Injections and Vets

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For Jack

For Jack

Member Since 2014
My cat Jack was diagnosed with diabetes in late February. He is currently on Vetsulin.

Currently, I inject him by picking up the skin between his shoulder blades and injecting there. However, I just read the article on this site about injection sites and read that is probably not the best location. Based on what his glucose readings have been I'm apt to agree. I plan on switching injection sites and seeing what impact that makes on his levels. Right now, they seem to be constantly high. I've got a feeling I am going to need to adjust the amount of insulin he gets. First, I want to change the injection site and then in a couple days do a curve. So, my question is - as long as I am getting the needle under the skin (and not in muscle) am I injecting properly?

Reading stuff on here and also based on my own experience it really seems that vets either don't know a lot about treatment OR they don't like empowering the humans of diabetic cats. Mine was against me getting my own meter to check Jack's levels. I'm trying to figure out if it's just lack of trust or a desire to maintain revenue by having patients come in to have a curve done. Jack was actually diagnosed at the emergency vet. It was a Saturday night and he had been drinking a lot of water and then throwing it up. He did that several times. Anyway, there they really didn't seem to know too much. For instance, they tried to push the prescription canned food on me even after I asked about other alternatives. My own vet during Jack's follow up visit didn't make any recommendations and asked if I wanted to continue with the prescription food. He did at least approve of what I had decided to feed him (Blue Buffalo Wilderness Chicken). Anyway, I'm really thankful for this site.
 
Hi to sugarkitty Jack and his caregiver and welcome to the message board. What is your first name?

So, my question is - as long as I am getting the needle under the skin (and not in muscle) am I injecting properly?
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As long as the needle goes under the skin, not out the other side, you are fine.

The reason for the high numbers for Jack is more likely to be the duration of the Vetsulin you are using is not long enough to last 12 hours.

Are you still feeding the Blue Buffalo Wilderness Chicken food? Is that dry or wet food? If wet, is that the pate style?
 
Welcome to FDMB.

Good for you in taking the initiative to home test. What meter did you get? I'll post some info about glucose values in a moment.
 
Here's what you need to understand the glucose tests with a glucometer - human or pet-specific.

We suggest using an inexpensive human glucometer with pet-specific reference numbers. One many of us use is the WalMart Relion Confirm, or Confirm Micro, which is also sold at American Diabetes Wholesale as as the Arkray USA Glucocard 01 or 01 Mini (same manufacturer - Arkray USA). It uses a tiny blood droplet and the cost is significantly lower for test strips (like $0.36 each).

Comparing a human glucometer to a pet-specific glucometer is like reading temperature in Celsius vs Fahrenheit. Both are correct. You just need to know the reference ranges to interpret what the numbers mean.

[Glucose reference ranges are unsubstantiated and have been removed by Moderator]


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Examples of using the chart:

Ex. You are a new insulin user and you test your cat before giving insulin. The test is 300. It probably is safe to give insulin.

Ex. You are an established user of Lantus, following the Tight Regulation protocol. You've tested around +5 to +7 to spot the nadir. It is 200 mg/dL. You probably need to increase the dose, following the instructions for the protocol.

Ex. Your cat is acting funny. The eyes are a bit dilated. You are concerned and test the glucose. The number is 35 mg/dL. ACK! The cat may be in a hypoglycemic state. You quickly follow the HYPO protocol linked in the glucose reference values chart. (which we really, really, suggest you print out and post on your refrigerator.)
 
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