shots – Diary of a Diabetic Dachshund

So my first topic is going to be making sure you are using the right insulin syringe! Vetsulin requires a U-40 syringe. Novalin N & Humalin N (NPH Insulin) require a U-100 syringe. 1 unit in a U-40 does NOT equal 1 unit in a U-100. U-40’s should have a red needle cap and U-100’s should have an orange needle cap (however always verify your syringe says U-40 or U-100 because some brands are misleading). Syringes comes in different sizes with different size needles. Remember that the smaller the gauge needle, the larger it actually is. So small dogs need a higher gauge. When my ~10lb dachshund was on Vetsulin for a short period, we did use a 29 gauge U-40 but on Novolin N she uses a 3/10cc 31 gauge U-100. A 3/10cc syringe would be my recommendation for a small dog who should never come close to needing 30 units of insulin. I prefer a syringe that has half unit markings as small dogs typically increase doses in half unit increments. I pictured my favorite syringes I buy in a 5 box special deal at a great price from http://www.adwdiabetes.com. I accidentally bought 50 unit syringes in bulk once that didn’t have half unit markings. I hated them. I had a ton of fur shots because the needles seemed flimsy (a fur shot is when you miss some or all of your injection and the insulin ends up in the fur and not in the dog) plus it was harder for me to pull up smaller dose without a ton of air bubbles. I ended up donating them all to my vet. Another important point is if you ever switch between Vetsulin and NPH insulin please make sure there is no way your syringes can get accidentally mixed up. If your syringe does not have half unit markings and you want to dose a half unit, on most syringes if you line up the black tip end of your plunger with the hash from the unit below, the tip of your plunger usually ends up at the halfway mark. This isn’t true for all syringes though. Hope this helps!!