Violet diabetes

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Violetm

Violetm

Member Since 2021
My cat violet has been diagnosed with diabetes 2 months now. Shes anxious naturally and when I started giving her the shots she didn't have much problems with them at all. Me being calm and patient was enough to help her trust that the shot was okay. 2 months in, she is so scared of the needle that she jumps whenever I touch her during feeding time because that's when I give her the shot. Takes so long for her to eat because she scared of the needle. I really need suggestions to help, I did tons of research but its just really difficult and I want to consistent be able to give her the medicine without her being scared of me.
 
You'll get better answers in the Feline Health thread, it's no big deal.
What has changed in the last two months, it could be anything. More people around, a dog, new house, even the stress we've all been under the last year+.
I didn't have much luck with our first sugar cat until I spread out a beach towel on the kitchen table which gave me more light and gave him more traction. Plus he wasn't being backed into a corner. Our second diabetic lived in his basket in the hallway, always a nervous boy. With him I had to get all the onlookers (many cats and a dog) out of the way, laid out everything in front of him and for both I sang Hush, little baby, don't say a word Mama's going to buy you a mockingbird.
I also changed from shooting in the scruff to having both lay on their side and using the flank. This is when "more art than science" really means something. What ever works for you is what matters, there is no "one way" to do this.
Poking holes in a cat was and is hard for all of us.
ear_001 (2).JPG injsitesforcats1.jpg not included is our first cat running into the basement with a syringe hanging off his butt.
 

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Can you tell me which insulin you are using and how many units? There is one of the insulins that can sting at higher doses. Another idea, make sure when you are giving the insulin, that the bevel side is up. There are some tips on shooting, as well as testing in this link. Testing and Shooting Tips.
 
Lantus is the one I was thinking of that can sting, as it has an acid base. Though we don't usually see a reaction until the cat is on higher doses. Can you tell me Violet's insulin dose?
 
JL and Chip said:
In addition to insulin dose, I’m also curious what insulin syringes you’re using.
Click to expand...
Shes on 3 units. Syringes are 3/10 cc, 29g, and 12.7 mm. The pharmacy gave me a bigger one that I been using but finally got these small ones.
 
Good question @JL and Chip on the syringes. I used to use 31g syringes for Lantus, and it was much easier for Neko. We had used the 29g (larger) ones for Caninsulin. The larger the gauge number, the thinner the needle.

Also, where on her body are you giving the shot? I mostly shot below the shoulder/scruff area, because my girl didn't like me doing the flank.

And lastly, if you manage to eliminate the other possibilities, it is possible it's the Lantus sting. Though we usually see the problem on larger doses. It was one of the reasons I switched to Levemir, but Neko was on a larger dose.
 
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