Air bubbles in cat's insulin?

Question

This is a followup to another question I asked earlier (thank you to everyone who answered, very helpful!).

I am starting my cat on insulin tomorrow. I've never done this before so just wanted to know if there is an air bubble in the syringe, is it harmful?

I saw a video online that just said an air bubble would make the dose not as exact. while I will obviously try to never have an air bubble in there, I was wondering if it is dangerous if there is by accident and it is injected into the cat? I will be injecting it into the skin on my cat's neck.

I just remember always hearing about an air bubble being injected into someone's vein and it traveling to the heart and killing them (maybe an urban legend thing almost, though I think it's semi true). But since this is just going into his neck, is it *lethal*, besides a dosage error? Thank you all again.

Answer 1

Having a small air bubble in the syringe can affect the proper dosage, but unless you are pulling up a very small dose of insulin, a bubble won't make that much difference. And don't worry about it harming your cat. An air bubble will not be lethal if injected subcutaneously. Even if injected into a vein, it would take a VERY large bubble to cause problems.
To get rid of any air bubbles you see, you can pull some air into the syringe after drawing up your insulin dose, then flick the syringe until any air bubbles rise to the top, then expel all the air.

Answer 2

Because the insulin is injected just under the skin, a few air bubbles will not be harmful.

Addendum:
Just to respond to the person who posted after me that air bubbles in the syringe are very dangerous--they are absolutely WRONG when it comes to injections under the skin. Do not let her scare you. I'm a full time veterinary technician. Air bubbles do not matter with subcutaneous injections, only IV injections.

Answer 3

Air bubbles in syringes are very dangerous! In any medication that is given by syringe. After you fill the syringe to the CC's that your cat needs. Just tap the syringe a few times to get any air bubbles out. I hope this helps in answering your question.

Answer 4

Well, insulin is not injected directly into the blood stream, It's injected into fatty tissue, But an air bubble injected directly into the blood stream would be fatal!

Answer 5

Just point the syringe upwards and release some of its contents so no air will be left inside it. Better to be safe than sorry. If it is harmful for humans it'll probably be harmful for cats, too.

Answer 6

you do need to gt the air bubbles out of the syringe



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