cat sitters

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Daphne#5 GA

Daphne#5 GA

Member Since 2011
Hi,

I was wondering what to do if I need to be away from the house for 24/48 hours. I usually had my Goddaughter come over and feed. She is a nursing student and knows how to give injections. I have looked for many years for someone that I could trust (I'm pretty picky, well, probably more like obsessive), but I think I'm in good company here ( : I had a recommendation from someone, a husband and wife team in this area, but I guess they are very busy,…no returned calls. So if I can't find someone, should I pre-fill syringes, I would think that could be the tricky part.

Any recommendations would be appreciated!

Barb and Daphne
 
Unfortunately I don't know anyone off the top of my head in the area, but I do know that pre-filling syringes in advance is, unfortunately, not a good idea. Maybe check with the vet - sometimes there are techs that do pet sitting on the side.
 
It's a mine field! I have to go away to the UK for the birth of a grand-child. I actually missed seeing my father before he died coz I had to wait for DH to return home before I could go! Obsessive is an excellent word. Last time I got my dear friend to feed LB and she was reliable but she decided he was over fed and put him on a diet. His numbers dropped way low. Great result for his FD but another day and I think he would have died coz she wasn't testing him. The first reading I took was ok but the next was 2.1 (38) ... I think you are better to find a very competent cattery attached to a highly competent vet clinic. Research, research, research! This is what we are going to do with LB start of March. He will be there 2 months and it will probably kill him - he hates being in catteries. I have no options. No one will look after him as he should be cared for.

I really would like to see this web-site set up a cat sitting registrar. I would happily do whatever I could to look after a FD kitty that was within 5 miles of my home. The obsessives like to help other obsessives!
 
I found my cat sitters through my vet's office. I asked the receptionist if any of the vet techs did cat sitting outside of their jobs. Several did. The advantage of using a vet tech is that if your cat becomes ill while you're gone, they have the immediate resource of the vet they work with.

It is problematic to pre-fill syringes. There's a link to a paper on this topic in the handling Lantus and Lev sticky.
 
Oh, well, I guess I'm not alone then. I had the vet tech come out one night to test her blood in the very beginning, (Daphne hates the car), and they were nice enough to come out when I pleaded with them. This is a last minute things, so it looks like I may just cancel this trip till I have a better choice in a sitter.

Thanks All!
Barb and Daphne
 
I'm not sure I follow, the "difference?" Do you mean the type of care the techs give? I probably will just skip this trip, its just too last minute, and too many questions, and I haven't been with this Vet. long enough to get to know the techs anyway so… oh well.

Barb and Daphne
 
i also just asked at the vet reception desk whether or not any of the techs would come to my house to give punkin his shots and test him. fortunately i got one who had had her own diabetic cat. she's come several times when we've needed it - and she charges $15 per visit. i think that's pretty fair.

in your case, i bet you could teach your Goddaughter to do it. my 23 year old son has done it a lot for us. he doesn't really understand the whole thing, but i have him call me and i tell him what to do. like i keep telling him that the whole reason for checking at +3 is to see where punkin is going to be in a few hours. i'm not ever worried bout punkin being low at +3. i want to know if i need to start checking him at 4.5 or 5 - but somehow i'm unconvinced that my son really gets it. so i call. :lol: and repeat myself endlessly to him. poor guy. he's very patient with me.

but if your Goddaughter is a nursing student, i'm sure you could teach her what she needs to know - pay her something and she'll be glad for the experience, i would think.

good luck! you need these kind of breaks here and there, too. taking care of a diabetic kitty runs our lives sometimes, so it's good to get a break.
 
Daphne, just out of curiosity...where are you located?

And I think what Sienne was trying to say is the Vet tech at your office may be a bit more eager to come out to your house if you offer to pay them versus them doing it for free as a service for a new FD owner.
 
We just decided Smokey would get over it, she had to travel with us because our sitter is fabulous but doesn't want to do the meds that might make them hide from her. Smokey actually LOVED being at the other house and her numbers while we were gone were the best stretch we've had.

I would have your goddaughter learn to give them with you watching so that you are comfortable with her giving them by the next time you need her.
 
You could teach your god daughter how to do it. We had to show my father in law as Hobbs was dx right before we were going out of town for Christmas. Though since then I've become more knowledgeable about home testing so I'm not sure what I'm going to do next time we have to go out of town.
 
Thanks All,

Such great advice, and I probably will take all of it. The first is, teach my Goddaughter, and be there with her a few times, and also ask my vet techs to see if they would do it, whichever worked out better. Oh, and btw, I paid $30.00 for the two techs from the vet to come out, but I assume that money went to the vet, and the techs probably were just paid their usual…

I know there will be one idea I could not do, Daphne gets so upset in the car, thats why the techs had to come out for the blood work. The day before that, I took her to the vet, and lets just say, her carrier was not pretty,… so glad I put a big towel in it ( : Since then though, I had my husband drive and I sat in the back seat and held here like a baby in a big blanket, and she was great…I think long trips would still be a problem, if not for her, for my arms.

Well, I really do need the break, but I am going to skip this trip and work with my Goddaughter for the next one. I think the testing would be the hardest to do. It took me a few times to get it right by myself.

Cini and Mini's mom, sorry, I did not put a profile up yet. I live in central Jersey.


Thanks again everyone, for your great advice.
Barb and Daphne
 
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