Injection site question and shed

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ehsuan

ehsuan

Member Since 2011
So now I think I might have been injecting Tableau in the wrong spot. I'm not doing the scruff of the neck, cause I had read somewhere that less of a dose makes it in. So I was shooting a little further back, behind the shoulder blades. Is this ok?

Re: the storage shed, is this an actual physical space on the cat? So if I change the injection site does that mean rebuilding the shed? Or does the body read "the shed" regardless of where it is on the body. So if I shoot two days in one spot, and one day in another, is that still a 3 day shed, or is it 2 unfull sheds. Hope my example makes sense.

Thanks
 
in the New? sticky at the top of the Lantus forum http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=18139 go about 1/2 way down the page to the links on injection sites for cats. perhaps that will be helpful. we give shots kinda scruff/kinda just behind towards a shoulder. i don't know if that's good or not, but it seems to work and the particular spot we have chosen is one that punkin accepts completely without any fuss now. so that's where we are.

as far as the shed - i *think* that it is ok to rotate sites. but i am not certain so maybe someone else will chime in.
 
Thanks, Julie. I think Tableau is getting his dose, based on the numbers, but I don't want to hurt him...
 
not sure what you mean by your last post. do you mean you think he's getting the right dose of insulin ok, based upon his BG numbers? i saw he was in the 60's at his nadir today - that's pretty awesome.

i read an interesting chat on the think tank at one point on how the rate of absorption might vary depending on where you shoot. i think their thought was the scruff had the slowest, longest-acting action and the belly was one of the shortest quickest actions. just mentioning that because if you are interested, you could sorta test on tableau and see if you can tell a difference.

he sure has high swings and preshot numbers. was he like that when he was diabetic on insulin before?
 
Sorry to be confusing. I just meant that he is getting the insulin, clearly, by the BG readings, so even if I'm not shooting in the perfect spot, it's having an effect. And what I meant about not hurting Tableau is I just don't want to be injecting in a bad spot, but he seems ok with it. What prompted all this was I just watched a couple of videos on youtube and I'm not hitting the same spots they demo'd - what I would call the scruff of the neck.

I agree he does seem to be having some wide swings. So I've decided to hold the dose for a minimum of 5 days, and see if that makes a difference. I think I read in the literature one place where it said to hold for 3 days and one place said to hold for 5 days.

When he was on insulin the first time he did seem to have some pretty wide swings in the beginning, but then he got regulated and was OTJ very quickly. He's only been on this insulin this time a little over 2 weeks, so I'm hoping that's why there are these wide swings (that and the fact that I've had to miss a dose, and I've given at least one fur shot, probably more).

I may experiment with trying the flank or side of the stomach in a coupla days. I bet it does have an effect. I will check out the think tank. Haven't been there yet.

Have a good night!
 
There are a numbers of locations where it's fine to shoot. I shoot in the scruff/shoulder area and have been ever since Gabby was diagnosed. I tried shooting in the flank a couple of times. Gabby hated it and so did I -- I had a much better chance of giving a fur shot. Some people believe that insulin is absorbed more slowly in the shoulder/scruff area. I've seen this mentioned in a couple of places and I've also seen disagreements on that point. I suspect it's an ECID issue.

The shed isn't really a physical location. (If it was, we'd probably be able to feel it, especially in those cats that are on high doses.) Think of it more as a blood level.

As far as holding the dose, there are points where the amount of time varies. The initial dose of Lantus is held for 5 - 7 days. If nadirs are typically above 200, the dose is held for 3 days. If the nadir is mostly less than 200 (blues and greens the majority of the time), hold the dose for 5 days. Obviously, this is not written in stone. Holding a dose longer than may be necessary isn't a great plan. If you stick with a dose that isn't bringing numbers down leaves your cat in a situation where it's more likely that he'll get used to being in high numbers and his body will regard those numbers as "normal." This will make it harder to get numbers down and most likely will promote more bouncing.
 
Thanks, Sienna. I appreciate your help and incite. You seems to know a lot!

You know I am getting some weird responses. I haven't recorded last night's records in the spreadsheet, but, for example, last night went like this (these are based on memory):

His PMPS was his normal high in the low 400s
+2.5 was 173
+6 was 375 - WHAT???
AMPS 370

I totally don't understand why his +6 was so high. Maybe he is bouncing. It's hard to know cause I'm not able to test him throughout the day (just once during work hours). Will do another curve this weekend.

Thanks for clarifying the protocol with regard to dose increases. His nadirs have been less than 200, so it sounds like holding for 5 days is appropriate.
 
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