Question re Needle Length

Because my brother is not well, I have at least temporarily adopted his newly diagnosed diabetic cat. I have so far made it through learning to give the injections and yesterday started the BG testing with an Alpha Trak meter. However, yesterday we switched to a new insulin and to a new needle (from a U100 to a U40). The new needle is much longer and it seems to me to be causing much more pain for him, but since I am very (very!) needle phobic myself I don't know whether this is just projection or if in fact it is worse for him. I am wondering if I should ask the vet to let us go back to a shorter needle but I assume there is a good reason for the switch. Any ideas ? Am I just being silly? He is an incredibly good and gentle cat and has been very patient with me so far but tonight ran away when I came to give him the injection (this was the 3rd time with the new needle; he has never run away before). Help! I know I am rambling but would appreciate any advice.

 

Needle length is more of a preference. The shorter the needle, the less likely you are to poke through the 'tent,' but it is also hard to feel when it has punctured into the skin. Needle thickness (gauge) will effect how large of a poke your kitty feels. You want to use 29 to 31 gauge if possible, preferably 31 gauge (the smallest).

 

Thank you for responding. They gave me 29 gauge; I will see if I can switch to a 31 if that's smaller. I am so new to all of this that I think I get scared easily - not sure I am doing things right but I am determined to learn!

 

can you tell us from what insulin to what insulin?

you say they switched you to a u40 syringe so i'm betting you are using ProZinc insulin now? possibly vetsulin but vetsulin is not supposed to be doled out anymore i believe so hopefully you didn't get that one.

u40 syringes come with long needles and 29 gauge at that. OUCH!!

the only way around the bigger needle is to go back to using the u100 syringes but do a conversion, which 90% of us used to do when using u40 insulins (i did it for 3 years). plus, the conversion is easier on the eyes too in those little syringes.

the conversion goes basically like this

u40 dose...............................line on the u100 syringe
(.4u)--------------------------1
(.8u)--------------------------2
(1.2u)-------------------------3
(1.6u)-------------------------4
(2.0u)-------------------------5

and really that's as far as you probably need at this point in the dance.

does that make sense to you? so let's say you are dosing 1 unit twice a day, you'd draw up 2.5 marks on the u100 syringe (estimating the 1/2 if your syringes aren't marked for that)

ask any question and ask it until you are 100% in your understanding of it. we'd rather answer you 100 times than leave something misunderstood and harm a kitty.

 

Hi,

Thank you! He is on PZI (was before but from a vet in another state : I just got a new bottle from my own vet here who said there could be a difference in the compounding, which I guess is why I referred to it as a new insulin - bad terminology on my part. The original bottle says PZI 5ml 100 and I was using a 5/16" 31 gauge syringe. He was on 2 units. Had no problems with administering with that once I got over the initial fear. He never seemed to react when I gave him the shot.

The new bottle says PZI U40 10 ml and the new syringes are 1/2" and 29 gauge; he is getting 1.5 units from that syringe. He definitely reacts much more strongly to the new syringe. Bless him, he has let me do the BG on his ear with little or no fuss so far.

 

Ok - the first insulin was U100 or more concentrated.

U100 insulin must use U100 syringes (standard human...)

In U100 insulin, there are 100 units per 1 milliliter or 1 cc

In U40 insulin, there are 40 units per 1 milliliter or 1 cc -- it is diluted compared to U100

Sooooo..... You can use U100 syringes with U40 insulin if you use the conversion mentioned above by Cindy.

U40 is a strength only available for pets and so you can only buy the syringes from a vet, and not much variation is available.
29 gauge needles (ouch!)

Your kitty will thank you to switch back to U100 syringes and do the conversion (multiply your U40 dose by 2.5 -- but always recognize that the dose is the dose -- not the number of marks on the syringe)
e.g. post here that the dose is 1 unit or 2 units or ??? NOT 2.5 or 5 marks on syringe
because that is the true amount of insulin being injected...

If at some point you switch back to a U100 insulin --- you would not need to multiply by 2.5 any more.

 

So if he is supposed to get 1.5 units from the U40 syringe, then I would take that number times 2.5 and give him 3.75 units in the U100 syringe? (sorry if I am slow on this; math was never my strong suit and when it comes to his health want to be CERTAIN I get it right. Don't want to inadvertently overdose him.

 

> So if he is supposed to get 1.5 units from the U40 syringe, then I would take that number times 2.5 and
> give him 3.75 units in the U100 syringe?

That's exactly right. If it helps, you can print out this chart here.

 

Shiloh did not like the needles on the U 40 syringes. They hurt him more. Donna