How much good is this really doing?

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Morningstarlet (GA)

Morningstarlet (GA)

Member Since 2012
I'm beginning to get frustrated with these shots, and I'm wondering frankly if it is doing any good. More often than not it seems I'm missing with the shots, the numbers are all over the place. I was planning on boarding Camille during the week that I'm away next month, and leaving the two other cats at home for the pet sitter to take care of. But seeing as the numbers are so inconsistent I'm wondering if that's necessary. Would a week without shots really make a difference? I don't want to shell out $324.00 for a boarding facility if staying here one week without shots isn't going to cause harm. Please advise.
 
I won't give advise on whether or not to shoot but I just wanted to say, hang in there.

In the long run, this is worth it. In the early days of Ruby's diagnosis I was 100% sure that we were destined to fail. But we didn't! It just takes time and patience to get the hang of it. Don't give up yet. Know that you aren't alone. There are a lot of us out here who have been thru it and are still going thru it every day. As they say, "its a marathon, not a sprint".
 
Hi. My concern with leaving your cat at home without shots is that she might get ketones. I see a lot of Red on your sheet. Is there any chance you could teach the sitter to test and shoot? If you are having to pay her/him to come over anyway, it would seem most cost effective to have the sitter test and shoot. Besides, your cat will be happy if she is at home instead of being boarded.

If you do board her, make sure the facility will be staffed 24 hours if at all possible. Some of these boarding facilities and vet's offices open at 8 and close at 6 making it impossible for the techs to give Lantus in 12 hour increments. Yet, they happily board your cat and don't see anything wrong with the fact they are shooting insulin 2 hours early day after day, and not checking on the cat through the night. I couldn't believe it when my very expensive vet's office was planning to take my cat for 10 days, but there would be no one there after 6, and no one there before 8. How did they intend to provide Lantus properly? Uhhhh, good question. ohmygod_smile

EDITED: Oh, also, when I asked what that price included I got, "Oh, you want us to test the cat before we give insulin each time? Oh, that will be $30.00 for each test. And you want us to test one other time during the day at mid-cycle? That will be $30.00 for that test. That's $90.00/ day extra. Well, if they are not doing these tests then how do they know they are not going to kill my cat by shooting 2 hours early and then locking up for the night?!**

If I were without options, but had to board my cat at a place that will shoot early every single day and not test, I would leave my cat at home. At least his BG would be lower overall theoretically because he's at home, and he won't end up in hypo in the middle of the night. I would still be risking KETONES, though, and it is very, very difficult for a sitter to test for ketones. It's easier for her to test his blood and give him a shot. My sitter never was able to catch a fresh urine sample over 10 days of trying.

In any event, may I suggest that you change your headline to something that indicates you are considering letting your cat go for x days without insulin? You will get more responses that way, and you may get even more ideas for handling this situation if my suggestion of finding a 24 hour boarding facility isn't going to work.

**Eventually, I called around and found a specialty vet who was willing to give me a flat fee for the 10 days for 24 hour care. That fee was less by 1/3 than the price that my vet's office wanted to charge me for NOT taking care of my cat properly.
 
max&emmasmommie said:
Hi. My concern with leaving your cat at home without shots is that she might get ketones. I see a lot of Red on your sheet. Is there any chance you could teach the sitter to test and shoot? If you are having to pay her/him to come over anyway, it would seem most cost effective to have the sitter test and shoot. Besides, your cat will be happy if she is at home instead of being boarded.
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The problem is trusting someone to come to my home at 5:00 a.m., and 5:00 p.m on time. Or to even get someone to come that early. Even my times have been off by a couple hours lately. The boarding facility has someone there 24 hours a day. Could I have someone give her shots once a day instead? What are ketones?
 
Morningstarlet said:
max&emmasmommie said:
Hi. My concern with leaving your cat at home without shots is that she might get ketones. I see a lot of Red on your sheet. Is there any chance you could teach the sitter to test and shoot? If you are having to pay her/him to come over anyway, it would seem most cost effective to have the sitter test and shoot. Besides, your cat will be happy if she is at home instead of being boarded.
Click to expand...

The problem is trusting someone to come to my home at 5:00 a.m., and 5:00 p.m on time. Or to even get someone to come that early. Even my times have been off by a couple hours lately. The boarding facility has someone there 24 hours a day. Could I have someone give her shots once a day instead? What are ketones?
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http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Ketoacidosis

ketones are sort of a big deal; cats can get DKA and die.
Shots once a day are not much use; the insulins don't last that long, so you need to give shots every 12 hrs.

you can change your shot times if you can get someone to come in and test and shoot .... if you have someone who can come over maybe 7am/7pm, you can always work your dose time there.
 
She runs from strangers, the person would have to hunt her down and it would be a huge pain in the neck. Not really an option, I guess it's the boarding facility.
 
Oh, I edited my post while you were posting. So, it is a 24 hour place. Excellent! I assume your trip is quite soon?

Ketones are pretty serious: take a look at this please: http://www.felinediabetes.com/ketones.htm

No, I would not have only one shot per day with Lantus because it is not designed to work that way. Someone else might tell you that would be okay for the short term, but I don't know enough about what that would do to ever tell someone "that's better than nothing." It's probably not, but maybe someone else here would chime in?

If she won't let anyone touch her, yes, the boarding facility is your best option.

If you could use a sitter:

You could move your shot time. There is a procedure for doing that if you feel uncomfortable with trusting someone to come to your house at that hour. Then you would have to move it back when you return. Trusting someone to take care of a diabetic cat is not easy, in general, I know. What if they say they will and don't. If your sitter is licensed and bonded that might make it more likely you can trust them.

You could also post asking for a recommendation for a sitter in your area who can be trusted with a diabetic cat.

Otherwise, I'd stick with the 24 hour facility unless it's impossible for you, but I would also sit down with someone who manages that facility, and ask these questions:
1. Will you test before every shot?
2. Will you test at least once a day at 6 hours (or 4 or 5) after the shot so that if the amount of insulin needed is different than what you have been giving, someone will notice and the vet will intervene to make it right?
3. Will you test the urine for ketones as often as possible?
4. What are you going to charge me for these services? Are they extra?

Make it seem very clear that you know about ketoacidosis and hypoglycemia, and you know how Lantus should be used. This may cause the manager, who is probably a vet, to be willing to work something out with you -- a flat fee/a package deal. Make him see that you will be boarding this cat with his facility over and over if you can get the treatment and services you need for your little girl.
 
no boarding advice from me .. I just want to chime in with the others .. hang in there!! I know it seems like things will never get brighter or easier, but they will!! You've just been doing this for a few months .. things are still taking getting sorted out .. camille did not get diabetes in a day, and it won't be cured in a day either .. maybe never "cured" but your kitty will eventually settle down into much healthier number ranges and will be much better overall .. I know it's hard to believe but a change will come .. you just have to be patient ...
 
It's not about the numbers... it's about how your cat feels and the overall impact on her health. Even if she's in the reds sometimes, if she's feeling better, that's all that really matters. I fell into the trap of getting frustrated over constant high numbers too. Once I stepped back and looked at the whole picture I got over it. Look at my spreadsheet, it was a lot of pinks and bouncing around too. Then regulation came close, faded away, and then remission came back. :lol:
 
I'm not going to give up on Camille, I love her dearly. :-D I guess I just needed to blow off some steam. Actually,I only started this in late July, so it's been weeks, not months. I'll swing by the facility this week and interview them. I go to the beach in mid September. Thanks for being there.
 
Peter wrote:

It's not about the numbers... it's about how your cat feels and the overall impact on her health. Even if she's in the reds sometimes, if she's feeling better, that's all that really matters.
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So, true!!! You will get upset over the numbers -- we all do -- but even when Max was still getting Pinks, Reds and occasional Blacks, he was gaining weight, his fur got softer and was not oily any longer, he cleaned himself more, and he definitely felt better. You are making a difference, and when you need to blow off steam, that's what you do! Hopefully, you will get support here as much as useful information.

Hang in there!
 
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