10/12 Rosie AMPS 143 +3 115

Her appy is still iffy. I'm having some trouble getting all the meds and supplements in that are supposed to be mixed in food. She has become wise to the taste / texture of some of these, so I need to get more creative in how I'm giving these to keep her guessing.

With her insulin dose now down to .5, I'm going to study the micro dose guidelines. I'm having all kinds of problems with air bubbles.

We had our first big frost overnight. While I was OK packing up the humming bird feeders for the season, it just doesn't seem right to let the flowers go, so I covered them. I feel like I'm fighting the inevitable, but I have that feeling often. and prayers to all kitties and beans in need.

Previous.

 

Agree with "fighting the inevitable". I do quite a lot of hollering every year about the weather change, and so far it hasn't made one bit of difference. Winter still comes barreling down at me! LOL What's a body to do?

 

There's a whole discussion starting up about syringes over at the supply closet. Maybe some of the info in there can help you?
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/u-100-syringes-for-sale.203959/

I use the Walmart ReliOn syringes, and I get tiny air bubbles that I ignore because they are pretty consistent and very few of them. The larger air bubbles go away by drawing up insulin, then returning it back in to pen a couple of times. Vet's office called it wetting the needle.

 

Hummm. I have always heard that this should not be done because the syringe has a lubricant in the barrel that can contaminate the insulin if it gets injected back into the pen or vial. What I have been doing is drawing up a bit more than I need and flicking it with my finger to get the air bubbles free to move to the top and then squirting the excess out into the air. My problem is at .5U there isn't much margin to work with. This is both a blessing - to have her dose be so reduced, but also a curse to measure such small amounts.

 

I am not sure who told me this but it works every time.

I draw close to the dose...withdraw from the pen....pull down another 2 lines...flick the syringe a couple of time and the air seems to like to go together...push plunger back up till I start to see liquid again coming out the needle. Double check to make sure I am close to my dose. I do use the insulin ruler to help as well. Old Eye Disease makes it hard to see those lines sometimes on the syringe.

 

I will call my vet and ask about that. That would be concerning, considering I've been doing it since day one.

I'll give that a try instead.

So glad for this discussion.

 

From the sticky re: handling insulin:

• If you draw up too much insulin in the syringe... squirt excess either into the air dramatically like they do on TV or into a paper towel... anywhere but back into vial/cartridge/pen. There is a silicon coating inside the syringe. It may contaminate the insulin vial with silicon.

One of the great things about this board is the collective experience available here is greater than any one vet might have - especially since we know there is very little formal training for vets in FD.

 

I did the same Tracey said - pull out what I need then withdraw and pull in more air to push all bubbles together then push until it's just insulin in the syringe. That saved me so much frustration!

 

I'll be doing that from now on.

I called the manufacturer and, after sitting through the legalese (this is for humans, not for cats. Talk to your vet and get an insulin designed for cats), the only thing I could get is that the insulin is safe to use (on a human) as long as it is clear and free of floating particles. The danger of silicon getting into the insulin is that it may not work as intended in BG control so I guess it weakens it.

I was considering starting a new pen, but I checked the pen and the insulin looks clear to me, and to be honest, it is just too expensive to waste. Bailey is getting good control so hopefully that means we are good to go.

Thanks to everyone for your input!! Bailey thanks you too!
When I get a call back from my vet, I get to teach them something new.

 

I hope Rosie's appy picks up and you can get her meds and supplements into her.