Catfilter: Help me make a cat's injections less unpleasant!

January 3, 2022 5:25 AM

We are looking after my friend's lovely, sweet, affectionate, diabetic cat while she is out of the country. Everything is going well...except the insulin injections. He meows in pain every time we inject him. He does not do this when she gives him shots. How can we make it better? More details inside.

First things first: Cat's human is a very experienced nurse, so is more practiced at giving injections than we are. And also, because she is his human, he may be more relaxed to begin with.

What we have been taught: lay him down, pet him lots, pull up the skin between his shoulder blades, inject him horizontally under the skin - very quickly, then pet him more so that the injection is a little thing that happens between all the pets.

This is great in theory. In practice, it takes some effort to part his fur enough to see his skin and make sure the needle is getting in. I may be pinching too small of a section of skin and hurting him that way - but if I pinch a larger section I can't get a clear shot due to all the fur. I tried to pet him and soothe him afterwards the way she does, but he made it EXTREMELY clear he wanted none of that. I am hurting him and it makes me want to cry every time.

My partner is going to take over the injections in order to do a reset. Do you all have any advice as to how to make it better for this darling cat?

posted by rednikki to Pets & Animals (9 answers total)

I've never given a cat insulin, but have done hundreds of under-the-skin saline injections. It was pretty unpleasant at first, but we convinced ourselves that the cat was actually reacting as much to our discomfort and the physical restraint as she was to the actual shot. We did screw up more than once, going too deep or actually threading the skin and poking out the other side. The cat survived and didn't hold it against us. If you haven't done that yet, you're doing well.

No guarantee it will work, but trying the same procedure and gently tapping the cat with a chopstick instead of a needle might put your mind at ease that the cat is probably as unhappy about being held still by strangers as they are about the shot. (I'm sure the needle hurts a bit. But, I get shots and it's not really all that bad.) Starting out, having two people there was really useful: one to hold the cat still by the shoulders, the other to part the fur and deliver the injection. After a month, one person could do it one-handed. Best wishes, and thanks for helping! There aren't many friends willing to do this or so concerned about the cat's well being when they do.
posted by eotvos at 5:50 AM on January 3, 2022 [6 favorites]

I had a diabetic cat who was pretty good about his shots and saline. I was told that cats generally aren't bothered by injections because their skin is loose and the needle goes right through, so I think you might be right about not pulling up enough skin. You want to deposit the insulin in the pocket under the "tent" of skin, but if you're not pulling it up enough, it's possible the needle isn't piercing the skin cleanly.

I'm trying to remember how I handled visibility with the fur and I think I did it mostly by feel. Obviously experience helps, but try pulling up more skin and using the fingers of your syringe hand to feel for the pocket and guide the needle through the fur. You don't need to watch the needle going in; keep the skin taut, go firm but steady, and you'll feel a bit of a pop when it's pierced the skin (and a change in resistance if you start to go too far out the other side).

Also, can you distract the cat? My cat was very food motivated, you could do whatever the heck you wanted to with him if he was distracted with dinner, as long as he didn't have to leave his food bowl. Also also, everything eotvos said.

I had some good friends who learned how to give insulin shots and having a trusted cat sitter was SUCH A HUGE HELP. Thank you for doing this!
posted by yeahlikethat at 8:37 AM on January 3, 2022 [3 favorites]

Yes, I had a diabetic cat for a long time, as well as one we had to do saline boluses for, and feel like you might be putting too much emphasis on seeing the actual skin. The vet techs certainly don't seem to bother holding anything aside: it's just grab, stab, done. It looks like there are some videos on YouTube demonstrating the level of nonchalance you want to aim for.

It does occur to me though, if she isn't already using the finest gauge needles and you can find a source for them, you might ask whether she'd mind you switching. (I mean, I don't see why she'd mind, but he's her cat.) I could certainly imagine an experienced nurse being able to do things with a larger needle that the rest of us would not be able to replicate.
posted by teremala at 8:48 AM on January 3, 2022 [3 favorites]

I had a diabetic cat who never minded his shots so long as he was eating while we did it. As yeahlikethat said, we didn’t try to part the fur and watch the needle, just slipped it in the scruff “pocket.” If it comes out the other side, or doesn’t go in right, you should be able to smell the insulin or feel wet fur (Lantus smells like vinyl to me), but we were always told not to re-do a shot regardless, in case some did get in — you don’t want to end up giving too much. You can take a pretty large bit of scruff if there’s any worry about pinching him. Put the needle in pretty low and parallel to the spine. I would find the placement and angle harder with a cat that was lying down — if there are treats he likes, maybe try while he’s crouching or standing and eating? You don’t need to be super fast about it, if there’s a possibility he’s feeling it as being kinda stabby. Also, only put the needle into the insulin once — any more can dull the tip considerably, so he'd feel it more.

Good luck, and thank you for doing this for your friend. It was so hard finding a cat sitter who could do insulin shots for us.
posted by kite at 8:59 AM on January 3, 2022 [2 favorites]

Poor kitty! I gave my cat injections for two and a half years and she was not as pliant as this one seems to be, but I made it work. Couple of things: 1) I agree about the "not enough skin" part - I used to pull up enough of a tent to cover a fingertip; 2) also agree that you probably don't need to worry about actually seeing skin - if the tent is big enough you're pretty sure to hit flesh. Also, how are you laying the cat down? Is he on his side, or in crouch position?
posted by Recliner of Rage at 9:02 AM on January 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

And yes, it's so kind of you to help your friend like this. I had to board my cat whenever I traveled because no one else was willing to do it.
posted by Recliner of Rage at 9:04 AM on January 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: My cat has chronic kidney disease and we give her Sub Q fluids daily. I was very nervous about this initially and I think my kitty really felt those nerves too. Over time we both got better at it. This Vet has great tips for doing the stick. It happens at about 3.09. Good luck. You are a very good friend. :-)
posted by dorkydancer at 9:53 AM on January 3, 2022 [3 favorites]

Can the non shot giver distract the cat with a novel noise or holding up a smelly treat?
posted by answergrape at 11:42 AM on January 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: For future people who come across this question - watch the video posted by dorkydancer. That was exactly what I needed to see. I had been giving the injection in a fold of skin held between my fingers. Started using the technique in the video and it's been great since! Thank you all!
posted by rednikki at 6:39 PM on January 5, 2022 [1 favorite]