Boarding over Christmas

[Tinker's Mom]

We are traveling out of town for the holiday and will be gone 1 week. Out vet can board Tinker but they don't test his BG, they just give the shots (unless we want to pay $27 for a single BG check or $199 for a curve!). That seems crazy to me after being on this web site but I guess lots of people and vets just give shots blindly all the time. I mean, it seems crazy because I have had to adjust his dose so much. He was on 1 unit for a while but that sent him into the greens so I had to reduce it. Now he is back in the high 100s on 1.25 unit (I need to update his sheet, I will do it tonight).

I guess what I will do is pick a dose for the week based on how he does between now and then. But I still don't really understand why kitties fluctuate so much based on the same dose of insulin. I mean, I can understand needing less insulin over time because his pancreas is healing, but why am I now at 1.25? Nothing else has changed.

An alternative is to pay someone to come to the house and give injections and possibly get BG readings but that will be expensive and as you know testing the ears takes a lot of practice!!

Any advice or ideas are appreciated!

 

[Figaro's Liz]

I know lots of people find vet techs (through their vet office) who make house calls and will test along with shots. If you can find a pro like that, they should be able to handle the testing. $27 per test at the vet, wow! A reminder of all the money we are all saving by home testing!!

Personally, the idea of boarding Figaro twists my gut, because he does so badly out of his home environment and I hate putting him under all that stress. If I had to leave him I would pay the extra necessary for house calls--but I probably would rather just take him along with me if it were for a full week. That's just me of course, but maybe consider if taking Tinker along would be an option.

 

[Jill & Scooter]

When I’ve had too be out of town I have a wonderful sitter that comes and stays at the house with my fur kids. This is much easier on them than boarding. They really like her and she takes very good care of them. The first time she kept them, she came over two times and did everything with me. She was easily able to test and shoot Scooter. I pay her $100/day, but I have 4 horses, 3 dogs, Scooter and civvie and feral kitties. Someone should be able to do one kitty for a lot less than that.
Hope you can find a good arrangement for Timker.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

That seems crazy to me

Your instincts are right, that is crazy especially coming from a vet. If you cannot find a sitter I'd cough up the $27 for the cat's sake and maybe skip a car payment for a simple curve.
This can be a touchy issue. People put some thought into picking their vet so if I insult him I'm kind of insulting you. I was taught to never ever shoot without testing first, my vet would have disowned me otherwise. Noah was boarded for six days and came home fine, wishing you luck.

 

[Bellasmom]

I know lots of people find vet techs (through their vet office) who make house calls and will test along with shots. If you can find a pro like that, they should be able to handle the testing. $27 per test at the vet, wow! A reminder of all the money we are all saving by home testing!!

Personally, the idea of boarding Figaro twists my gut, because he does so badly out of his home environment and I hate putting him under all that stress. If I had to leave him I would pay the extra necessary for house calls--but I probably would rather just take him along with me if it were for a full week. That's just me of course, but maybe consider if taking Tinker along would be an option.

That’s exactly why we never go anywhere lol my husband and I have never left the county together, yes county, we’ve been married 3 yrs, one of us has to stay with Bella

 

[Bellasmom]

Good luck finding someone, I looked around here and dang I live near Clearwater beach and NO ONE who came to home tested, so hubby stayed home

 

[Tinker's Mom]

Thanks everybody! I actually posted on a local Facebook group and found a girl nearby who is a vet tech. She is going to come to the house for $50 per day ($25 per visit) -- she will feed him, test his BG before, give him his shot and "give cuddles"! It's expensive but worth it... I am so happy. I really appreciate all the advice everybody! You all talked me out of boarding so Tinker thanks you too!!!!

 

[Tinker's Mom]

Good luck finding someone, I looked around here and dang I live near Clearwater beach and NO ONE who came to home tested, so hubby stayed home

Man that stinks!!!! Try facebook? Do you have a local group? Maybe you can find a vet tech who wants to pick up work on the side? :-(

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

I hate being the guy that sucks all the air out of the room. If you can do it diplomatically check her qualifications, recent grad at the bottom of the class or a vet's top line tech.

 

[Margie and Jackson]

We are traveling out of town for the holiday and will be gone 1 week. Out vet can board Tinker but they don't test his BG, they just give the shots (unless we want to pay $27 for a single BG check or $199 for a curve!). That seems crazy to me after being on this web site but I guess lots of people and vets just give shots blindly all the time. I mean, it seems crazy because I have had to adjust his dose so much. He was on 1 unit for a while but that sent him into the greens so I had to reduce it. Now he is back in the high 100s on 1.25 unit (I need to update his sheet, I will do it tonight).

I guess what I will do is pick a dose for the week based on how he does between now and then. But I still don't really understand why kitties fluctuate so much based on the same dose of insulin. I mean, I can understand needing less insulin over time because his pancreas is healing, but why am I now at 1.25? Nothing else has changed.

An alternative is to pay someone to come to the house and give injections and possibly get BG readings but that will be expensive and as you know testing the ears takes a lot of practice!!

Any advice or ideas are appreciated!

I just rely on a pet sitting service and they have staff familiar with feline diabetes. Rover is a website for pet sitters that works similar to Airbnb. They had a lot of people in my area who could administer injections. Vet techs would be great but probably pricy, but really you don’t need to a vet tech, just someone who isn’t squeamish about needles.