenever he saw me coming with the shot, and would flinch quite a bit when I gave it. I switched from a 30G 1/2" to a 31G shorter needle, and now he barely notices me when I give it. It's amazing how much difference it made for such a small change in size.
 
Oh wow, maybe i should try that.

Tonight...yet ANOTHER fur shot. Sigh. He moved right as i injected and so the needle shifted and didn't go deep enough.

I am just a total failure.
 
Patience pants rainbow jeans.png
Here you go - patience pants (thanks to @Deb & Wink )
 
Pink patience pants, coming right up.
pink panther pants.jpg

These come with their own built in slippers, very needed on this cold day here in the Northeast coastal USA.
Sorry I didn't see this sooner. I've been doing some digging out from our latest round of 20" of snow during this unprecedented 2nd blizzard in Massachusetts.
 
monty_dweezil said:
... the two fur shot nights, he was much more himself than he has been at night for a while. He was alert but relaxed, snuggling with me on the couch like he used to, had a normal appetite and water consumption and his urine glucose was halfway down the colour chart in the morning (which is as low as it's ever gotten for him, though still too high).

Then, after last night's successful shot, he was quiet within 30 mins and subdued, spent most of the next few hours in the curtains like he's done for weeks. Not as much alert eye contact. Starving!!!!!!!! Drinking more. Playful again after about 5 hours and more alert, but still not as "right" feeling as the previous two nights. And this morning he is back up to the second highest urine glucose level again.
Click to expand...

Not all cats get on well with all insulins. On reading the above, your description of Dweezil becoming subdued, withdrawn and hiding is exactly the way that Saoirse behaved when she was on Caninsulin. She, too, seemed better in herself when the insulin dose was wearing off and also at times when I skipped a dose. Also, she used to try very hard to hide from me at injection time when she was being treated with Caninsulin. When I switched her to Lantus she used to grumble a bit when I gave her the injection, but she didn't try to hide. She stopped looking miserable and was more sociable, more relaxed, and more 'herself'. Lantus definitely suited her system better.

I'm also concerned about the improvement in Dweezil's clinical signs when he received no insulin (less thirsty, less hungry, and lower glucose in the urine). I would ask your vet whether (1) his dose may be too high and therefore Dweezil's body may be dumping more glucose into his bloodstream to compensate; and (2) whether Lantus may not agree with him and maybe a switch to a different insulin (e.g. Levemir?) might suit his system better?

Edited to add:

Another concern about Dweezil's ravenous hunger in the few hours after insulin might be caused by his BG going quite low, but it's impossible to know without BG data. If he were mine I'd talk to my vet as soon as possible about Dweezil's behaviour and dosage.
 
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It's hard to say about the insulin when there isn't bloodsugars to look at. Incindently, because the lantus stings, it aggravated my cat's hyperesthesia and probably made him feel like crap. I didn't realize it until I switched to levemir (switched for other reasons).

Changing insulins might not be a good idea without home testing so you can see what that new insulin is doing.
 
I am SO upset right now.

This morning was Dweezy's vet appointment to have his blood taken for the AMPS and then later will be for the nadir, and also to run a fructosamine test...however, it was completely unsuccessful as he was too stressed and refused to let anyone take his blood. Three weeks ago it took 10 minutes to get his blood, give his food and insulin and go. This time, my partner was there for over an hour and nothing.

They will try to go back later for his nadir test, but I doubt it'll be successful.

This is just ridiculous. We cannot get any data on poor Dweezil in any way!

We are also terrified if he gets too tense about having his body poked and prodded that he won't let us give him his insulin either. That simply CANNOT be allowed to happen. And that is precisely the reason why I have not tried harder to get his ears pricked. He would not let me anywhere near his ear for days after the other time. And he's already getting very touchy about his insulin as well.

I find with some cats, the more they endure something, the easier it gets. It's never been that way for Dweezil. I find with him, he'll let you do something once. Like my ear prick and the blood test three weeks ago at the vet. He was an angel then. But if you try to do it again? No.
 
Does he tolerate having his feet handled at all? I couldn't get a blood drop out of Tonka's ears to save my life, so I eventually just grabbed him and tried his back paw pads instead. He'd not been fond of having his feet handled previously, but he was sick enough when I started doing this that he didn't have much energy to protest, and he soon learned that foot poking time meant treats and snuggles. Now even when he's feeling well he just sits in my lap and lets me take his blood samples. It might be worth a shot if ears are giving you a lot of trouble. And if he's likely to get resistant right away if the lancet comes out, you could try just sitting with him and massaging his foot pads, like you'd need to do to get the blood out, without poking first. Then give treats. The same way folks have been suggesting getting them used to having their ears tested.
 
Hmm. I have considered trying the paws, but I wasn't sure if it might be worse for him. He HATES having his paws touched and held. He also will not sit in a lap unless HE decides to come in there for snuggles and it's only in Winter when it's cooler.

I'm going to try the ears again tomorrow night. I am extra determined now.
 
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