i keep missing shot...advice?

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Pjmuellner

Pjmuellner

Member Since 2017
We’ve been using Vetsulin for 2 months. Recently Penny is snapping and has even bitten me a couple times when giving the insulin shot. When I pet her afterward, her fur is wet and I know I’ve missed some or all of the shot. I think this explains why her numbers are erratic. Since I don’t know if any of the insulin went in, I can’t just give another shot, and I spend the next 12 hours knowing the numbers will go up because I haven’t done my job. I try to be careful to get the shot in but I still miss, sometimes because she snaps at me. I try to distract her by poking a finger in the opposite side when I inject her but that doesn’t always work. I don’t want the biting to become a regular part of our routine! Are there any tips to give the shot? Thank you.

(This morning I started a new bottle of Vetsulin. After the shot, her fur was very wet so I know I missed some or all of the shot. Soon after, Penny vomited the first half of her breakfast. She rarely gets sick and I missed the shot, so it’s unlikely the Vetsulin is to blame, right? She finished her second half of breakfast and seems fine now. I don’t know why she got sick but I’ll watch her carefully after I give the shot tonight.)
 
When I moved from the neck to above and in front of the back shoulders everything got easier. I tent Noah and slide the syringe in almost parallel to his body. He has super long hair that gets knotted so that's another thing I have to watch. Noah's brother Nigel had so much scar tissue I have actually bent a needle and that's what made me move injection sites.
 
just a though, did you change syringe brand? my cat just laid there and let me inject him with no problem (i do so on his lower side area) and than i bought a pet syringe brand (ulticare) with 1/2 units on them in the same guage of the first brand and he stopped tolerating me given him injections, meowed and tried to run away each time.. took me like 3 days before i realized the new syringes were hurting him, went back to other brand and after first use (guess he thought i was going to hurt him again with other syringe), he went back to tolerating his injections.

if she keeps snapping at you, perhaps consider getting a cone for her or if you have heavy duty stiff paper plates, you can; cut one slit from outside of plate to center and than cut out a circle in center of plate to fit her neck. the slit will help you put plate on her quicker than an actual cone and cause less stress on kitty. i like to double the plates to make it sturdier.
 
When Nigel, Noah's brother and our first diabetic, was switched to Caninsulin we were sent home with the official Caninsulin syringes which looked like something you'd shoot a moose with. Maybe that's some ultra-stupid law here. I cannot endorse switching syringes, don't ask-don't tell.
 
Hi,
I am sorry you are having such trouble w// injections. Have you tried bribing her? A tiny snack just before, calm voice explaining why you actually need to give injection, petting, injection and another a bit larger bribe (treat) after the injection?

I inject at the sides of the belly - alternating sides AM and PM and bribe shamelessly... Also, I shave her fur on the site of injection every now and then - this way I can see the needle going in and out and see if iI did a fur shot.
 
Try injecting while she's eating.

You are tenting the skin while you inject, right?

Maybe shave a small patch so you can see the skin more clearly?
 
JanetNJ said:
Try injecting while she's eating.

You are tenting the skin while you inject, right?

Maybe shave a small patch so you can see the skin more clearly?
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I do tent the skin, I’ll try to be more deliberate. It’s SOOO disappointing when I miss! She is very motivated by food, so our routine is to test bg; give her a small portion while I prepare shot; give her the shot; then the rest of her meal. But I’ll try giving her a treat right after the shot. I also give her attention and pet her before/after shot but the food means more.

Thanks for the help!
 
Pjmuellner said:
I do tent the skin, I’ll try to be more deliberate. It’s SOOO disappointing when I miss! She is very motivated by food, so our routine is to test bg; give her a small portion while I prepare shot; give her the shot; then the rest of her meal. But I’ll try giving her a treat right after the shot. I also give her attention and pet her before/after shot but the food means more.

Thanks for the help!
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When you inject be sure to keep your finger off the plunger until you feel it go in. Hold it only by the side.
 
It works better for me to give the shot on Mia's side near her front leg while she is eating. I can easily pull up a bit of loose skin there, and quickly do the injection.

I had started having the problem of her hissing and turning around with what looked like intent to bite (both very much against her nature) any time I would give the shot but once I tried the new area, that stopped.
 
Are you using the Vetsulin syringes? They have a very large gauge needle size 18-19 which is the size for livestock so are more painful.
Try using a u100 human insulin syringe. Most have a smaller guage needle in the 30's guage size which your cat may not even notice. You need to convert the insulin from a u40 to a u100 syringe which is very important. There is a chart on this web page or just Google insulin conversion. You HAVE to convert as the u40 and u100 insulins are different and you can make your cat very sick if you don't convert.
My cat Tribby gets 1u of u40 caninsulin which measure to 2.5u on a u100 syringe.

Injecting in the neck rough and shoulder area helps as well.
 
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