long haired cat insulin shots

[ewest]

I've started giving my long haired cat insulin shots and am finding it challenging knowing that I'm getting the insulin in. She had 2 days of great blood sugar numbers and now 2 of not good numbers...high. Any tips? Any ideas on what else it could be besides me not getting insulin in?

 

[Larry and Kitties]

I use the short (5/16-inch length needle) and just tent and insert the needle all the way in.

 

[Just-As-Appy]

Can you part the hair at all? My cat is not long haired but has a very thick coat and undercoat. I part if with my fingers and then sometimes blow on it to get the hair away from where I want to shoot. I can usually see skin this way. Also, you will learn the feel of the needle piercing skin as opposed to just being in the fur. It reminds me of cream cheese (not that I've injected cream cheese, but that soft feeling). And if you do a fur shot, you can usually smell the insulin. I'm sure that you know that if you think you have done a fur or partial fur, you shouldn't give more insulin. The problem is that we can never be absolutely sure how much insulin actually got in the cat so giving more would be total guess work. And guessing with insulin doesn't usually work out so well.

Do you have a spreadsheet? Or perhaps you could post the numbers and the times of tests and someone experienced with your insulin could take a peek for you.

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

i have a very fluffy long-haired orange cat and the hair closest to the fur is nearly the same color as his skin. i got an embarrassingly nerdy (and yet effective) headlamp like people use for spelunking from REI and voila, i can see fine. i also either blow the hair to expose the skin, or use the pinky of my right hand (that's holding the syringe) to part it.

the light is the best, though. i did read reviews on the REI site to see what people said and it became obvious that you want to get enough wattage. i've seen headlamps in Home Depot's sale ads for $10 but don't know if they're strong enough.

there are some people on here who have gotten the kind of magnifying lenses/lamp combos that jeweler's use so they can see the syringe markings also. that would probably work for the shot too if you have a vision problem.

 

[tuckers mom]

I do what Larry said, use the short needles and tent the skin, I gave Tucker his insulin for years that way. He did get shaved for the summer, but winter he had a full coat.

 

[Vicky & Gandalf (GA) & Murrlin]

Yes, parting the hair of long-haired cats works well. On Gandalf, it parts easily on either side of his body. The scruff area would be difficult to do on him, so if that's the area you were shown to give insulin, maybe try the sides, behind his front legs, there should be some loose skin there.

 

[Melissa & Tarragon]

I have a long hair kitty. My husband will sometimes shave just a small area on Tarragon's back. Also, CD gave me great advice a month ago when I was having the same issue: "It really helps me to gently pull up on the fur to make a tent, the fur makes a natural part and you can 'see' the skin and shoot right there. I found it was easier for me to get the shot in the right place with Big Mac's fur. So I do not grab his skin... I only grab his fur and lift. Below is a picture.

 

[Jen & Squeak]

when Squeak was first diagnosed our vet shaved the area for us. Later, DH shaved it again as we were using short needles and he was worried about whether he got the needle in or not...