Stuck myself with the cat's lancet

On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:08:15 -0400, Richard Evans
wrote:

The cat and I are both diabetic. I check my own sugar 6-8 times per
day, I check his twice. We have separate glucometer kits. Today, while
preparing to check the cat's sugar, I had a brain fart and instead of
lancing the cat I lanced my own forearm with a lancet that had been
previously used on the cat.

I immediately rinsed it with alcohol, but what are the chances I
caught anything from the incident?

Most unlikely, unless the cat has something evil.

If you find yourself compelled to follow the fish-monger's
truck down the street and to spit and snarl at passing dogs,
seek a more professional opinion.

Incidentally, rinsing with soap and water and possibly a
little disinfectant or 3% peroxide would be of more value
than rinsing with alcohol.


Cheers, Alan, T2, Australia.
--
d&e, metformin 1500mg, ezetrol 10mg
Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter.
http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_s/
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com (On Indian Roads)

Me too, cat & I are both diabetic. Also reuse lancets in both cases.
Separate glucose meters & lancets for me & cat. Stuck myself a couple
of times with the cat's lancet, also once with his insulin needle. In
both cases very little penetration. Nothing bad happening yet - that I
know of!

Dick Ballard



On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:08:15 -0400, Richard Evans
wrote:

The cat and I are both diabetic. I check my own sugar 6-8 times per
day, I check his twice. We have separate glucometer kits. Today, while
preparing to check the cat's sugar, I had a brain fart and instead of
lancing the cat I lanced my own forearm with a lancet that had been
previously used on the cat.

I immediately rinsed it with alcohol, but what are the chances I
caught anything from the incident?

On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:16:09 -0700 (PDT), hopitus
wrote:

My sugar range is always less than 200. I have
other health concerns than Type 2..

Many of us have other health concerns. But high BG's can
exacerbate those too.

I can only speak for myself, but you'd be very welcome to
drop in on a.s.d. I believe we could possibly help you
improve those numbers without jeopardising those other
concerns.

This may interest you:
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045678.php


Cheers, Alan, T2, Australia.
--
d&e, metformin 1500mg, ezetrol 10mg
Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter.
http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_s/
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com (On Indian Roads)

Paul M. Cook wrote:

It's your own blood, where does the infection come from? It is perfectly
safe to reuse lancets as long as they are your own. I change mine maybe
once a week. If you use a alcohol swab you can always clean it before use.
They do get dull after a while and you can always tell because you can feel
it.

Paul

Very interesting. I never would have thought this would be okay, but
after reading the old threads on asd, I may just start reusing mine as
well. It wouldn't be about money, but about lessening my environmental
impact just a little bit.

I'm new to all this so this may be a dumb question, but that's never
stopped me befo are there any recycling options for lancets? It
always bugs me to toss them, and so many of them.

"Spot" wrote in message news:n8d7k.94$Wr.62@trndny04...
Where the heck have you been..........................Most diabetics DO
NOT reuse a lancelet. You are letting yourself wide open for an infection
sooner or later. Beside lancelets are the cheapest part don't be stupid.
And yes I am diabetic my doctor would smack me upside the head if I told
him I was reusing lancelets.

Actually, most DO reuse them. From what I have read, most reuse needles as
well. I don't reuse the needles because I had a bad experience when I did
so. Might have been a coincidence, but I don't want to repeat it. My Dr.
knows I reuse lancets. So does the nurse. She saw me reuse it and didn't
say anything. You are not letting yourself in for an infection by reusing
if reusing only on yourself.

"Paul M. Cook" wrote in message
news:BRd7k.614$IL6.88@trnddc04...

"Julie Bove" wrote in message
...

"Richard Evans" wrote in message
...
The cat and I are both diabetic. I check my own sugar 6-8 times per
day, I check his twice. We have separate glucometer kits. Today, while
preparing to check the cat's sugar, I had a brain fart and instead of
lancing the cat I lanced my own forearm with a lancet that had been
previously used on the cat.

I immediately rinsed it with alcohol, but what are the chances I
caught anything from the incident?

Oh wow! I don't know what the chances are, but how in the heck do you
lancet a cat? I know mine would never sit still for it and would lancet
me with her teeth and claws if I tried it.

They take the blood from the ears.

That's what somebody else told me. But wouldn't that pierce the ears? The
other guy said he never tests his cat at home but takes the cat to the vet
every couple of months for a test.

"Richard Evans" wrote in message
...
"Paul M. Cook" wrote:


"Julie Bove" wrote in message
...

"Richard Evans" wrote in message
...
The cat and I are both diabetic. I check my own sugar 6-8 times per
day, I check his twice. We have separate glucometer kits. Today, while
preparing to check the cat's sugar, I had a brain fart and instead of
lancing the cat I lanced my own forearm with a lancet that had been
previously used on the cat.

I immediately rinsed it with alcohol, but what are the chances I
caught anything from the incident?

Oh wow! I don't know what the chances are, but how in the heck do you
lancet a cat? I know mine would never sit still for it and would lancet
me with her teeth and claws if I tried it.

They take the blood from the ears.

That's the short answer. The longer answer: It takes two of us to do
it. My wife holds him firmly. I massage his ear from the base towards
the tip to force blood to the edge of the year. I then insert my thumb
with the nail backing the ear, and poke near the edge with the lancet.
I'm getting so I can get blood on the first try most of the time. I
would not be able to do it unassisted.

Google on anything to do with diabetic cats or checking cat's sugar.
There are lots of good sites describing alternate procdures.

Wow. Maui had some excess ear wax and she wouldn't let me take that out.
When she was a kitten, she had ear mites. I got scratched to pieces trying
to put the drops in her ears. The vet finally gave her a shot that was
intended for a dog. Knocked the mites right out and she has never had a
problem since. Not with that anyway...

Spot wrote:
Where the heck have you been..........................Most diabetics DO NOT
reuse a lancelet. You are letting yourself wide open for an infection
sooner or later. Beside lancelets are the cheapest part don't be stupid.
And yes I am diabetic my doctor would smack me upside the head if I told him
I was reusing lancelets.

Celeste

where the heck have YOU been, Celeste

i reuse my lancet until St Swithin's Day, when someone posts it's
occurance here in order to remind us to change our lancet

do a google group search for St Swithin's Day, i'm sure it's been posted
for the last 6 years............... i also know that in 1999 when i came
to the newsgroups, i discovered that you CAN reuse a lancet

i bet you use alcohol to wipe the area where you are giving an insulin
injection as well

--
kate
type 1 since 1987
www.diabetic-chat.org
www.diabetic-talk.org
http://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/n...diagnosed.html

"Spot" wrote in message news:n8d7k.94$Wr.62@trndny04...
Where the heck have you been..........................Most diabetics DO
NOT reuse a lancelet. You are letting yourself wide open for an infection
sooner or later. Beside lancelets are the cheapest part don't be stupid.
And yes I am diabetic my doctor would smack me upside the head if I told
him I was reusing lancelets.

Celeste


I also reuse mine. Every diabetic I know does the same thing. It's not to
save money (they're very inexpensive, even for people on limited budgets --
the expense is in the strips). However, it's much more convenient to simply
reuse the lancets, and I have never heard of any problems doing this. It's
not at all the same thing as reusing a needle (which should *never* be
done). I would never use a lancet that anyone else had used (or let anyone
else use mine), but I don't hesitate to reuse my own. I use a single lancet
for about three months. It's start to change if lancing starts to hurt
because that's a sign that the lancet is getting dull. I do use an alcohol
swab on the lancing site (but not on the lancet itself) both before and
after lancing, but many people do not even do that. I suspect the OP will
not have any problems with the cat's lancet that he used, either, but I
certainly would not recommend it -- and I would want to call my doctor and
inquire about that. Incidentally, I don't even let anyone else use my
glucometer because I load all of my readings onto my computer and take that
to the doctor. Therefore, I don't want anyone else's readings to be mingled
with my own.

MaryL

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
Duffy: http://tinyurl.com/cslwf
Holly: http://tinyurl.com/9t68o
Duffy and Holly together: http://tinyurl.com/8b47e

"Julie Bove" wrote:


"Paul M. Cook" wrote in message
news:BRd7k.614$IL6.88@trnddc04...

"Julie Bove" wrote in message
...

"Richard Evans" wrote in message
...
The cat and I are both diabetic. I check my own sugar 6-8 times per
day, I check his twice. We have separate glucometer kits. Today, while
preparing to check the cat's sugar, I had a brain fart and instead of
lancing the cat I lanced my own forearm with a lancet that had been
previously used on the cat.

I immediately rinsed it with alcohol, but what are the chances I
caught anything from the incident?

Oh wow! I don't know what the chances are, but how in the heck do you
lancet a cat? I know mine would never sit still for it and would lancet
me with her teeth and claws if I tried it.

They take the blood from the ears.

That's what somebody else told me. But wouldn't that pierce the ears?

Depends on how deep you set the injector.

The other guy said he never tests his cat at home but takes the cat to the vet
every couple of months for a test.

Our old guy is quite brittle now and we test (and inject insulin)
twice a day. We are hoping to get him stabilized soon so we don't have
to test so often, but a couple of weeks ago we gave him his nighttime
shot without testing and he nearly died. The next morning he was
unconscious and his BG was 20. He was within an hour of being
euthanized, but he rallied, so we keep on keeping on.