Mik is gone...

[We Hope]

Re: Mik: 13 yr old Shih-Tzu: importance of scheduled meals & insulin?

Bob,

When you can get and keep Mik eating, the insulin can be adjusted for the things he's willing to eat.

I think Mik feels better after the insulin because it's dealing with the excess glucose. He feels better and more like eating.

Kathy

[robertpri]

Re: Mik: 13 yr old Shih-Tzu: importance of scheduled meals & insulin?

Bob,

When you can get and keep Mik eating, the insulin can be adjusted for the things he's willing to eat.

I think Mik feels better after the insulin because it's dealing with the excess glucose. He feels better and more like eating.

Kathy

Ketones went to negative 2 hours after the insulin, and glucose dropped a bit. Tried to the next two hour to see what my little connoisseur would eat.

Apparently, my menu was beneath his standards. Sniff and walk.

[robertpri]

Re: Mik: 13 yr old Shih-Tzu: importance of scheduled meals & insulin?

How many times does one use the same syringe? Right now, it's only one time for me, as I saw the link showing how needles wear out so fast. So, I have a small box of single uses, and I suspect I will just go buy more.

But wanted an opinion...

[peggy0]

Re: Mik: 13 yr old Shih-Tzu: importance of scheduled meals & insulin?

Hi Robert, I only use my once, but I know folks that use them twice. I'll see if I can find the picture that shows a needle after one injection

From the products web site:

Can the syringes be reused?
A: Insulin Syringes are designed for single use only, and are clearly labeled as such. Today's insulin needle is thinner and more delicate for greater comfort, so needle reuse can damage the tip and cause injury. Use only once.

[We Hope]

Re: Mik: 13 yr old Shih-Tzu: importance of scheduled meals & insulin?

Bob,

First of all, a caution. Vetsulin syringes are U 40 syringes; what you get in the pharmacy are U 100 syringes. The U 40's have a red cap, and the U 100's have an orange one. Your vet has the U 40's.

This is a U 100 syringe made for U 100 strength insulin; top syringe is a 1/2 cc syringe while the bottom one is a 3/10 syringe.

This is a U 40 syringe made for U 40 strength insulin; this is a 1 cc syringe.

If you put them side by side, you would see that the barrel of the U 100 syringe is thinner and that the markings on that syringe is much closer together than those on the U 40 one. This is because of the difference in strength of the insulins; if you were to take a 1 cc U 40 and a 1 cc U 100 syringe, fill them with water and measure the contents, they would both hold 1 cc of liquid. Same is true for the 1/2 cc and 3/10 cc syringes--the amount of liquid they hold would be the same.

While it is possible to convert the dose to using U 100 syringes, I would say to stay with the U 40 syringes now because I think it might become confusing with Mik's doses changing so much.

What used needles look like close up:

The syringe needles all have a silicon coating on them. Re-use of needles can mean this coating begins to flake off. It can get into the insulin vial and possibly interfere with its activity.

http://web.archive.org/web/200710212...09TechBull.pdf

Page 3

"In addition, clients should be advised not to reuse insulin syringes. The silicon coating inside the syringe can contaminate the insulin vial with silicon. A white precipitate will form in the vial which may interfere with the biological activity of the insulin."

If you're not going to make it with the syringes until Monday, then you'll have to do a little reusing.

Kathy

[robertpri]

Re: Mik: 13 yr old Shih-Tzu: importance of scheduled meals & insulin?

Yes, I saw those pics, but was unaware that the 40's are only sold at vets.

[We Hope]

Re: Mik: 13 yr old Shih-Tzu: importance of scheduled meals & insulin?

Bob, I can give you a place to order U 40's if you like, but you'll need to get some from your vet to get by with until they come.

http://www.vetrxsupply.com/itemdesc....=10&recstart=0

I always bought from this company. The link shows U 40 1/2 cc syringes. While you can get a 3/10 cc syringe from them for U 40 insulin, it comes with a syringe disposal box and there's a $5 difference in price for the disposal.

The ones shown at the link come in a cardboard box--$17.99 plus shipping for 100 syringes.

When we started with Caninsulin/Vetsulin, the insulin wasn't yet approved, so there weren't any Vetsulin syringes here either. This is when I started ordering from this company and continued. I never had a faulty syringe from them and all of the syringes are made in the US.

Since this company now also sells U 100 strength syringes for pets, if you order from them, be sure to make sure you are ordering the U 40 syringes.

Kathy

[robertpri]

Re: Mik: 13 yr old Shih-Tzu: importance of scheduled meals & insulin?

Excellent-thanks.
I have a call into the vet to see what he has on hand.

[We Hope]

Re: Mik: 13 yr old Shih-Tzu: importance of scheduled meals & insulin?

Back not so long ago, U 40 insulin was sold in the US for people, so was U 80. There was a push to "standardize" all insulin for people to be U 100 strength and that ended the sales of U 40 and U 80 for people here.

A lot of other countries have also gone with that standard, but there are still countries where you can buy all 3 strengths.

Some of the people I know who have diabetes and have been coping with it for 50+ years "remember when" there was U 40 and U 80 insulin on the market and wish they could still buy it.

The syringe company is in MN and that state doesn't require a prescription to buy syringes; I never had to send them one. When I started ordering from this company, there were only U 40 syringes for pets and there were two sizes--a box of 100 1 cc syringes or a box of 100 1/2 cc syringes--no 3/10 cc syringes and no syringe disposer.

Kathy

[robertpri]

Re: Mik: 13 yr old Shih-Tzu: importance of scheduled meals & insulin?

The site shows U40 syringes with 1 cc, .5 cc, and .3cc. Are these the marking graduations on the tube?

[We Hope]

Re: Mik: 13 yr old Shih-Tzu: importance of scheduled meals & insulin?

http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Syringe#U40_Syringes

A 1 cc U 40 syringe holds a maximum of 20 IU of insulin. A 1/2 cc U 40 syringe holds up to 20 IU of insulin, and a 3/10 cc holds up to 12 IU.

The 1/2 cc U 40 syringes have number markings going up by 5.

5-10-15-20.

They have a marking line for every unit. So you will see 4 marks before you get to the number 5 going up on the syringe. Then you'll see another 4 marking lines and the number 10.

They don't indicate that their 3/10 cc syringes are marked in half-unit scale, so I believe they are not. For U 100 insulin, when you buy 3/10 cc syringes, you can get them either way--marked for half-scale or not.

The only way the company sells their U 40 3/10 cc syringes is if you buy them with the disposal unit; my thought is that since they aren't marked for half-scale, it wouldn't be useful for you to pay the additional $ to get them--you would be paying for the disposal unit and not getting any more "advantage" to doing half-unit doses than you are on the 1/2 cc ones.

Kathy

[robertpri]

Re: Mik: 13 yr old Shih-Tzu: importance of scheduled meals & insulin?

Many thanks. I guess the .5 cc makes the most sense.
Vet might have a supply, but I missed his sat close. He's there sun am.

more

just ordered 100 online--great, thanks!

[We Hope]

Re: Mik: 13 yr old Shih-Tzu: importance of scheduled meals & insulin?

Just need to tell you they ship via UPS who may or may not leave the package if you're not home, so when you get some syringes from your vet, you might want to get enough in case you need to have UPS redeliver when you will be home.

[robertpri]

Re: Mik: 13 yr old Shih-Tzu: importance of scheduled meals & insulin?

Just need to tell you they ship via UPS who may or may not leave the package if you're not home, so when you get some syringes from your vet, you might want to get enough in case you need to have UPS redeliver when you will be home.

I wish it was UPS! Those drivers know me [+ wife] and always took deliveries to the back door and left on the porch. They knew and understood.

FedEx is a wonderful service for business, but not too good for homes, at least around here. If you don't answer the door immediately, they are gone.

Worse, they leave the package on the front door, near the sidewalk and street. Three months ago, they left my $1,500 laptop on the porch and drove off. The box was clearly marked in bold letters, COMPUTER

Luckily, neighbor spotted it and held for me. I love FexEx, but not for homes.

"Shipping Information
UltiCare products are shipped directly to your home within 3 business days of ordering.

Our products are shipped via Fed Ex Ground. Fed Ex will deliver in 3-5 business days to most any location within in the Continental U.S."

[We Hope]

Re: Mik: 13 yr old Shih-Tzu: importance of scheduled meals & insulin?

Boy, have things changed! When I ordered from them, it was UPS, and that was all!