How much to draw to get 250ug B-12 on insulin syringe??

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Brenda and Morris

Brenda and Morris

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I got my injectable B-12 this morning for Morris. Originally, in the vet's office she said that the dosage of 250ug equated to .25units on insulin syringe. The pharmacist showed me an insulin syringe that was called a 1/2 unit syringe and told me to draw it up to the 25 mark. Since I already have insulin syringes, I didn't take them, but would I still draw to the 25 mark on a regular U-100 syringe? I know this is probably a stupid question but there's a big difference between .25 and 25.
 
yeah that's a big difference and to be honest, i don't know myself but please wait for someone that does before giving it ok
 
As I recall, B12 it a bit "thick" and yes, the dose is much more than .25U on an insulin syringe. I'm not sure of the amount either but just want to add my little bit of caution. I tried giving a dose of benedryl to my feral civvie in one of Moochie's insulin syringes. The volume of the dose took a long time to push out of that little syringe.

Did the vet give you any TB syringes and needles for it? I would use those instead, particularly since I'm told the B12 has a little sting to it. You can shoot it in much faster with a TB syringe.
 
Yes its 25 units on a U100 syringe. Its possible they had a 1cc syringe which has 100 units on it, and .25 would technically be correct as in 1/4 of the syringe would be full .25 of 100. confusing to say it that way tho.

to address susies point, I found the B12 to be pretty liquid. I have heard that it is B complex that stings. Conor doesnt seem to care about the plain B12. I put Merlyns Bcomplex in his sub qs so that it wouldnt sting.
 
Oh good, Lisa, I'm glad you said that. The vet had told me that the B12 stings and that I could put it in subQ fluids if I needed to. I never have because it doesn't seem to bother Moochie but it's good to know.
 
To figure out the dose in cc/ml. you need to know the concentration of the B12. I.e., you need to know how many ug per ml. My vial of B12 cyanocobalamin says it is 1000 mcg/ml. Mcg is the same as ug. Thus, 250 ug of that solution would be 1/4 ml or "25" units on a u100 syringe.
 
i got my B12 originally in a preloaded tuburculin syringe and transferred it to a U100 syringe. the original dose turned out to be the equivalent of the full U100 syringe (30u). so i think 25u or slightly more is fine.
i understand that you can't really overdose B12 -- the excess will be excreted -- so i think you'll be more than fine at 25u in a U100 syringe.
i give that dose once a week, shooting directly into cleo subQ like we do with insulin, and the same dose of Bcomplex but putting that in her IV line with her subQ fluids (after running most of her fluid dose into her) because it really hurt her when i injected the B complex directly.
 
Brenda and Morris said:
I got my injectable B-12 this morning for Morris. Originally, in the vet's office she said that the dosage of 250ug equated to .25units on insulin syringe. The pharmacist showed me an insulin syringe that was called a 1/2 unit syringe and told me to draw it up to the 25 mark. Since I already have insulin syringes, I didn't take them, but would I still draw to the 25 mark on a regular U-100 syringe? I know this is probably a stupid question but there's a big difference between .25 and 25.
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Are you SURE the dose was specified in micro-GRAMS ?

What is the concentration of the medication in the liquid....how many grams of medication
are dissolved into how much liquid. I don't think B-12 is measured by weight, but by volume,
so I will proceed:


A ug (micro-gram) is NOT equivalent to a ul (micro-liter).
A gram is a measure of WEIGHT; a liter is a measure of VOLUME.

A milli-liter is .001 Liter. ( 1 one-thousandth) of a liter. (2 zeros)
A micro-liter is .000 001 Liter ( 1 one-millionth) of a liter. (5 zeros)

A milli-liter is 1,000 times MORE than a micro-liter.

The 'one' unit mark on a U100 syringe is .01 ( 1 one-hundredth) of a milliliter .
(There are 100 units of insulin in a milli-liter of liquid for U-100 insulin).

That is, "one' unit of insulin is .000 01 ( 1 one-hundred-thousandth) liter. (4 zeros)
(Computation: .001 liter divided by 100 = .000 01 liter)

Now, if the desired dose is 250ul (NOT the same as 250ug), then we want:

250 x .000 001 liter = .000 25 liter of volume.

On a U-100 syringes 25 units x .000 01 L = .000 25 liter of volume.

Therefore, the correct answer is 25 units


CAUTION:. The above computation is for LIQUID dose.

To completely answer this question, we need to know how many GRAMS of medication are disolved
in what volume of liquid.
 
The dose should be 250 ug for cats. Texas A & M GI lab says ( http://www.cvm.tamu.edu/gilab/research/cobalamin.shtml )

Animal Bodyweight Range Dose/injection
cats, dogs up to 5 kg (10 lb) 250 µg

Karen & Smokey(GA) said:
Brenda and Morris said:
I got my injectable B-12 this morning for Morris. Originally, in the vet's office she said that the dosage of 250ug equated to .25units on insulin syringe. The pharmacist showed me an insulin syringe that was called a 1/2 unit syringe and told me to draw it up to the 25 mark. Since I already have insulin syringes, I didn't take them, but would I still draw to the 25 mark on a regular U-100 syringe? I know this is probably a stupid question but there's a big difference between .25 and 25.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...


Are you SURE the dose was specified in micro-GRAMS ?
 
OK, I went back to the pharmacist with my insulin syringe and he said to give 25 units on my U-100 syringe.

But here's what it says on the bottle of B-12:
1000 mcg/mL Cyanocobalamin Injection, USP for IM or SC use only
1 mL Vial

I gave 25 units....boy that's a lot compared to the .25 I give of Levemir! Seemed to take forever...and Morris didn't bat an eye so, no, it doesn't sting.
 
Larry and Kitties said:
Are you sure it is a 1 ml vial? You can only get four "25" unit injections from 1 ml.
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Yes, that is what the pharmacy had...it is human grade. And to make matters even worse, there is no preservative (or so the pharmacist said) so I can only get ONE dose out of the vial and have to throw the other 3/4 away.
 
Larry and Kitties said:
I would not adjust the dose of B complex to get the only the required B12. Foster and Smith has a 10 ml multa-use vial of B12 for $10. Ground shipping is free.
See:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=10630
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Yeah, I would have dearly loved to get this but I was down to the wire...his shot was due the same day. Vet had told me I could get the B12 at a feed store and by the time I FOUND a feed store or two and then found out that it required a script, then waited for the vet to get back to me and the weekend came...time ran out. The pharacist helped me out by giving me 12 vials (12 shots) for $22 and a gift card for $10 worth of groceries. If/when I need to get more, I will have more time and can get it from Foster & Smith.

Thanks for all the info! :-D
 

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