New syringe, 3/10 cc, long

[Deb & Wink]

From over on Diabetic Cat Care forum, dated April 17th:

EliMedical is a Canadian company committed to animal welfare and are one of our sponsors for DCC's Diabetic Cat Kits initiative.

As a result of discussions with the owner about what products we need for our FD cats, the lack of a 3/10cc syringe, 31 gauge with a long needle was one item mentioned that didn't seem to exist anywhere globally. The owner of the company had his plant make this syringe based on our discussion!

The company has created a special program for DCC, animal charities, pet shelters and humane societies to help reduce costs when it comes to caring for animals. Typically, when making a sale, they are selling multiple skids of syringes at a time to their customers, not the small orders that individuals would place. This is a very special program, especially for our Canadian members who typically order their syringes from the US - finally there is a reasonably priced source for syringes in Canada!

These syringes are so new, even I haven't seen them or tried them yet - they arrived from the plant just last Saturday. The new LONG syringe is available on their online store at a cost of $23.00 per 100 syringes. Their main website is located here, http://www.elimedical.com/

On the main webpage, click on the red Order Form icon to access the special program pricing. To place an order, download the form to your desktop to fill it out. Once it is complete, save it, then email it to BOTH addresses listed on the form. EliMedical will then obtain a quote for shipping and will send it back to you for your approval prior to payment. The link for payment of the invoice is on the Order Form. EliMedical has set up an online payment solution which will take credit cards. Orders will not be shipped until payment is recieved.

If you are aware of a "better way" when it comes to shipping costs and would prefer an alternative to what has been suggested by the company, please discuss this with EliMedical directly, as DCC will not be involved with customer service.

This syringe is available to members around the globe. There is no affiliate program associated with purchasing syringes due to the discounts offered.

The Order Form will be posted on the COK in the next couple of days but can be accessed directly from the EliMedical site now.

Thank you very much to Wanda for working over and above to create this "fillable" PDF form for EliMedical.

For Canadian members - please take a look at the Order Form as EliMedical carries a variety of syringes that are used by members at DCC. This is the first, cost effective source for syringes in Canada. They offer U40 syringes (we are discussing the possibility of U40 syringes with half unit marks - will keep you posted), as well as 3/10 cc syringes (and others) at approximately half the cost of buying retail or through the vet. EliMedical has created a special program not only for the benefit of DCC but also for other animal based charity organizations, humane societies, pets shelters, etc. If you live in Canada and are looking for a reasonably priced syringe compared to retail, please visit EliMedical's website and help support one of the sponsors for DCC's Canadian Diabetic Cat Kits. Information about this program will be updated to the Canadian Info sticky soon.

Boy, you lucky Canadians have this new option that folks in the US do not.

 

[KPassa]

Mikey prefers the long syringes (that only come in the larger gauge). All I can say is that they found a niche market for people being fooled that their cats can tell a difference. The reason thin gauge, long needles don't seem to be a standard (and they have to create it specially) is because a thinner, longer needle has a tendency to break off more easily. Having had the short needles break off a couple of times (once into Mikey's skin) I think there's a very practical reason why it's "non-standard."

I have hypothyroidism and have to give myself B12 shots on a weekly basis (not yet at the twice-daily thyroid injections stage). I generally use a 25 gauge, 3ml syringe. I recently ran out of syringes and used Mikey's insulin syringes instead (got him the wrong ones this last time and they were the 3/10cc, 31 gauge, 8mm length). Took me forever to calculate the dosage, but the end result was it felt no different going in than usual, except I had to jab it in (due to the shorter length). And from what I've read, cats generally have thicker skin than humans. :lol:

 

[Deb & Wink]

The only reason I posted this over here from Diabetic Cat Care was that I had remembered someone asking for an insulin syringe with these exact specifications.

And these syringes are twice the price of a box of 100 Relion 3/10cc 1/2 unit markings, 8mm needle length. :shock: That, in my opinion, is a hefty price to pay for something of questionable benefit. Perhaps, a small change in technique is all that would be needed to get the proper use out of the shorter needles or the longer needles someone is using.

My personal preference has always been for the short needle. I simply felt it gave me better control. For me, the 1/2 needle felt very clumsy trying to manipulate it. It was also so much more likely to go all the way through the skin tent and result in a fur shot. I abandoned the longer needles very quickly for these reasons.

I also have a longer haired cat. Wink is classified as being a medium hair length cat with his 2.5 inch fur. I still found it much easier to kind of part the fur with my fingers to make a path through his fur and find my way down to the bare skin and do a little tent fold. I never pinched, only gently lifted the fold of skin up. It was very easy for me to use the shorter 5/16 needles.

In fact, when I ran out of the free 3/10cc needles from my shelter, I gave them very specific info on the prescription I wanted written from their vet on the needle specifications. They had flubbed my request one time already, ordering 1/2 length needles without the 1/2 unit markings. No way could I use those when microdosing. You'll have to understand, that this shelter also started me out with 1cc syringes with only the 2unit markings. Very hard to determine 1.5u on those!

Perhaps my "blow through the fur to find a path to bare skin" technique grew out of my experience with banding birds. We always need to part the breast feathers to see down to the fat reserves on the belly. We also need to part the feathers on the birds head so we can see down to the skull. Who knew this technique would be adapted to my diabetic kitty!

By the way, the folks over at DCC where very proud that they had gotten this manufacturer to create a product that the folks on DCC thought was filling a shockingly neglected need.

Kpassa, I wanted to thank you for the wonder writeup you did on the "Ear Testing Psychology" and sharing it with us on FDMB. It's one of the two documents on ear testing tips I always pass along to new members. I think having the "how to top 29 tips" is great and know your document is linked in there, but I don't know how many people click on that link, so I always give a separate link to that wonderful informtion you wrote up. Good job!

 

[KPassa]

And these syringes are twice the price of a box of 100 Relion 3/10cc 1/2 unit markings, 8mm needle length. :shock: That, in my opinion, is a hefty price to pay for something of questionable benefit. Perhaps, a small change in technique is all that would be needed to get the proper use out of the shorter needles or the longer needles someone is using.

I think this is exactly the problem. Technique goes a long way when giving shots. As I mentioned before, I have to give myself B12 shots on a weekly basis (been doing so for a couple of years now). First time ever last week, I managed to give myself a bruise in my shot area...all because I was being lazy/rushed and didn't make sure the needle was properly seated. ohmygod_smile

I also have a longer haired cat. Wink is classified as being a medium hair length cat with his 2.5 inch fur. I still found it much easier to kind of part the fur with my fingers to make a path through his fur and find my way down to the bare skin and do a little tent fold. I never pinched, only gently lifted the fold of skin up. It was very easy for me to use the shorter 5/16 needles.
...
Perhaps my "blow through the fur to find a path to bare skin" technique grew out of my experience with banding birds. We always need to part the breast feathers to see down to the fat reserves on the belly. We also need to part the feathers on the birds head so we can see down to the skull. Who knew this technique would be adapted to my diabetic kitty!

I've never properly "tented" the skin on Michelangelo, either. When we first started out, as a starving kitten, he didn't have enough skin to tent up to make any difference except on his scruff. I stopped shooting him in his scruff after about the second week when I realized it was playing havoc with his nadir. I'll still occasionally shoot in the scruff when he's got a low pre-shot, which sometimes works in off-setting his nadir a bit later and sometimes doesn't.

Since he's filled out more and grown a bit, I've not even bothered to see if he now has enough skin to be able to do the tenting method effectively since we've both gotten so used to doing it the other way. It's all about the angle of the needle. This is one of the reasons I (and Mikey) hate the short needles because you have to angle it more at 90 degrees than the longer needle (which you angle more parallel to the skin). I've demonstrated this technique to surrogate shooters a few times by using an apple cut in half so you could see the angle of the needle as it enters the skin and see how deep it penetrates. It's been quite helpful for them to visualize what they're doing before they actually do it to my cat. :lol:

Kpassa, I wanted to thank you for the wonder writeup you did on the "Ear Testing Psychology" and sharing it with us on FDMB. It's one of the two documents on ear testing tips I always pass along to new members. I think having the "how to top 29 tips" is great and know your document is linked in there, but I don't know how many people click on that link, so I always give a separate link to that wonderful informtion you wrote up. Good job!

And I've been wanting to thank you for sharing it with people! I wrote it up fairly quick one afternoon after I'd seen yet another "difficult cat" home testing video where the cat wasn't really being difficult so much as the tester was making things more difficult than necessary. I didn't realize it was so effective till Wendy linked it in her ear testing tips document so I have since cleaned it up a bit. ;-)