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A syringe is a syringe, right? Actually, syringes come in different units of measure, different sizes, different needle length, different needle width, different, different, different! giving insulin to a pet, especially if you’ve never done that before, is stressful enough without having to worry about giving the wrong dose. regrettably the body of an animal (or a human) is not so ready to forgive an insulin overdose. Hypoglycemia can and frequently does become life-threatening.
Let’s start with the volume that the syringe holds inside of it:
Syringes can hold 1/2 cc, 1 cc, or 3/10 of a cc (total volume of insulin).
These syringes have markings of UNITS on them also.
Insulin comes as 40 units and 100 units, meaning;
40 units per 1cc OR 100 units per 1cc
20 units per 1/2 cc OR 50 units per 1/2 cc
10 units per 1/4 cc OR 25 units per 1/4 cc
(Keep in mind that 1cc = 1 ml)
This number of UNITS that the insulin is marked for is essential for the syringe to draw up the right quantity of insulin. Insulin U40 need to be used in U40 syringes. U100 insulin needs to be used in U100 syringes.
You might be thinking, “Okay I picked the ideal syringe for my insulin, now I’m being asked about the CCs! how do I know that?” before you get any insulin it’s crucial to know how much insulin you need to give.
Let’s say you’re using U40 insulin and you need to give 10 units to your pet. considering that U40 indicates 40 units per 1cc, then 10 units would indicate 1/4 cc as shown above. considering that you’re only giving 1/4 cc, then anything above 1/4 cc syringes would be fine. considering that a lot of people don’t like to draw insulin up to the very top of the plunger, getting a 1/2 cc syringe would work fine.
Now considering that you made sure that the insulin has the same designated Units (U40) as the syringes, all you have to do is draw up to the 10 units mark on the syringe to get the right dose.
Another example: let’s say you have the U100 insulin and U100 syringes and you need to give 50 units to your pet. considering that U100 indicates 100 units per 1 cc, then 50 units would require 1/2 cc of volume. Sure, it’s possible to get away with using the 1/2 cc syringes but again considering that a lot of people don’t like the plunger to go too high (feels like it might fall out) then using the 1cc syringe would be fine.
Now considering that you made sure that the insulin has the same designated Units (U100) as the syringes, all you have to do is draw up to the 50 units mark on the syringe to get the right dose.
There are other markings on the syringe, and those have nothing to make with dose; that’s why I left those for last. Needles are marked with a gauge designation which tells you how thin the needle is– the higher the number, the thinner the needle is. For a lot of insulin, using the highest gauge (thinnest needle) possible would supply the most comfort to your pet.
As an example to clearly picture thickness, imagine 15 gauge would quite thick like a nail to hang a small photograph and 29 gauge (commonly used for insulin) would be so thin that it’s nearly not felt in any way by the pet. just for discussion’s sake, a 22 gauge syringe is frequently used for thicker and a lot more viscous liquids such as Adequan (for joints) or Percorten-V (for Addison’s).
As always, if for whatever reason you feel uneasy or need help with figuring the insulin dose please, please, call your veterinarian or your 1800PetMeds Pharmacist. getting the right dose of insulin into your pet is very important.
