How Not to Give Insulin

When we were learning about insulin treatment, our professor shared this story.

One of her diabetic patients was very poorly controlled. They had tried adjusting the dose, the timing, and nothing was working. The insulin was stored in the correct place and not out of date, and the owners described their procedure of drawing it up correctly.

With nothing left to try, the vet asked them to bring everything in and show her how they were injecting.

It turns out, in the initial consult, they had been taught how to inject the insulin using an orange to practice on. So the owners had gone home and were injecting the insulin into an orange, and feeding the orange to their dog.