Pen-G spilled again, what are we doing wrong?

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 10sd replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 1 month ago by Sarita.

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- 02/04/2010 at 7:08 PM
  MimzMum
  Participant
  8029 posts
  Third shot, third time the dribble shows up on Mimzy’s back when we remove the syringe. What are we doing wrong here? The last time (which was the first time) we had to give these we never had a problem. Hubby is still doing the jabs and for some reason each time we’ve finished the dose and start to pull the syringe out, it bubbles up and we get a nice drip down his back that I have to scramble to clean up. (I clipped any affected fur away from the spot the first time because I could still smell the stuff on it…but if I kept doing that Mimzy would be bald by now!)
  
  I’ve washed it throughly again and dried and combed to be sure I got it all out, but it still smelled a bit. I’m hoping it’s just because it’s a strong odor that lingers. (I’ve washed my hands and can still get a slight reminder of the scent on my fingers.)
  
  I can’t do the shots myself, I have no experience. Hubby used to give his grandpa insulin shots and he’s really been quite good at it, up till now…could something be wrong with the syringes themselves? A bubble that expels the last of the med the mintue it hits the air? Is he pulling the skin too tight and it’s going through to the other side or pushing the dose back out from under the skin? Should we leave the needle inserted for just a second or two after injection to be sure it doesn’t kick back?
  
  This is really aggravating for all three of us. Well maybe not so much for Mimzy because he’s getting extra loves and pets as a result while I work to get him cleaned.
- 02/04/2010 at 8:35 PM
  BinkyBunny
  Moderator
  8776 posts
  I’m not exactly sure what is going on but what we do is we make sort of a tent with the skin on the back of the neck (pulling up slightly, but not necessarily so tightly…just sort of like a nice loose tent) that way, it is going into the skin, not to the other side and not pushing up against muscle. We were also once given a needle that was just too big, and a smaller finer needle made the process easier. (not sure if you may be having the same problem)
- 02/04/2010 at 8:58 PM
  MimzMum
  Participant
  8029 posts
  ARRGH!…I didn’t think that we may be going into muscle. 0_o…Poor Mimz. Will this affect how the medicine spreads?
  
  They’re pretty nice, small needles. Hubby actually poked himself with it first before getting the bun with it. >.< Didn't improve his mood any.
  
  I’ll tell him to try keeping the skin a little looser next time. He’s been pulling it up pretty high. Of course any time I try to tell him anything I get snapped at, but there’s no point using this stuff if we can’t deliver it properly.
  
  So even if I can smell something medicinal after washing him off, it doesn’t mean there’s medicine still there does it? Is it just the nasty smell still sticking to him? I don’t see any white left but the first time the fur stuck together in clumps and when I couldn’t get that clean, I clipped it. He’s got a tiny bald spot there now.
- 02/04/2010 at 10:26 PM
  BinkyBunny
  Moderator
  8776 posts
  Well, if your husband is pulling the skin up pretty far, I doubt he is hitting the muscle.
  
  I really don’t even know about the smell residue as I actually never checked that. But something tells me you are very thorough, and I don’t doubt you got it all. Part of it may have just soaked into the skin and so you may just be smelling that.
  
  Edited to add: Could he be pulling it up so tight that the skin on the other side blocks it? I mean you do have to offer some resistance where the needle enters so it will go in smoothly, but loose enough where the other side of the “tented” skin isn’t so close to the needles entry side. Does that make sense? Also is he going on the way in? I know Steve said he would sort of feel a pop/release when it finally got all the way through. (Gross I know)
- 02/04/2010 at 11:00 PM
  MimzMum
  Participant
  8029 posts
  I really don’t know what he is feeling when he does this, but it just occurred to me reading this that you’re probably right about him hitting the skin on the other side and that may push the meds back out.
  I don’t think he plunges as the needle is still moving, but I’ll ask.
  Thank you so much for helping with this. I know I’ve been asking so many questions and probably bugging the heck out of everyone here…but I know it’s important to give this medication right if Mimzy is going to get better.
  Hubby was saying I could probably learn to do this myself if I had an orange to practice on, but I don’t know where I’d get the syringes to use for practice. Right now, I need the ‘professional’ (him)…lol.
- 02/04/2010 at 11:10 PM
  BinkyBunny
  Moderator
  8776 posts
  You should be able to get a few extra syringes from the vet next time you see her OR you could use the “used” needles on the orange if you have an extra syringe.
  
  I am a huge wimp when it comes to doing this. I always rely on hubby to do it. He’s grossed out by it too actually, but he isn’t as squirmy about it like I am.
- 02/04/2010 at 11:28 PM
  KatnipCrzy
  Participant
  2981 posts
  Pen is a pretty thick injection- so maybe leaving the needle in for an extra second or 2 after finishing the injection will help with the Pen leaking back out a little bit.
  
  I doubt you are hitting the muscle- but even if you were- Pen can be given in the muscle- but typically our clinic only does Pen injections into the muscle on pets that are under anesthesia- as it is more painful than SQ since it is thick.
- 02/04/2010 at 11:50 PM
  MimzMum
  Participant
  8029 posts
  Oh shoot, why didn’t I think of using the old needles to practice with?! *forehead smack* I think I’ll give it a try with the next round, thank you, BB!
  
  Yeah, Kat, I think he’s could be rushing the whole process (he has chronic severe back pain and it’s got to be horrible to have to hold still long enough to do this) and we’re going to try leaving the needle in a few seconds after injection. Mimzy has been really cooperative in all this (with the exception of the oral chloramphenicol) and I think he’ll hold still for that. It would be great if we could get this right again.
- 02/05/2010 at 5:43 AM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  You may need different needles. Also are you getting the syringes prefilled or are you filling the syringes yourself. Pen-g needs to be shook thoroughly before putting into the syringes. Also are you refrigerating this? It does need to be refrigerated.
- 02/05/2010 at 2:06 PM
  MimzMum
  Participant
  8029 posts
  These are really tiny needles. Hence how the hubby managed to accidentally nick himself iwth it…if it were larger he would’ve been able to see it better.
  Would you guys be able to tell the size if I took a picture? I don’t think we can get anything smaller.
  They don’t look any larger than the last ones we used. Wouldn’t a smaller one be more likely to spurt meds?
  I had spoken to my vet about this and she didn’t suggest any other course of action except to maybe not pull the skin so tight and be sure he isn’t going straight through.
  Syringes are pre-filled. They are in the refrigerator.
  
  Sorry if this post rambles…just got up a little bit ago and in the middle of pen cleaning…no coffee yet….zzzzz
- 02/05/2010 at 2:21 PM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  Well you know that the powder settles and I have to wonder if perhaps you aren’t shaking these up adequately and hence they spill out because the powder and liquid are still separated. I’ve never used prefilled syringes for pen-g though but I know in the bottle you have to shake it very very well in order for it to mix.
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