I just gave Holly her first shot of insulin

[MIButterfly]

I hope I did it right. Yesterday, the vet tech showed me how and I busted out crying saying I was going to do it wrong, she was going to die and it'll be all my fault. I was so embarrassed. I think the stress of seeing her act so strangely and not knowing what was going on and being so scared and worried just caught up with me all at once.

Anyway, she gets the insulin after she eats and since it's impossible to know when she's eaten, I put her in my office in the basement. She likes to hang in that room. I put in a nice, clean new litter box, some fresh water and per the vet tech's instructions, 1/4 cup veterinary dry food mixed with a teaspoon of veterinary wet food. When I first showed her where the food and water is, Holly just kept walking around in circles. The tech said to check every 10 minutes to see if she's eaten it. After about 15 minutes, she'd eaten about half so I hope that was enough.

The insulin was another story. The bottle looked different than the one in the tech's office. I was trying to put the needle in through the cap! The cap was hard to get off and impossible to get back on, so I just put the bottle back in the carton without the cap. I got the dosage and flicked the syringe to get rid of the air bubble and got paranoid I didn't get it right, so I did it four more times. The dosage is very small and it's hard to see if it's even in there. I finally gave it to Holly and I hope I did it right and I hope I gain more confidence as we go along.

I filled her prescription at Costco and that was a whole other fiasco, not to mention that the place was packed with people no doubt getting ready for the holiday weekend. I assume a lot of people got today off; I know I always did when the 4th fell on the weekend. I don't do well in crowds to begin with and I was stressed out about Holly on top of it.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. It will become second nature to you. I had a diabetic dog for 6 years that got 3 shots a day, plus I took her

glucose readings with a meter which also meant a gum prick.

[livetohike]

2. You'll get the hang of it! It's so intimidating at first.

Our dog Cindy (Doberman/Shepherd mix) turned diabetic at age 12. While my husband helped, I was the main person keeping track of everything. I would e-mail a chart of the readings every week to the Vet and she would either adjust the dose, or not. Cindy lived two more years and we were grateful for the extra time.

You can do this and will .

[IbogaProject]

3. The plastic cap is trash

The rubber inside the metel ring is the true cover. Dont stress over it. Trick is pinch the cat's skin and then move the syringe quickly, it goes in easier that way. You're extending the cat's life, just relax and do the best you can. Linking the shot to after some has been eaten is best.

[chowmama]

4. You'll be fine

My first one at work, in front of the pet owners, was intimidating, but it got a lot better.

If Holly's used to free-feeding, that's often the hardest adjustment. What do you mean I can't graze whenever I want to? Hey! Hey! Are you listening to me? It's 2AM and there's no stinkin' entrees! Hey! (They do eventually get used to it. Not happy, but used. -ish.) The needle stick isn't a big deal, usually.

For readings, some dogs are now using the Libre sensors. I don't know about cats yet.