Welcome to FDMB.
There's a lot of information to absorb at the beginning of your cat's diabetes journey. First, when you give a shot depends, in part, on which insulin you're giving your cat. For example, with Vetsulin which is a harsh, fast-acting insulin, you need to feed your cat and give a shot about 30 min. after your cat has eaten. However, with Lantus (glargine), you can give a shot while your cat is eating since the insulin doesn't kick in for roughly 2 hours after an injection. Given that yesterday was the first time you gave a shot, I'm not surprised that you startled your kitty. And yes, you can give a shot after your cat eats.
Your cat's reaction may also be due to the gauge of the needle. Are you dispensing insulin directly from a pen or are you using a syringe? We recommend a syringe for a lot of reasons. You have greater choices as to the gauge of the needle. You want a 30 or 31 (or higher) number gauge needle. The higher the number, the thinner the needle. The thinner the needle, the less your cat is likely to notice. The pens only dispense insulin in 1.0u amounts. We recommend adjusting doses in much smaller increments so you don't end up missing what could be a good dose for your cat.
It sounds like you're aware that what you feed your cat is important. What your vet likely doesn't know is that Royal Canin food is high in carbohydrates -- even the canned food. All of the "prescription" diabetic dry food is very high in carbs. Fancy Feast in the pate style are generally low in carbs. This is a
chart that contains nutritional information on most of the canned foods available in the US. You have lots of choices for low carb food. We consider low carb as under 10% although most members feed their cat a variety that's around 5% carb.
We also suggest that you not limit your cat to eating only twice a day. Many of the members here spread out their cat's food over a few hours around shot time. This is particularly helpful if your cat was used to grazing before being diagnosed with diabetes. In addition, spreading the food out keeps numbers propped up during the time when the insulin is most active.
Another big item for us is
home testing. This is the best, if not the only way, to keep your cat safe. Without knowing what your cat's blood glucose level is you don't know if her numbers in a safe range to give an injection and you don't know how low the insulin is dropping your cat's numbers. Not home testing leaves your kitty incredibly vulnerable to a hypoglycemic episode. A very large number of people here use the Walmart Relion glucose monitor. The strips for their glucometer are the least expensive around. I can't encourage you enough to home test.
And finally, this is a post on
helping us to help you. It provides instructions on what to put in your signature so we don't pester you by asking the same questions repeatedly. There are also instructions on how to set up your spreadsheet. The spreadsheet will allow you to track your cat's progress and it will allow us to provide feedback and answer questions based on how your cat is doing.
The members here are very generous with their time and knowledge. Please let us know how we can help.
