How can I manage feline diabetes treatment without giving up my social life?

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gingercatmom

gingercatmom

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My 9-year-old boy was recently diagnosed with diabetes. I've done the initial research and spoken with my vet about costs, and now my only concern is how it is going to affect my daily life. I am a single, 32-year-old female with a pretty active social life and live alone. I won't have any issue with the 12/12 schedule Monday through Thursday, but I am typically away from home on Friday nights and sometimes all day and overnight on Saturdays. I've looked at Rover and there are tons of people who specialize in medication administration, but my schedule isn't consistent enough to hire someone regularly, it would likely be last minute (i.e., I know I will be day drinking in the pool this summer and not be able to drive home for the pm injection) and I know this isn't really feasible with how Rover works.

How can I manage my cat's diabetes without giving up my social life? I know it probably sounds horribly selfish, but I think I am perfectly reasonable in asking. It is just not possible for me (or anyone, I would think) to be around every 12 hours, 7 days a week, to give him injections. I will obviously hire a cat sitter if I am gone for an extended amount of time, so I'm really just worried about the weekends and last minute stuff.

I ask that you please be kind in your responses and don't question my love/commitment to my kitty. I understand these are the kind of risks you take on as a pet owner, but I am only human. I wouldn't take all this on if I didn't love him with everything in me.
 
Cats can go into remission. Perhaps yours is one and working with the program can help that happen sooner than later. I was one of the lucky ones and my kitty appears to have had steroid-induced diabetes as well as he ate high carb food and after 10 days on insulin and 8 off he appears to be going into remission.

If you could fill out the profile/signature etc. information and start tracking his information in the spreadsheet you might get an indicator if that is going to be possible.

The folks on this website are terrific and will help you do the best possible for your kitty.
 
We also just got recently diagnosed and I know that overwhelming feeling of wondering how you are going to manage this and still live your life. It's been ten days, we are into a routine and it feels a lot more manageable now.

You could try starting with diet, low carb food for some puts their cat into remission. I'm really hopeful that our time using insulin will be short lived and remission will be soon, I keep reading stories of people who only needed insulin for a few weeks/months before remission.
 
Your only real option is to find another way to hire someone to be "on call", and/or have a friend/neighbor/family member to handle it. Sure you can skip shots here and there and shift shot times here and there, but it's really not an every week/multiple days a week for an extended period of time sort of thing . Once a month? Sure.

I don't intend this with any tone of judgment, just a statement of what I see/interpret from what you've said - I think you need to take a hard look at what really works for you, and what is best for your cat. You said it's not feasible for you or anyone to be around all the time, yet the majority of us on this site are - because we have chosen to prioritize the cat's care above other things. Does it suck sometimes? Yes. Are there things I wish I could do but can't? Also yes. Have I had to cancel plans I was looking forward to? Another yes. But it is no different than a child - as much as I wish I could go day drinking or spontaneously disappear for a weekend, my responsibility first and foremost is Mr Kitty.

So if your social life is really that important to you and you can't make alternate arrangements, I think you need to consider rehoming him. It may not be what you want to hear, but just like any other diabetic human/dog/cat/etc, their care is both time/routine sensitive and intensive. Plenty of people here have had to re-home due to a variety of reasons - finances, physical/mental capabilities, work schedules, etc. The important thing is what is best for the cat.
 
I can't agree more with what @FrostD said.
God forbid your gone for a day or two and she drops so low that she goes hypo and
you aren't there to catch it and she passes .
It's just not about giving insulin every 12 hours there needs to be tests dine after giving insulin to see how the insulin is working and how low you kitty is dropping so you can catch it and take the necessary steps to bring his BG back up to safe numbers
 
As for myself, I am an avid camper and outdoorsy person, and my wife and I visit her family in Australia every few years. Not to mention various trips here or there we often take, staying overnight and coming home, or a week in St Pete for our anniversary, a trip to Universal Studios, stuff like that. I also like to have a couple glasses of wine in the evening, or an Old Fashioned on the weekend...which is 100% not happening right now because I can't be all toasted and out of it doing BG tests into the wee hours.

Unfortunately, with Hendrick's diagnosis I do not see any of that in the near future. Like Melissa said -- I choose to prioritize Hendrick's care over my own wants and needs right now....as much as that f'kn sucks it is the choice I have made. And I totally get why for some people, that does not really seem like an option at all.
 
I had a really hard time with my cat the past few weeks for the same reason. I found myself crying and complaining that I’ve lost my life.

I won’t wax poetic on it, but I will say that I try to look at it this way. I’m 33 - I have hopefully 50 years left on this earth. I don’t know how much time Gizmo has left, but I’d estimate about 3 more years. I have the rest of my life to enjoy mine, and she has the rest of her life to enjoy hers. It’s worth the sacrifice for the love she’s given me.
 
@Hendrick's mom and dad Camping is something several of our members have done with their kitties. Two documents for you:

Camping with a special needs cat and Travelling with a Diabetic Cat.

Neko went on a couple road trips with us, staying at hotels on the way. Plus I took her on a flight once while diabetic. I've seen people rent RV's and do a bit of luxury camping with kitty, as well as the tenting described in the first document. I will say that once your cat gets regulated, his/her patterns become much more predictable and you can live your life around knowing how the cat's numbers will be that day. If I needed to be away, I'd take Neko's down a notch so I knew she'd be safe while I was gone. Automated feeders helped if I thought she'd be low. If you look, you can find petsitters, sometimes at your local vet office, who will give shots and maybe even test. I remember one member who did a 6 week safari in Africa while her cat stayed home. Another who loved hiking and would head out for a day hike as soon as she got her +2 test and knew it was safe to go.

You can have a life and a diabetic cat. Sometimes you have to make trade offs and find slightly different fun things to do.
 
@Wendy&Neko thanks for the info, I know it is technically feasible to go camping with a diabetic feline. Maybe a little more challenging with the type of 'roughing it' camping I like to do but yeah if push came to shove we could rent an RV even though thats not how we have camped in the past. And like mentioned in that first article tent camping with a diabetic feline is not impossible. Just seems impossible right about now! lol.
 
I understand the frustration, but @Rachel P nailed it. For better or worse we're all parents of a special needs furball (aka sugar kitty). It's no different than having a child with an illness. You have to take care of them because they can't yet do it for themselves.

I've struggled with this myself and on many occasions have made an emergency trip home in the middle of my workday because Magic's numbers were in a place I wasn't comfortable delegating to a third-party. As your cat gets better regulated it does get easier but at first it's definitely not. Once you start to learn how your cat works with the insulin you'll start to see patterns and know when you can do things and when you need to stay close by. I travel for work frequently and those times when I'm gone I do delegate his care to a family member. They know to call me with his readings and I tell them what to do or what to give him.

For example, with Magic, I know more than likely if I'm going to have an issue it's going to be around +4 or +6. Has that bitten me in the butt, yep. However, the point is you can have a life - it just can't be as spur-of-the-moment as it once was and takes pre-planning.

You'll also develop a much more connected relationship with your cat than you ever imagined possible.

One additional thing that helps is for those times where you have something unexpected try and figure a way to include your fur baby. I had to spend the day getting my vehicle worked on a few weeks ago and had no one else to watch Magic for the day. I crated him up and took him with me. Kindof gave him a mini vacation from the house too. - Just a thought.
 
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I confess that in my 20's I had cats that I cared for but cat vs. car never ends well. A combination of idiot room mates and never being home meant rehoming both a dog and two cats. What was I thinking? By the time of our first diabetic I was lucky enough to be in a stable relationship, no money problems and disabled enough to stay at home guilt free. Nigel also loved being in the car, what more could you ask for? I'm not qualified to be judgmental of you and I know all about life's nasty surprises.
Life isn't always fair but the reward is knowing "I did my best" will really mean something later in life even if it means rehoming. The people here will always support you, never shame you, laugh with you and cry with you. That's getting very hard to find these days.
I've flown two cats 3,500km and my reward was they lived to 17 and 23. Our dog made two 4,500km trips before foster turned to adopt, then made the trip again. My 95 year old mother in law moved in when no one wanted her, she makes me nuts but is easy to love. All our cats have been abused but Marco had it the worst, now he loves the car and sleeps beside me every night. I've also learned that love and money aren't the same thing after being guilted into MRI's for a cat we should have just let go of.
Promising 'forever' isn't always easy and I've never regretted it but it took too long to know my limits. Hope you stay.
 
Denver said:
I understand the frustration, but @Rachel P nailed it. For better or worse we're all parents of a special needs furball (aka sugar kitty). It's no different than having a child with an illness. You have to take care of them because they can't yet do it for themselves.

I've struggled with this myself and on many occasions have made an emergency trip home in the middle of my workday because Magic's numbers were in a place I wasn't comfortable delegating to a third-party. As your cat gets better regulated it does get easier but at first it's definitely not. Once you start to learn how your cat works with the insulin you'll start to see patterns and know when you can do things and when you need to stay close by. I travel for work frequently and those times when I'm gone I do delegate his care to a family member. They know to call me with his readings and I tell them what to do or what to give him.

For example, with Magic, I know more than likely if I'm going to have an issue it's going to be around +4 or +6. Has that bitten me in the butt, yep. However, the point is you can have a life - it just can't be as spur-of-the-moment as it once was and takes pre-planning.

You'll also develop a much more connected relationship with your cat than you ever imagined possible.

One additional thing that helps is for those times where you have something unexpected try and figure a way to include your fur baby. I had to spend the day getting my vehicle worked on a few weeks ago and had no one else to watch Magic for the day. I crated him up and took him with me. Kindof gave him a mini vacation from the house too. - Just a thought.
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Exactly. I don’t know if I gave the right color to it, but essentially….is her having diabetes kinda ruining my life right now? Sure. Has she made the last 13 years better than they would have been without her? Certainly. I owe it to her, for better or for worse.

We all make that choice at some point looking at those big, glowing, cat orb eyes when they give you a slow blink - it’s the look. The one that means I trust you because you’re all I’ve got and I love you unconditionally. And what do we give them in return? We sacrifice for them until they die. That’s the exchange. I don’t have kids but I imagine it’s the same to some degree.

You gotta just be okay with being miserable for now - I’d like to think she’d be miserable for me if she could take care of me. I’m sure of it.
 
Some people are just miserable to begin with (not you Rachel). A pharmacist once tried to quietly ridicule me when picking up supplies. I wasn't going to take that crap and in a loud voice said "So if your cat could talk you'd just explain you were too cheap to bother". Instead of getting the boot he shrunk into his corner.
I tried explaining Nigel's care to my dentist's receptionist. She put her hand on mine and in her all knowing voice said "Oh Sweety, that's when you know it's time to let them go". I know she had cats, what kind of sick wisdom is that? I guess "forever" meant something different to her, like when it's convenient. :blackeye:
 
Noah & me (GA) said:
Some people are just miserable to begin with (not you Rachel). A pharmacist once tried to quietly ridicule me when picking up supplies. I wasn't going to take that crap and in a loud voice said "So if your cat could talk you'd just explain you were too cheap to bother". Instead of getting the boot he shrunk into his corner.
I tried explaining Nigel's care to my dentist's receptionist. She put her hand on mine and in her all knowing voice said "Oh Sweety, that's when you know it's time to let them go". I know she had cats, what kind of sick wisdom is that? I guess "forever" meant something different to her, like when it's convenient. :blackeye:
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well, we all have our limits, right? Some financial, some other limits. I don’t ever really think it’s my place to judge other people’s tolerance level or limits, but I do believe in always giving your best shot in earnest. One of my former furry friends (Duke, Rest In Peace) was diagnosed with lymphoma. He already had feline hyperesthesia syndrome, he lived a fairly sad existence even with 3 pills twice a day, mutilating himself and having auras and mini seizures. Once I got the lymphoma diagnosis, I made the call that day. Some people may have carried on, got him eating again with a feeding tube, but that was my limit. Tolerance for witnessing suffering is very subjective. It’s a lot of factors, but I go to bed knowing I gave him a good life and a fighting chance. So long as there’s an effort in earnest - and my experience with this diabetes thing showed me that my effort in earnest paid off. This one was worth tolerating. It just be like that sometimes.
 
We all know exactly how you feel and can empathize. No, my husband and I weren’t in our 30s when FD hit Gracie but we were socially very active and travelled out of the country a lot. It was our choice to put everything on hold to help her and we don’t regret it. Did we lose some friends because we couldn’t just drop everything and go out? Yes, but we also found out who our real friends were. And our time with Gracie was more special and wonderful. We don’t regret a single minute of fun, friends, and travel we gave up to take care of her.

You might want to read this great Breakup Letter to D’Artangan’s Diabetes. Mo was in her 20s when FD struck and she had a great sense of humor. We all appreciated her letter. I don’t know if it will help you but it will let you know you aren’t alone in how you feel.
 
Rachel P said:
Exactly. I don’t know if I gave the right color to it, but essentially….is her having diabetes kinda ruining my life right now? Sure. Has she made the last 13 years better than they would have been without her? Certainly. I owe it to her, for better or for worse.

We all make that choice at some point looking at those big, glowing, cat orb eyes when they give you a slow blink - it’s the look. The one that means I trust you because you’re all I’ve got and I love you unconditionally. And what do we give them in return? We sacrifice for them until they die. That’s the exchange. I don’t have kids but I imagine it’s the same to some degree.

You gotta just be okay with being miserable for now - I’d like to think she’d be miserable for me if she could take care of me. I’m sure of it.
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friggin onion factory next door, I swear...

wow what a post, you f'kn nailed it
 
Marje and Gracie said:
You might want to read this great Breakup Letter to D’Artangan’s Diabetes.
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leonardo-dicaprio-clapping.gif
 
@gingercatmom Sorry, I got totally off point with my own stories and some poetic fluff. My memory isn't what it used to be but having a life outside the house, dating, sports and real vacations are not just memories. It doesn't have to come to a screeching halt because of a diabetic cat. My only regrets are not finding this place sooner and not getting my wife more involved.
Getting someone else involved is most important. It doesn't have to be a close friend, they just have to understand the medical necessity, like cats and be trustworthy if you're allowing them into your home. Training a friend might be hard, better options are having a vet tech come to your home, boarding and travelling with your cat. Travelling with Nigel was easy but boarding Noah meant I had to almost read the Riot Act to a tech, a good way to sound condescending but the only way to get my point across. Noah had other needs that don't apply here.
I've had cats before clumping litter was invented and my then diabetic girlfriend's meter had an AC adapter. This isn't what I signed up for and I dread having a third sugar cat but that's part of the deal. We're happy, we go on vacations and then come home to five happy cats and a big slobbering dog. You just need some imagination and the friends you'll make here.
When you have the time read this
http://www.felinediabetes.com/dear-mom.htm
 
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You can have a social life while caring for a diabetic cat, but you will need to make adjustments to your plans for your social life. I am single, have 6 cats, including one diabetic and a dog. I also have a social life. But when I make plans, they include making sure I am available to care for my pets or have made arrangements with someone to do it for me. So this may mean that you will need to be responsible in your activities. This may mean not drinking to the point where you are not able to drive home (not healthy anyway) or at least have made plans ahead of time for someone to care for him.

Owning a pet is like having a child. You are responsible for giving it the care it needs. I realize that some of these comments we have made may seem harsh, but caring for a pet is a responsibility that you accepted when you adopted it. If you are unable to give it the proper care, then you should consider finding your cat a new home. Personally, I think that you can be able to properly care for your cat while still having a social life. You will just need to be willing to make adjustments to your activities in order to do it.

BTW my diabetic cat is not the first diabetic cat that I have had. He is the 6th one, 4 of which I adopted knowing they were diabetic. At one time I had 2 diabetic cats and a special needs dog at the same time. I was still able to work and have a social life. Did it mean that I could not always do everything I wanted? Yes, sometimes it did. However, I don't regret not being able to do it. I cherish the time I have had with all of my pets. They are only in our lives for a short time. When they are gone, you always wish you could have at least one more day with them.
 
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