[Blindtlk] Administering subcutaneous injections

[dotwriter1 at gmail.com]

I've never injected my cat who had kidney disease for years but I did do intravenous fluids for a couple of weeks. The water had to go under the skin. This wasn't too hard to do without seeing  but it is easier when you've got a second pair of hands. John Fritz, our president here in Wisconsin is a great resource. Hadn't thought of that Mike. 

Ericka
Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 29, 2015, at 1:24 PM, Mike Freeman via blindtlk <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Lucy:
> 
> 
> 
> I don't think you'll have a problem administering medication subcutaneously
> to your cat (except for your cat perhaps not being friendly to you for a few
> minutes afterward, of course!). But first some caveats. I am not a medical
> doctor nor am I a vetinarian. The only experience I've had has been
> injecting myself (I'm diabetic). Hence, I don't know whether the needles
> used to inject a cat subcutaneously are different from those used to inject
> humans; after all, *we* don't have fur. I do own a cat but she hasn't needed
> medication so far (knock on wood). With that said, here goes.
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know what units the medication is measured in. Hence, I can't judge
> whether techniques and devices used to inject insulin would work. However,
> assuming the worst case, you could work with your vet to cut a popsicle
> stick or something like it to match how far you'll have to pull out the
> plunger in the syringe in order to administer the right dose of medication.
> The best way to get rid of air bubbles is to pull the plunger out to that
> length, then push it in again and do this several times to get any air
> bubbles out of the syringe before doing the final pull Matched to the stick)
> to get the medicine in the syringe. Then just inject the cat. And don't
> worry if there are still small air bubbles in the syringe; they may affect
> how much medicine is going into the cat but won't hurt the cat. You are not
> injecting into blood vessels.
> 
> If the medication comes in pens as much insulin does these days and if the
> pen uses disposable needles like those used to inject insulin, it's even
> easier. You determine the dose by turning the knob on the base of the pen so
> many times to get the right dose (your vet will show you how); before doing
> this, though, you just turn the pen a couple of units (whatever they are)
> and push the plunger down till you detect the liquid at the end of the
> needle and then select the dose and inject.
> 
> I'm being vague here because I don't know how the medicine is measured. With
> insulin, there are 100 "units" per cubic centimeter (cc).
> 
> There is a device to handle exact syringe doses for insulin but I don't know
> how it would stack up injecting your cat.
> 
> But where there's a will, there's a way and I see no real trouble once
> you've devised a technique for getting the right dose.
> 
> I'm sure I haven't helped much since my experience is with me, not animals.
> But John Fritz has injected horses and cattle on his dairy farm and so I
> know it can be done.
> 
> 
> 
> Mike Freeman
> 
> 
> 
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