Angel Piper.... October 31, 2015

[Shellie]

Re: Piper

Great on the injections! Woohoo! And can't wait to hear about the new vet! Good luck!

[ceruleanblue]

Re: Piper

Piper nipped at me this morning as I was pulling the syringe out. It wasn't until I put the cap back on the needle that I figured out why-- the needle was bent. It wasn't bent before injection, and she didn't wiggle around or anything after I inserted it, so what causes the needle just to bend? Is it just one that happened to be somehow weaker than the others? My brother said the same thing happened to him a couple days ago.

[Cebe]

Re: Piper

Maybe when she nipped you jerked the needle? If not that, then I have to wonder about how y'all are administering the shot. Because it should only touch skin. Do you pull up a section of loose skin and then inject below where you're holding it, so you're not hitting muscle or bone?

[Judi]

Re: Piper

you didn't bend it putting it in the bottle to get insulin did you? I've done that a couple of times.

Otherwise, I'm clueless. hang in there

[ceruleanblue]

Re: Piper

Maybe I just hit a sore spot or the insulin stung a little today, and I jerked the needle when she nipped me. I don't know, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't bent when I put it into her. We do tent the skin, so it shouldn't have gone into muscle or bone.

She is at the vet now, and they're doing her first curve. She also took my meter so she could test it against theirs. Hopefully she's okay staying there. I'm a little worried about that, even though I know they'll be good to her.

[Yulismum]

Re: Piper

I use canisulin needles and they do bend easily. I bent one taking it from the bottle and no I am very careful now when injecting and extracting the needle.

[ceruleanblue]

Re: Piper

Poor baby got poked and prodded all day at the vet, and was not happy for her PM injection.

She was fed at 6:15 this morning, and her insulin given at 6:20.

Here is the curve from the vet (this is their meter readings- they have an AlphaTrak 2)
9:30- 364
11:30- 369
2:30- 430
5:00- 442

The vet recommended we go up to 14 units, and now that we've seen her numbers, I'm much more comfortable doing that.

They also tested my meter for me, and got some surprising results. This was the first reading at 9:30. They were so surprised they took a picture!

They didn't test mine at 11:30, but it read 385 at 2:30, and 384 at 5:00. Now, I think from the reviews I've read, the ReliOn meters can be sensitive to how much blood you put on, and I think I read them giving inaccurate results when blood is still being applied after it beeps and starts the countdown. Anyone using ReliOn meters ever see anything similar?

[jesse girl]

Re: Piper

have they compared there alpha trak to a lab analyzer especially in a higher range i am a bit concerned of very different numbers compared to humane meters at a higher range

maybe something to discuss with your vet

i

[ceruleanblue]

Re: Piper

She talked about them using a lot of different human meters before getting the AphaTrak, so I think they have compared them to lab values, but that's something I'll ask her next time.

[CarolW]

Re: Piper

Mandy - I just caught up on the END of your thread on Piper. Your remark about bent needles reminded me of this:

http://www.coherentdog.org/vek/checkspot.php

Scroll about halfway or a bit more down the page, to see the picture of the bent needle.

You might enjoy glancing through the whole series of pages - long and quite unconventional, but maybe fun.

http://www.coherentdog.org/vek/painlessinj.php

A few decent tips there, mostly also available here on the forum.

I remember the bent-needle day with Kumbi. He didn't say a word - I think either the needle was defective (most likely), or perhaps I hit a rib or something, but Kumbi ALWAYS told me if something hurt, and he didn't complain. So it was probably a defective needle, as Kumbi didn't mind his injections at all, and would even come for them (as do so many dogs who are part of this forum's family).

My vet demonstrated her injection technique, and it was just a bit different from what I'd originally understood as being "tenting," and I found her method worked absolutely gorgeously for Kumbi and me. I'd pinch up a kind of fold of skin, and place the needle-tip just below my thumb; this worked very beautifully, and maybe I hurt Kumbi twice in thousands of injections.

Best of luck in getting the needle-thing sorted out! I'd guess - hope, anyway - it was a fluke. I know I did take care with needles, so as not to bend the thin 31-gauge critters while drawing the dose!

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 20:45:30 (PDT)

[ceruleanblue]

Re: Piper

Carol,

I've read over your painless injections series many times, and it's very helpful. Easy to follow, and the pictures are great! Your bent needle isn't how mine looked-- I wonder how that one happened! Mine was more slightly curved, so I think maybe it could've happened when she nipped. I'm checking the needles more carefully now before and after I inject. So far, no more bent ones. Maybe the couple that happened were just flukes.

Piper is still a stubborn brat. She was not so good for my brother this morning, but he doesn't do her shots very often. She's been okay with my mom and I, but still tries to hide... Some day, some way we will get her used to this...

Anyone have any other ideas why my meter reading was so far off from the vet's at the first reading? I'm guessing it was probably the amount of blood used, but I don't have much meter experience yet, so can't really say.

[jesse girl]

Re: Piper

as far as hand held blood testing the only way to know for sure how close the reading is it would have to compared to a lab analyzer not another hand held device

that being said i have noticed with to much blood numbers from what i have seen could give elevated results and smaller doses could see much lower results than what they really are and with that you may see an error code

so for me its getting a drop of blood that's sufficient.( not enough can get a lower reading to much can get higher) so i watch how the blood is drawn up the strip i remove it when i here the beep or it starts counting down. if it has taken longer to accomplish which usually means not enough blood i will run another test .

its amazing if i stay consistent how this is done the numbers are consistent and i feel reliable even though i have not compared in a long time

[Cebe]

Re: Piper

I tried a freestyle lite meter, and I got some crazy results next to the alphatrak. The only human meter that I have found to be consistent is the Nova Max Plus, but not everyone has had the same experience.

My point is that some human meters can really be all over the place when testing a dog's blood, and so you have to either get used to your meter and know how it works, or go with a meter that is more reliable. The One Touch Ultra is very popular here, and I've had success with the Nova.

CraigM is the master of meters, and perhaps he can shed some light on this and how to make your relion more reliable (yes, pun intended).

[ceruleanblue]

Re: Piper

I called ReliOn in regards to the weird meter reading (didn't tell them it was for a dog), and they are sending me control solution to test it. I also asked if there was a difference in testing venous vs. capillary blood, and she said that there may be a 20-30 pt difference if carbs had been consumed within the last 4 hours, but nothing too dramatic. So I guess we'll see what happens...

[ceruleanblue]

Re: Piper

Piper got her control solution in the mail the other day, and it gave a reading within the range it was supposed to. Don't know what was going on with the wacky reading, but everything seems to be working fine...

Piper actually came to me for her shot tonight! She relaxed on her side, and I got a good tent, then of course, she couldn't make it easy and had to go and snap up while I was injecting. We're getting closer to her being good... at least with me. She does not like my brother.

I have a question for you guys. No one's going to be home at 6 tomorrow to give her her shot. Is it a big deal for it to be late 1 1/2- 2 hours? My brother and I will be out of town, and my mom and dad will both be at work...