Newbie--Kflink1

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Kflink1

Member Since 2013
So I am really not a newbie as I did have another cat with Diabetes a few years back, and now my other one has it as well. The first cat Booger was pretty easy to give shots to I just waited until he was eating and I would give him the shot and he never knew the difference. However my other one George he knows, I have tried all different ways. With him on my lap, with him drinking, with him eatting or just laying down and it has always ended with him running away and we not being able to give him his shot. So I had to resort to putting him on the seat cover to the Toilet and holding him still to get the shot into him. He has been ok with it except for today he kind of fought me on it....any ideas to help with this issue?
 
First off are you home testing? And if you are, are you having problems with both testing and shots or just shots?

If it is just the shots...what gauge needles are you using? And are you using a new syringe and needle everytime?

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
My cat has a similar problem that I discovered was because of the needle size. A lot of people around here use the 31 gauge, 8mm short insulin syringes, so when they were out of my regular ones (29 gauge, 12.7mm longer insulin syringes), I figured these would be better. For Mikey, it turns out NOT AT ALL! I had bought a box of 100, so for almost 2 months, every shot time I had to put up with him running in fear, crying, wincing, snapping, etc.... Now, I'm back to the longer ones and the only problems we have are what I attribute to flashbacks from when I was using the shorter needles. :lol:

So, if you're using the shorter ones, try the longer ones. If you're using the longer ones, try the shorter ones. Just don't do what I did and buy a 100 of them without trying them out first. ohmygod_smile
 
I am testing at home and I do wrap him in a towel however he is much better testing than his shots. He was fine in the beginning and just lately and not all the time he gets really pissed. He did tonight and I was only able to get 2 units into him and I just left him alone, as he had already ran off on me twice. I am using the pen with the nano needles 8 mm short, but they look long. I tried to get him when he was not expecting in when he was sitting in my lap but he feels the needle and runs off. So then I started the shots in the bathroom. I just don't want to hurt him but I have to give him his shot he is still in 300 with his sugar. thank youfor the help!
 
Okay lets back up a moment....Only 2 units? What is his dose altogether? and how did he get to it?

Second of all we don't use the pen needles with the pens, instead we use a regular insulin syringe to draw up the insulin from the pen just like if the pen was a vial. One thing about using the pen itself to inject is that it only allows for full unit dose changes and with cats you make the dose changes in .25u at a time. Second if the pen is being kept in the fridge to extend its life because cats take tiny doses, then the injecting mechanism doesn't alway deliver the same dose everytime. It is designed to be used with people not cats and a .5u either way when you are talking doses in the 40u -75u range isn't going to make that big of a difference to a human...but to a cat this can be the difference between well controlled or hypo.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
he is suppose to get 3 units 2 a day, per the vet. And he has not had any issues of hypo and I always check his sugar before I give him the shot. When I found out he had diabites his sugar was well over 400 we started with 1 unit twice a day tested him after a week, went up to 2 units tested him again he was still well over 300 his lowest sugar level was 298. So the vet told me to go up again to 3 units which I did only when i was here so I could make sure he didn't go hypo and he has been fine. Also I feed him mainly wet food all the food listed on here, and a little bit of dry the Hill MD. Thank you again.
 
Kflink1 said:
he is suppose to get 3 units 2 a day, per the vet. And he has not had any issues of hypo and I always check his sugar before I give him the shot. When I found out he had diabites his sugar was well over 400 we started with 1 unit twice a day tested him after a week, went up to 2 units tested him again he was still well over 300 his lowest sugar level was 298. So the vet told me to go up again to 3 units which I did only when i was here so I could make sure he didn't go hypo and he has been fine. Also I feed him mainly wet food all the food listed on here, and a little bit of dry the Hill MD. Thank you again.
Click to expand...

What's the insulin you are giving him, Lantus or Levemir?
Also, are you home testing at other times besides just at shot times?
If you would be able to post the test numbers you are getting, at shot time and the numbers you get later in the cycle, it would be very helpful. Dosing is based on the lowest point in the cycles, so while the test at shot time is important to know if it's safe to give a shot, it's just as important to know what sort of numbers the dose is getting at the mid point of the cycle so that you know if the dose is too low, too high, or just right.

Giving insulin with the pen needles is not the best was as pens may misfire I have heard.
Adjustments in dose is better for cats by going up in .25 unit increments or .5 units. While the 2u may have been too low of a dose, the 3u dose may be too high, so how would you give a partial unit with the pen needles? What if your cat's ideal dose turns out to be a 2.5 unit dose, or a 2.75 unit? You can't so if you look at the link I posted, and see the pictures of the syringe being used to extract the insulin from the pen, you will know what others are saying about the pen needles.

ETA:
Sorry, I forgot to ask.... what do you mean, 'he has been fine.'? Cats can go hypo but act perfectly calm and as if no problems at all.... there was someone else just today who had tested her cat and got a reading of 39 - way too low of a BG, but the cat was acting 'just fine'. You want to be sure that you have your hypo kit prepared, just in case you find yourself in a similar situation. Some cats are fine when they go too low, and others act oddly or become ravenous, so if you have a cat whose actions are unchanged during low numbers, you need to keep a close eye on the BG numbers mid cycle.
 
I am all prepared with a hypo kit all ready to go. Yes I am testing him at home after being on 1 unit twice a day his levels were as follows 484 before the shot, 11 AM 324 and at 4 pm 326 and at 6:30 480. Then after 1 week of being on 2 units his levels where 404 before the shot 10 AM 268 1 pm 309 and 400 PM 374 then the vet decided to go up to 3 units and his sugar has been about 280 prior to the shot. I am using Lantus. I fully understand the half and .25 units as I had another cat that was PZI and I used the needles. I am doing what the vet is telling and also home testing piror to his shot and I don't give him his shot unless he needs it and I watch him carefully. I am not uncomfortable giving him the shot I was just wondering if there was anyone else having an issue with giving a shot to their cats and what other way I could give him the shot. Thank you all so much for the help.
 
So you are using the pen needles that fit onto the pens or you are using syringes to draw out the insulin?

I don't know of others using the pen needles.
For a cat suddenly not liking shots, I guess the cat got one shot in a bad spot or something.
If a cat is fine with shots, then suddenly doesn't want them, something had to have happened...

Exactly what way are you giving the shots? There are different locations, but I don't know about pen needle shots; I have used only syringes.

I had no problem giving my cats shots, but only in the scruff. Neither liked shots in the flank, sides, or shoulders.

ETA:
It just dawned on me that you mentioned PZI from your previous cat..... that insulin and your current one work differently. PZI has no shed/reserve, but Lantus does. I think the PZI users often dose with a sliding scale, basing much of their dosing on the preshot test number, but Lantus is nothing like that..
Did the shot problems start when you upped the dose to 3u, or were you having the problem when you were giving 2u shots? Can you get syringes with 1/2 unit markings on the barrel and draw the insulin out with the syringe? You will have better luck because the pen needles shoot straight into the body but the syringes are better for giving insulin subQ... tenting the skin up then shooting in the tent - is that how you are giving the shots now?
 
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