The size of your animal and how much it weighs will play a big part in how much insulin is necessary to regulate blood glucose level.  If your pet is diagnosed with diabetes your veterinarian will prescribe the amount of insulin necessary to inject each time.  A small pet will usually require a smaller amount of insulin each time to help regulate blood sugar levels. Your veterinarian will have an injection plan to stabilize your pet and will modify that plan as needed.

Insulin for small pets is normally of the U 40 insulin type and U 40 insulin syringes are available to make injecting the proper dose easier.Syringes can be purchased in several different sizes with common ones being 29g x .5cc,
29g x 1 cc and 29g x .3cc.  These syringes are all different in volume with the .5cc or .5 mL holding one half of a milliliter in volume and .3 cc or 3/10 holding about one third of a cc or mL. The 1cc or 1 mL marked syringe holds the most as it will hold an entire mL of insulin.

The 29g tells you that the syringe comes with a 29 gauge needle on it other typical needle gauges are 30g and 31g. The higher the number the thinner the needle. Different needle tip bevels are available with regular being the most common and other bevels are short and intradermal.  Regular is used for subcutaneous injections ands is what most people use for insulin injections.

The toughness of your pet’s skin will probably determine the gauge needle you use. A 31 gauge needle is thinnest and you would think it would be the best, but it is also the most flexible and will bend easier than the others if you need to push hard. Some trial and error testing will take place to find the best U 40 insulin syringe and needle gauge to use with your pet.

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