Going on vacation-question about shots

[Kaylie]

Hi everyone! I'm planning a vacation and my mother-in-law is going to watch the animals. I was hoping I might be able to go ahead and get the insulin ready for her. Measure it out and keep the syringes in the fridge so she could just pull on out and give a premeasured dose. I'm not going to have her checking his numbers so he'll get a little lower dose than normal. She'll only have to do it a few times as I'm only going to be gone a couple days. Has anyone ever done this or is it a bad idea? He'll only get a smidge more than 1 unit twice a day. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Daddy Jack's Mommy (GA)]

I'm not sure what others may feel about pre-filling syringes, but I think it's a better choice to pre-fill them than to leave to chance others filling them too much. Especially with those small doses. It's so hard to see those tiny lines! I found an article about how to pre-fill and store them safely:
https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/aa122700
I'm going away for a few days in August, and the end of June I'm going away for a wedding overnight. It's very stressful trying to figure out what to do about my sugar baby while I'm gone. I don't have anyone who can shoot or test. But if I did have someone who I could trust to shoot but not to test, I would probably do what you were doing. I would more than likely pre-fill small doses. When I go in June overnight, I'm just going to have him miss two doses- one on Saturday night and the other on Sunday morning. But his blood glucose levels have been great, all in the blues and greens. If his pre-shot numbers we're higher, I wouldn't feel confident just skipping doses. When I leave in August for for 5 days, I still have no idea what I'm doing. I'm worried about him going that long without a shot, but I don't have anybody who can test or shoot for me.

 

[MamaMug]

That's an interesting article @Daddy Jack's Mommy. Thank you for sharing it.

I have seen this question posed before and i known that the efficacy of prefilled syringes is generally frowned upon. I don't have first hand experience, but I have seen some interesting suggestions in the course of reading these threads.

One suggestion that made a lot of sense to me is to fill a syringe to dose level with water and food coloring, making it easier to see where the dose should be. This syringe can be used as an example for how the catsitter should fill the syringe for dosing.

I'm very thankful that we haven't had to go out of town yet in our journey, but I also know I can't avoid doing so forever. We generally take a few trips a year to see out of state family and I sweat bullets thinking about leaving our boys!

 

[Daddy Jack's Mommy (GA)]

One suggestion that made a lot of sense to me is to fill a syringe to dose level with water and food coloring, making it easier to see where the dose should be.

Now that's a good idea.

We generally take a few trips a year to see out of state family and I sweat bullets thinking about leaving our boys

It's the same for us. My daughter and I usually visit my sister in North Carolina once a year, and possibly visit another sister who lives in Delaware for occasional weekends. I had a cat with congestive heart failure who was sick for 14 months, and I just didn't go away while he was sick because of all his medication. I feel like Jack with his diabetes and Celie with her chronic kidney disease could be very long-term commitments. At least I'm certainly hoping they will be long. And as a caregiver, I really do need an occasional break. Especially the trip to North Carolina, as my sister lives in such a rural area and I need to get out of my crazy city sometimes. But I agree with you, it is totally nerve-wracking trying to figure out what to do with my babies while I'm gone.

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

One thing you need to let her know is if she thinks that she missed and gave a fur shot, she should not give another dose. It is better to skip a dose than give too much insulin.

 

[Kaylie]

Thank you for the article! I think I'd be a little more hesitant about prefilling the syringes if he were on a larger dose, but I think I'll leave some just in case she'll be more comfortable with that. I always have anxiety about leaving him. A couple years ago we went to Ireland for a week and half. We had someone from the vet's office take care of him. She would stop in multiple times a day to check on him and she always gave him his insulin. That might be an option for you in August if anyone at your vet's office, or maybe even another in your area, does that for clients.

 

[Daddy Jack's Mommy (GA)]

We had someone from the vet's office take care of him. She would stop in multiple times a day to check on him and she always gave him his insulin. That might be an option for you in August if anyone at your vet's office, or maybe even another in your area, does that for clients.

I've asked at my vets, and no one there does it. But I have considered calling other vets in the area, as there may be a vet tech somewhere who does it. My issue is not feeling comfortable with someone I don't know. But... Have a great time!