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Quick Duphapen and needle tip question

Scrappy's Little Helper

Scrappy's Little Helper

Mama Doe
Hi all :wave:

I have to give Scrappy another 2 week course of Duphapen (sp?) injections. When I did them before I was given needles with green tips, this time they're blue. Is there a significant difference between the two? Particularly thinking in terms of size difference and whether or not the penicillin might get "stuck" in the tip going in.

The dosages have already been drawn up, I just need to attach the tips and inject.

Thanks!
 
Scrappy's Little Helper said:
Hi all :wave:

I have to give Scrappy another 2 week course of Duphapen (sp?) injections. When I did them before I was given needles with green tips, this time they're blue. Is there a significant difference between the two? Particularly thinking in terms of size difference and whether or not the penicillin might get "stuck" in the tip going in.

The dosages have already been drawn up, I just need to attach the tips and inject.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Blue top needles are a smaller gauge, some people say they have had problems with injecting a penicillin with them, but so far I never have. Probably more luck than judgement on my part though !!
 
Scrappy's Little Helper said:
Hi all :wave:

I have to give Scrappy another 2 week course of Duphapen (sp?) injections. When I did them before I was given needles with green tips, this time they're blue. Is there a significant difference between the two? Particularly thinking in terms of size difference and whether or not the penicillin might get "stuck" in the tip going in.

The dosages have already been drawn up, I just need to attach the tips and inject.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I've always used green needles. if you can force it through the blue ones then that's fine.
I'm sure your vet will change them if not.
 
I've only ever had a problem with blue syringes if they have been pre drawn and set into the syringe, I've never had a problem if it's a fresh syringe. Hopefully you'll be fine :wave:
 
Thanks for the feedback guys :wave:

The first one went in ok which was good. Really hoping the rest will be the same. Can't help feeling more apprehensive with injecting penicillin because of the risk if she were to accidently ingest any. I always have to keep checking the injection site to make sure it has all gone in, which she finds more annoying than the actual injection!
 
Scrappy's Little Helper said:
Thanks for the feedback guys :wave:

The first one went in ok which was good. Really hoping the rest will be the same. Can't help feeling more apprehensive with injecting penicillin because of the risk if she were to accidently ingest any. I always have to keep checking the injection site to make sure it has all gone in, which she finds more annoying than the actual injection!
Click to expand...

If you massage the injection site for a couple of minutes after giving the dose this will insure it's dispersed under the skin and therefore minimise the risk of any leaking back out. That's another reason why I prefer not to use the green top needles as they make a bigger hole in the skin making leakage easier to occur xx
 
I use greens myself and find that when I used to get it drawn up before I had blockages and backdrafts. I draw it up myself now so not so many problems. I think shaking the syringe gently to get the drug in the solvent/carrier before you try and inject will help.
 
Jack's-Jane said:
If you massage the injection site for a couple of minutes after giving the dose this will insure it's dispersed under the skin and therefore minimise the risk of any leaking back out. That's another reason why I prefer not to use the green top needles as they make a bigger hole in the skin making leakage easier to occur xx
Click to expand...

Thanks Jane, that's a really useful tip. I'll definitely be doing that from now on :thumb:
 
The Duchess said:
I use greens myself and find that when I used to get it drawn up before I had blockages and backdrafts. I draw it up myself now so not so many problems. I think shaking the syringe gently to get the drug in the solvent/carrier before you try and inject will help.
Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for another good tip! :thumb: They've actually drawn up 14 syringes for me so I suspect I'm more likely to encounter issues with blockages as I get towards the end of this course. I think it'll be worth my having a discussion with the vet about drawing the dosages up myself in the future, should I need to give more injections.
 
When Fred was on duphapen they gave them to me all drawn up and a selection of blue and green needles but I had a nightmare trying to get it in as they wouldn't empty. It was the syringe neck rather than the needle that was the problem so I started jabbing a spare needle down the syringe, then fitting a fresh needle and giving it a good shake and that seemed to work. Hope it's going ok and Scrappy is doing well.
 
Scrappy's Little Helper said:
Hi, thanks for another good tip! :thumb: They've actually drawn up 14 syringes for me so I suspect I'm more likely to encounter issues with blockages as I get towards the end of this course. I think it'll be worth my having a discussion with the vet about drawing the dosages up myself in the future, should I need to give more injections.
Click to expand...

I think it's difficult to decant some into another bottle and I have always found I've been given a whole bottle. My vet told me it was because once it was opened it was no longer sterile and could only last a certain length of time.

I must say I find it much easier when I am drawing it up myself and keeping it in the fridge :thumb:
 
Jolysium said:
When Fred was on duphapen they gave them to me all drawn up and a selection of blue and green needles but I had a nightmare trying to get it in as they wouldn't empty. It was the syringe neck rather than the needle that was the problem so I started jabbing a spare needle down the syringe, then fitting a fresh needle and giving it a good shake and that seemed to work. Hope it's going ok and Scrappy is doing well.
Click to expand...

Hi Jolysium :wave: Thanks for the heads up on the syringe neck, I hadn't realised that could also be a potential issue. I actually popped into the vet's this evening and had the tips swapped for the green ones. This is the third course of Duphapen injections I've had to give Scrappy, the first two times with the green tips and I managed to get them done without too many problems. This time I have found it quite a bit harder using the blue ones. First one went in ok but since then I've found I've had to use quite a bit of force to get it through. Hopefully it'll be a bit easier with the green ones. But I will definitely try out your suggestion if it does get stuck again.

Other than that Scrappy is doing well. She's running around, binkying, eating and pooing lots. She even had time to develop a bit of a crush on the electrician who came round yesterday. She just started following him everywhere. Every time he turned round she was there like a little furry stalker :lol:
 
MightyMax said:
I think it's difficult to decant some into another bottle and I have always found I've been given a whole bottle. My vet told me it was because once it was opened it was no longer sterile and could only last a certain length of time.

I must say I find it much easier when I am drawing it up myself and keeping it in the fridge :thumb:
Click to expand...

I have to say I'm increasing convinced it's worth asking for the whole bottle - anything that makes the injections as easy and stress- free as possible! Am I right in thinking that these bottles have a seal in the top which you pop* with the syringe to draw up the penicillin? In which case, provided the seal remains intact and it's kept in the fridge would it remain sterile for quite some time?

*I actually put pr!ck there but it got asterixed out :lol:
 
Scrappy's Little Helper said:
I have to say I'm increasing convinced it's worth asking for the whole bottle - anything that makes the injections as easy and stress- free as possible! Am I right in thinking that these bottles have a seal in the top which you pop* with the syringe to draw up the penicillin? In which case, provided the seal remains intact and it's kept in the fridge would it remain sterile for quite some time?

*I actually put pr!ck there but it got asterixed out :lol:
Click to expand...

:lol::lol:

Yes there's a rubber 'bung' which you put the needle through. It's hard to keep it completely sterile in fact, though swabbing the top of the bung with an alcohol wipe each time, and using a fresh needle each time will help.

Some people use a different needle to draw up the penicillin than they inject with on the basis that pushing a needle through the bung blunts it (and therefore harder to inject into bun). I've not had a problem in this respect - I use the same needle.

I think the vet was perhaps trying to make it easier for you by drawing it up. Of course it's probably also more expensive, as the tiny dose in the syringe costs next to nothing. If you had a bottle of pen, you can buy your own syringes and needles easily and cheaply.

I hope this helps somewhat :wave:
 
I was given pre drawn syringes for use on Hettie with blue needles - I used to give the syringe a good shake before injecting her, and it was sometimes quite hard to push the plunger, but they all went in okay
 
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