? I pricked my finger with the needle while trying to shoot

So woke up late trying to rush the time, when i gave Nermal his shot today I left the cap of the needle off right in front of him. Nermal reached for the cap to play with it and in doing so the needle moved to my finger on the other side. I got a tiny little prick through. I do not think it got in me(but not absolutely sure) it kind of felt wet on his side, but my nerves were going wild so my hands were sweating too. It happened so fast. I will never leave the cap in front of him again. I did not give him another shot. However should I be conscerned about my own finger?

 

I already pricked myself with the lancettl right after pricking him the first time-i thought I was supposed to put the cap back on. I feel like a fool with anxiety- what if a drop got in my finger? I had the tiniest bit of blood from my thumb I think it went through his fold of skin. I will never put that cap in his view again. Should I go to the ER? This is so nerve racking.

 

Call it a fur shot and don't worry about your finger prick. We've all done it and nothing bad happened.

 

Been there, done that. No reason to worry. I'll bet this happens a lot more than we ever hear about. Deep breathes. You will be fine. Clean any wound well with soap and water and forget about it. Definitely no need to go to the ER. Even if you injected the whole unit of Lantus well into yourself, chances are good you'd never know the difference unless you happen to be diabetic yourself because the dose is so small.

 

Ok I just cant believe it happened. I should have known better. It literally went through his skin and I felt the little prick on the other side to my thumb. What if a drop got in my thumb?

 

Ok thank you-I was just starting to feel like I got the hang of this and then this happens

 

Even those of us who have been doing this for years have those days! Just enjoy Nermal's play mode when Mom has an off moment!

 

Ok thank you, I have been stressed about his numbers. I go to the vet tomorrow. I was going to test him more at different times today to see how the insulin is effecting him. Guess I should do that tonight? Someone told me his numbers could be high because he could hit nadir low and then bounce back up, or it could be high numbers the whole time limit and needs more insulin. I guess I am also afraid she will up the dose and not know how the insulin is effecting him. I am going crazy. Maybe i should test more on him tonight after his second shot? However if it really did not get hlin him wont that change his numbers tonight? I am going crazy with speculating all outcomes

 

Deep Breathes! Home testing will always give you more accurate BG readings than those taken at the vet's office. Our kitties routinely suffer from vet stress and that can elevate their BG sometimes by 100 points or more. If you get a pre-shot test every cycle to make sure it's safe to give insulin and grab a random test or 2 during each cycle whenever possible, you'll start to see how the insulin is effecting Nermal. Usual nadir (peak action) with Lantus would be between about +4 and +7 so tests in that timeframe can be particularly informative but tests in at other times help too. It's a good idea to always get a test in before bed just so you know how much Nermal's BG is dropping and you can intervene with food if necessary so you can get some worry free sleep.

A lot of vets will increase doses by full units. We recommend raising dose slowly by 0.25u preferably and no more than 0.5u. Raising the dose too quickly can cause you to skip over the ideal dose and sometimes too much insulin can look like too little. Confusing yes but it's a natural phenomenon that makes it even more important not to raise doses too quickly.

Given you think you gave a fur shot this morning, it's likely Nermal's BG will be elevated at the vet appt. I'd make sure your vet is aware of that and tell her that you don't want to raise the dose too quickly. In the big scheme of things, even if the vet recommends increasing a full unit, you hold the needle so you can choose to increase by 0.5u instead and see how that goes via your home testing. Keep asking questions and we'll do our best to help you get Nermal on the path to better regulation.

 

Ok so if she recommends tomorrow 2 units of lantus instead of 1 I should just do 1.5 anyway? I am going to test him more tonight. His numbers have been super high in the am and pms, but I have not tested much in between
I just recently bought the Relion Comfirm. Which so I have heard is no longer being sold. Any ideas of a decent priced meter? Wal mart is already starting to run out of strips. I got their last 20 pack the other day because I was broke. I am hoping I can find more today.

 

Sorry I don't know what to recommend as I am in Canada and all of our strips are ridiculously expensive here. You might want to check out Target or Walgreen's to see if they have an in house meter with inexpensive strips. I know DCIN (Diabetic Cats in Need) is looking into this issue and hopefully they will have an alternate recommendation in the not too distant future. It's my understanding that there are other strips you can use in the Relion available through ADW online. I believe the name is Arkay (they make the Relion meter) but it looks like they are discontinuing their meter too so not sure how available the strips will be although you'd think they'd still be available for awhile to give folks time to sort out new meters.
HERE is a link to some info re: meters that may help you out.

 

Thank you! I have never talked to anyone from Canada until now! I am in the middle of the U. S. -Norman, Oklahoma!

 

Oh my. I seem to have a knack for finding folks from Oklahoma here (I can think of at least two others just recently) and dang it all, it's one of the few states I never had the pleasure of visiting. Maybe, one day.......

 

Wow wish I knew them!

 

I believe it was @Chris & China who linked to the ADW site for Arkray strips that fit in the Relion Confirm/Micro. Amazon had some last week, I believe, but word may be getting out and people are buying up the supplies. You can get 100 strips for $36.10 or $34.30 if you set up auto-ship. I've never used this company but many on here do.