4 weeks in, still not great numbers, and (sorry) another vaca thread

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ebuckley

ebuckley

Member Since 2014
We're really desperate for any advice from more experienced eyes. I don't have any good options for an upcoming 12 day trip (22 cycles). Pet sitter can give an injection 1x/day and is coming over to learn testing. Can't afford the vet boarding without serious domestic complications (the vet bills this year are staggering). We have a "reservation" at $150/day to fall back on, but if we can buy a week while the depot is active, it would help tremendously.

Napa's numbers are all over the place (except green). Her thirst and urine output seem to swing with her numbers. She's preening and engaged in outside time and evening toy time. Eating Friskies pate...hungry, hungry. Sugar, sugar everywhere and not a drop to eat. I try to feed her small meals every 2 hours for the first 6 hours after insulin when work schedule allows.

I hate to ask this because I imagine neither are good...but would it be better to have the pet sitter give insulin 1x day (assuming she can get a test) or hold off on the insulin all together while we are away?

Also, given we can't leave dry food out is one meal a day + popsicles enough? I understand DKA is a big risk and I can let her know the symptoms. I wish I could call on more folks to help but only have one back up to take her to the vet in case the pet sitter sees something out of the ordinary.

Any advice, reassurance, gut-checks, smacks-upside-the-head surelys appreciated.
 
I think that getting the petsitter to give 1 dose a day is better than giving nothing....is there NO way she can come back to do the 2nd shot? Have you looked into the many Pet-sitter sites where you can hire people to come take care of your animals? Called around to the vet offices in the area and asked if one of the techs would like to earn an extra $20/day to do the 2nd shot? Seems to me, if I were a hard working tech that could earn a few extra bucks on my way home from work, I'd be grabbing at it!!

Have you considered getting an autofeeder like this PetSafe 5? That would allow you to put some frozen food into it and program it to open up to 5 times per day

Without going back and looking through all your condo's....when do you leave?
 
I read on here somewhere that you can bake the moisture out of canned food so that it can be left out. Also, you could cook some chicken, break into small bites and freeze it. Then you could leave some out.
 
You could try checking with any local pet rescues to see if any of their volunteers might be in your vicinity and willing to give the other shot. What about a neighbour? Would one of them be willing? Any older teenagers in the area you could train who would like to earn a little spare cash? Are there any dog walking services in the area? Maybe one of them would be willing to stop by and do the shot?

This is a problem many of us have wrestled with and I wish there was a one size fits all solution but if you think outside the box a bit, sometimes that holy grail can be found in some unlikely places.
 
Thanks all! The pet sitter came today for "orientation." She said she can do the mornings and her assistant is willing to do the evenings! She said her assistant has experience with various pet maladies and even has diabetes herself. And I guess we always have the $vet$ as a back up if needed. I am so relieved although it is nerve-racking, still, to leave.

Any additional tips for the pet sitters? Does all this sound about right?
  • Instructed to not inject: 1. if she couldn't get a test, OR 2. if the test is under 200 OR 3. if it was less than 10 hours since the last injection, OR 4. if Napa wasn't eating. Also warned her to not give a second injection in the case of a fur shot. Printed all this out and taped to the wall near Napa's food and testing "station".
  • Made a sample syringe with colored fruit juice for reference that I'll leave out.
  • Sent her a link to a testing video (and she said she watched several others) and demo'd while she was here.
  • Asked her to give 1.o unit, the dose she has been on for a few weeks.
  • Made a daily log sheet for test results and injection times.
  • Printed out hypo instructions and will leave out high carb food, tho I also told her to take her to the vet for any concerns.
  • Printed DKA info and told her to take her to the vet for any concerns, especially if Napa stopped eating.
  • Printed out a list of things to take to the vet if that need arose (food, insulin on a cool pack).
  • Gave vet credit card info and authorization. Left cat carrier out.
Also, did a curve today...was sure I was going to be increasing dose, but +6 was 143 and +8 was 165. Maybe I'll try tight regulation depending on how things look when I get back.
 
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