Need advise about travelling and dosage

[Tininha & Juno]

Hello everyone,

In three weeks time I need to make a business travel for 5 days and I really don't know what to do. Before Juno was diagnosed I would easily leave him for one week at home (together with my other cat Zack) and a pet-sitter would come to check on them. Now that Juno has diabetes, the pet-sitter needs to give him shots twice everyday. The problem is that Juno is probably not going to let the pet-sitter giving him the shots. He is a very difficult cat for strangers and the pet sitter would have a hard time handling with him. I am living in a foreign country which complicates things quite a bit, so I have no family around who could come and give him the shots. I have been thinking about taking him with me, but that means more than 12 hours of travelling (train, plane, and train) + stress. His values have started finally to decrease to the 200-300 range and he's finally acting like himself again after such a long time that I really don't want to put him under so much stress right now. Another option, would be the pet-sitter give him a single shot per day (without poking his ears), but that would probably be not so good for him. I'm seriously thinking of cancelling out my business trip, but first I would like to hear your advise and experience on this.

My other question has to do with his dosage. I'm giving Juno 1.25 units twice a day. His pre-shot values for the past days are finally within the 200-300 range (Yeyy!!), but I skipped twice his dose the past week. Should I keep giving him the same dose or should I decrease it to 1 unit?

I also would like to thank you all the help I am getting from this amazing place. Last week, Juno jumped to the dining table for the first time since he was diagnosed, he also started calling me behind in the shower curtain like he used to to, and last week he started running again. The asthma attacks that he got during his stay at the vet clinic when he was diagnosed are now less and less frequently. :smile:

Any advise would be very welcomed!

Thanks a lot!
Cristina

 

[BJM]

Can he be confined to 1 room with no hiding places so the pet sitter could manage? Would it help if she stopped by and got acquainted with him?

Several of our folks have traveled with their cats. It helps to desensitize the cat to traveling by working up to it. Get him accustomed to wearing a harness. Make sure he is microchipped or tattooed for identification just in case he gets loose. Have a carrier large enough for a litterbox. Leave the carrier out with a comfy blanket, toys, catnip, and/or Feliway spritz so it becomes a place of refuge. Practice short trips, then longer trips.

Have a refrigerated pack to keep the insulin cool and a backup Rx in case you lose or break the container. Estimate the amount of food needed. Have non-tip containers for food and water and the means to wash them. Pack your hypo kit.

 

[Tininha & Juno]

Thank you, BJM. Juno has been travelling with me since he was a baby, so he has been quite used to it even though he hates it (especially car trips; he does fine in train trips and he handles much better than me the plane travels ). I already travelled with him once after he was diagnosed and his values got too high for a few days. That's also I would like to avoid travelling with him as much as I can.

In the beginning of May I need to travel again and I'm already planning to take him with me. It's just too much travelling for him in so little time, so I will probably try to call the pet-sitter and see how he reacts to her. I don't think she will be able to poke his ears and probably she can only give a shot once a day.

 

[KPassa]

Michelangelo has proven in the past to be very difficult to give shots to when I'm not there. (Heck, before I switched him to Levemir, he was even difficult for me to give shots to. :lol: ) The last time I was gone for a week, my surrogate shooter was only able to give him a shot once a day because he was so hard to wrangle and shoot. I was okay with that since Mikey runs lower numbers when I'm gone anyway and he's never had ketones.

Since you're only going to be gone 5 days and if Juno has never had a problem with ketones or DKA, then I would say he'll be fine with just a shot a day, especially since your pet sitter won't be able to test him. Once you get back, it will take a few days to catch up again, but it's better than him getting no insulin or having to travel with you if you think it'll be too much.

 

[Tininha & Juno]

Hahahah I know what you mean KPassa. In the end, I have decided taking him with me. My mom knows my sweet beast Juno very well and she also advised me taking him with me. The pet-sitter may have a hard time give him the insulin and I cannot take the chance that the pet-sitter won't be able to give him the insulin while I am away. Plus, Juno already had a problem with ketones right after he was diagnosed. Cancelling the trip is still on the table, of course, but if Juno is doing well in three weeks time, he's travelling with me.