Administired first shot but worried

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My cat Mal

My cat Mal

Member Since 2016
This morning I gave Mal his first shot but in my nervousness did not pull back on plunger to check for blood. If there had been blood in the syringe and I gave the shot what can that do? He seems fine but I feel worried. This is only his second shot. The vet tech gave first one yesterday and on the way home he pooped in his crate, was a little woozy and off but came around ok. I don't have to leave for work for a few hours so will watch him. Just nervous I may have done something damaging. There was no dampness or blood where I injected him.
 
I have never pulled back the plunger when injecting insulin.
I have likely give over 10,000 insulin injections.

What insulin are you using and what is the dose?
 
I can't pull the plunger back either - my vet told me I had to do it as well but it just seems impossible! Glad I'm not the only one.
 
Pulling back on the plunger to check for blood is not a common practice anymore as the chances of hitting a blood vessel of any significance is pretty much nil and obviously a little problematic with our furry ones. I don't pull back and while I admit to having seen some blood after injecting a couple of times, it's because of nicking a capillary which is of no consequence. If it happens just staunch the bleeding to avoid any bruising at the site.
 
My vet told me not to bother, that it was highly unlikely I'd hit anything big enough to be of consequence. In the 15 months I've been giving Squallie shots, I've only ever seen blood on the needle once, and the amount was only a trace, undoubtedly from a nicked capillary. He had no problems from this. I'm sure Mal will be fine, too. :)
 
Thanks for the reassurance. I was nervous. He has seemed fine but I am tired because I kept waking up throughout the night anticipating the first shot! It has been tricky determining a time that I feel will work best in our schedule and also based on the first shot vet gave him yesterday. Rigt now it looks like we are on a 6 A.M and 6 P.M schedule.
 
The needles on insulin syringes are so short that as long as you're giving the insulin correctly (either shooting into the "tent" or pulling up gently on the skin) you really can't hit anything important so there's no need to "pull back" to check for blood

We're on a 6am/6pm schedule too...works well for us since on days I have to take my mom to doctors, I can still get at least a +2 before I have to leave (and that works a lot like a crystal ball for most cats on what their cycles are going to look like later) and then I don't have any problems staying up until midnight to get a +6 to make sure China's going to be OK throughout the rest of the night (I sleep better!)

On days I don't have to be out, I can usually shoot at 6am and sneak back to bed too!:) The trick is learning how to shoot without fully waking up!!;)
 
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