? Reusing Syringes in an Emergency

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Viveca and Noah

Viveca and Noah

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My pharmacist gave me the wrong size syringes - 29 gauge instead of 30. The difference sounds small, but it's not. Furthermore, there are no .5 unit marks on them and I am not good at guesstimating. Furthermore, there's a blizzard coming in the next few hours and I don't even know if the drugstore will be open in the morning. I used one of the new needles and cat was not happy. I have a few used syringes left over. Would I be making an enormous mistake in using them til I can replace the new ones?
 
They aren't sterile any more, plus the wear on the needle causes it to be more painful with each use.

It isn't a perfect solution, but if you use a firm ruler with millimeter markings, you can line up the syringe marks that are present to estimate your dose.
 
There are 2 problems with using used syringes. First once a syringe is used once the tip tends to "barb" which creates a sharp edge to the point that can be very uncomfortable for your kitty. Second if you insert a used syringe into the insulin vial.pen you can cause the insulin to become tainted
 
If you can't do the ruler trick you could use one of the old syringes and put coloured water (or even milk) in it and then try to match up the new syringe using the "coloured" one as a guide.

Tricky but it can be done. I hate when I get handed the wrong syringes. Only happened one time because the pharmacist assistant put it in the bag before I could see it. Now I look before I pay.

Good luck
 
Maybe this would work, then:
Put a piece of tape on the ruler and mark it.
Transfer the tape to the syringe.
 
I know people who have reused syringes, I know vets who say you can.
You absolutely risk shortening the life of your insulin if you reuse because you are sticking a needle into it that has been in the cat and it will contaminate it. You'd have to weigh the loss of life of the insulin to the problems with the other needles.
 
Here in Australia we have to use syringes that have no half unit markings all the time. It is very doable. As has been suggested, use one of your half unit used syringes and fill to the required dose with a coloured liquid and let that be your guide.
 
I would not reuse a syringe for the reasons people have mentioned already.

Take a used syringe, draw up the dose that you typically use with some colored liquid (coffee, tea, food coloring in water) and save it. Then use it to be your guide in drawing up a new dose in the new syringes. As long as the syringes have the same diameter (check that) this should be ok.

Good luck with the weather!!
 
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