I'm not sure how this will work with my work schedule

I have a 7 year old siamese cat who has been on a Royal Canin Urinary SO diet since 2016 or so. Yesterday he would not eat his breakfast and was acting lethargic so I took him to an emergency vet as it was Sunday. the did a bunch of test and said that everything seemed normal other then a high level of sugar in his urine. They said it might be stress but gave him another test and then told me it had been consistent over a period of time so that he had diabetes. Im going to my normal vet today to find out more about insulin and stuff.

I started doing research and am concerned about a few things.

1) He is already on a special diet for Blatter stones, So I don't think taking him off of that for a different special diet is a good idea.

2) I work 12 hour shifts 4 days one week and the 3 opisite days the opposite week. So giving him his food and shot 12 hours apart is not going to be a possibility. I work 9am-9pm so he currently eats breakfast at about 7:45 am right before I leave and dinner at around 9:45 when I get home. I live alone, so its not really possible to change this. That means there will be 14 hours between 1 injection and 10 between the other... So I'm not really sure how this is going to work out for him.

3) I'm a bit concerned about the price of insolin. I looked it up and it see that Lantus is over 300 for a bottle that expires in 28 day. 300 a month is not an option. I've read a lot on here about ordering pens from Canada, so hopefully I can make that work. I work for BD and I think they give an employee discount on syringes for employee.. not sure about pets though.

4) Giving the shot doesn't seem so bad and I think I can deal with that. Do I also have to check blood twice a day, even after he is stabilized, or is it just a periodic thing. I seem to be getting conflicting answers on this.

5) I know it will be a life change for me and im willing for the most part, but I also worry that I might not be able to ever go out and have fun again. I will be switching to 6am-6pm in the next few months so that will move the feeding schedule to 4:45am and 6:45pm. im not contently going out on my days off or anything, but it seems like this will make it impossible for me to ever do anything earlier then 7pm that might overlap that time. There are at least a few times each year when I do that.

6) I'm also worried about the extra cost of boarding if I go on vacation. Usually he goes and stays with my mom and loves visiting her cat. I don't know if she would feel comfortable about giving him shots though, and if she messes up and gives him to much it could kill him.

7) This is also happening at a horrible time. I am about to close on a house and am moving in less then 2 weeks. this will add to both mine and the cats stress level. usually he loves to eat right away. But moving might effect his anxiety and eating for a while. he has lived here for all but 4 moths of his life.

Sorry for the rant. I just needed to vent and also wondering how you guys deal with any of these thoughts.

thank you.

 

I can't really speak to #1 or #2, so hopefully someone else can. I'd imagine you could give slightly different doses in the AM vs PM to help offset the time difference, but I'm not sure.

3. Most of us get many months out of a single vial/pen of insulin, even though the official expiration date is sooner. Insulin can be ordered mich cheaper from canada, most of us use Mark's Marine Pharmacy.

4. Yes, twice a day is the bare minimum, before you give the shots. This makes sure it's safe to give the shot. Ideally, you'd test at least 4 times a day - the two tests before the shots, and then tests 2-3 hours after each shot. Those tests tell you how quickly BG may be falling and whether you made need to keep a closer eye on things.

5. We still have social lives! Well, we did pre-COVID anyway. It just involves a little more planning. If you have something planned, you can slowly shift shot times each day

6. Unfortunately that's something we all end up dealing with. I personally have a few family members "trained", in case of emergency or cat sitting. One good piece of advice I got here was to leave a syringe with colored water in it to show the correct dose as an example for a caregiver, this way they can double check what they're doing.

7. Cats can be finicky, but also resilient. I wouldn't "future trip", just take things day by day!

 

We can only do our best. Years ago I was on an 16/8 schedule on the weekends and the cats were fine. I did not give different does then.

I have used a Lantus vial for about a year until it was used up. Better wouod to buy the disposable pens. It is a little more expensive per unit of insulin but you can use aup an entire 300ml pen before it goes bad but that is not always true for the 10mml vial. You can also use Semglee insulin since it is generic Lantus Insulin and al ot less expensive. https://www.goodrx.com/semglee

 

Here is a very good vet-authored article on urinary tract issues and diet:

catinfo.org - Urinary tract health


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Maybe give your mom a spare syringe or two and get her to practice injecting water into an orange? It might make her feel much less nervous about things (worked for me!).

Also, your mom could always come here for help any time she might need it when you're on hols.


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