Must travel w/diabetic kitty every weekend - need helpful suggestions!

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CarolinaGirl

Member Since 2020
Hello, everyone -

So, we have a weekend place where we travel almost every weekend (it's an hour's drive). We've never taken Maisy with us, because we used to be able to leave her with enough food and water for an overnight or two. Now that she's been diagnosed, we're going to have to take her with us when we go, because we can't afford to have our pet sitter come over every weekend. Maisy has never been out of our house except to go to the vet. I'm not concerned about the ride there but am very concerned with how we're going to get her accustomed to a change of venue every weekend. She is a very skittish cat who likes to hide. I can already predict that she won't eat when we're there, because she will be so freaked out by the change. Does anyone have any suggestions for how we can make this work? Thank you.
 
Deb, the reference librarian here, (JUST kidding) has a document for you about Traveling with Diabetic Kitties.

Click on the blue text to open. Bookmark it, save it to your favorites, download it to your computer or smartphone, print it out. Whichever works best for you.

Everything you needed to know but were afraid to ask about.....................
 
Things that have helped my kitties when traveling or moving: Having some of their stuff there, things that smell like home. Like a cat bed or pillow, fleece blanket, toys, even one of its human's tshirts out of the laundry hamper. Limiting range at first-- giving a cat a single, quiet room to stay in to start with means there's less newness to get used to and less places to hide. Once they seem comfortable in that room, you can leave the door open a little bit so they can sneak out to explore when they are ready. Sounds like home--If they are used to hearing the TV or music playing, this can help them relax too.
 
Also put a harness her and keep it on. If she tries to escape or go outside it is easier to grab the harness instead of a collar she can slip out of. If she doesn't normally wear a collar with tags, add identification tags to the harness. May also be a good idea to have her microchipped or verify the information on her registration is current.
 
We have a playpen just like Bron suggested: https://www.amazon.com/ESK-Collecti...nnel/dp/B00SFA8KBS/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20

I highly recommend it. Plenty large for a bed, litter box and food/water. We got it to use primarily in case we had to evacuate to a hotel or a friend's in case of a hurricane so that we could keep them safely contained, but we also used it for a while in the living room to acclimate our newest skittish addition with her inside while the other 5 checked her out. She really liked it in there, and we've let the others in there and they liked it as well. I don't know if it will show up for you when following that link, but there is also a washable pee pad that you can buy separately to put on top of the inside of the floor of the playpen, which is like a coated fabric to make it waterproof. But I can see how having the custom-fit pad would be a good idea. I did also have a thin blanket that I put over the top and most of the sides so that I could control how much visibility they all had to her, I made sure to always keep half covered with her bed on that side so that she could feel protected. It sounds like that might work well for your Maisy too (or even to keep almost all of it except one window covered so that she would feel safe).

Are you in NC, or did you just go to UNC? I'm in Raleigh, went to NCSU.

Welcome to the group!
 
Sandi & Whisper said:
We have a playpen just like Bron suggested: https://www.amazon.com/ESK-Collection-ESK48-Blue-Exercise-Kennel/dp/B00SFA8KBS/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ESK COLLECTION Blue 45" Pet Puppy Dog Playpen Exercise Pen Kennel 600d Oxford Cloth&qid=1579122593&sr=8-1

I highly recommend it. Plenty large for a bed, litter box and food/water. We got it to use primarily in case we had to evacuate to a hotel or a friend's in case of a hurricane so that we could keep them safely contained, but we also used it for a while in the living room to acclimate our newest skittish addition with her inside while the other 5 checked her out. She really liked it in there, and we've let the others in there and they liked it as well. I don't know if it will show up for you when following that link, but there is also a washable pee pad that you can buy separately to put on top of the inside of the floor of the playpen, which is like a coated fabric to make it waterproof. But I can see how having the custom-fit pad would be a good idea. I did also have a thin blanket that I put over the top and most of the sides so that I could control how much visibility they all had to her, I made sure to always keep half covered with her bed on that side so that she could feel protected. It sounds like that might work well for your Maisy too (or even to keep almost all of it except one window covered so that she would feel safe).

Are you in NC, or did you just go to UNC? I'm in Raleigh, went to NCSU.

Welcome to the group!
Click to expand...
 
CarolinaGirl said:
This is a great idea! I just placed an order. :)
Click to expand...
Great!
If you get a chance for Maisy to investigate the pen and use it before you need to take it away for the weekend, that will help her feel she has something familiar around her. And take her bed and a few other of her things so she will feel at home.
Please let us know how it goes......and a picture as well if you can!
 
I did just jump over and find your "introduction" post for you and Maisy, sorry I missed it. I'll overlook the fact that you are a tarheel, since your wolfpack kids cancel it out ;)

Doing a curve at home will be much more accurate than dropping her off at your vet in two weeks, most cats get stressed enough such that it skews the results. Raleigh is a big place, but I'd be happy to come to wherever you are one time and help you learn how to test, if you can't get the hang of it on your own by watching videos (we happened to make one recently for a friend: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/videos-of-testing-my-cats-bg.223609/ , but there are many out there). And if you happen to be pretty close, I also do cat sitting, and I am retired so my availability is pretty good. Generally speaking, I am in North Raleigh, north of Crabtree off Hwy 50 almost to 98.

General testing questions should stay on the board in the Feline Health forum, but if you'd like a hands-on session just click my name and then "Start a Conversation". We could exchange personal info there to keep it from being visible on the internet.
 
Have you ever used Feliway plug ins or spray? They help relax kitty, as does a some Rescue Remedy for pets. I sprayed Feliway in Neko's carrier and gave her Rescue Remedy a little while before we travelled. We stayed in hotel rooms together on some longer trips. Feliway plug ins in the hotel room too.
 
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