New joiner - and a cattery worry

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NMO

Member Since 2013
My 12 year old tortie, Minx, was diagnosed with diabetes 2 months ago. We have been working with the vet on getting her insulin dose correct and she is now on 2 iu twice a day. As yet she's not had a hypo or any reaction to the insulin. Alas when she was diagnosed we had a three week holiday looming. We usually leave her at home with cat sitters but this changed everything. The cat sitters couldn't commit to be able to go in at regular times twice a day to give her the jabs. Plus the vet was not comfortable with her being left unattended for such long periods of time with only twice daily visits. so we have taken the very difficult decision to leave her in Cattery. It is small and nice, the owner has a diabetic cat of her own and is clearly a cat lover. But Minx has never been left in a cattery before. I dropped her off this morning and have been in bits ever since. I am so worried about her - I am daft about her and I would never forgive myself if anything happened to her. Has anyone else had a similar experience and can anyone offer me any reassurance? At this rate Im not going to enjoy a second of my family holiday. Thank you
 
did you leave a tshirt or favorite blanket for her? anything with your scent on it. this usually helps to calm them down and according to my pet sitter who also has a cattery - it sometimes takes a couple days for the cat to calm down and relax. if you trust the place and they are attentive I am sure she will be fine and adjust to her new surroundings.

has she ever had to stay overnight at a vet office/hospital? they adjust and adapt and she will be ok.
 
Yes I left a favourite item of clothing of mine that she'd been sleeping on at home for a week it so. She's had to spend one might away at the vet and was fine after - just a bit scared. Poor baby.
 
When I was away, I kept in daily contact. If you will have access to email, they can send you daily updates on how she is doing, including playfulness, appetite and Blood Glucose numbers. Or they can call and leave messages. I found this helped me cope with the separation anxiety.
 
She will be fine, its very good the owner has a diabetic cat as they can keep a close eye on her. Send them an email though and ask for a short daily email update just for peace of mind.. just a few lines. And remember they will call you if there is an issue, so relax and enjoy your holiday.. she is enjoying hers!!
 
another possibility is a phone call each day so she can hear your voice.

I will call home -- answering machine picks up, and I'll talk to my kitties that way. (the diabetic guy, Tiggy, travels with us now)
 
Thank you all for the advice. Just had a message from the cattery to say she won't eat. So she hasn't had any insulin.. Am beside myself. How long should I wait before I insist she takes her to the vet?
 
She is probably just stressed. Ask the cattery to try and tempt her to eat with these but not to force the issue as that will stress her even more. No insulin as long as she doesn't eat unless they are willing to test.

This happened to my cat too, the kennel ended up taking him out of the hutch thing and moving him into a bathroom where it was quiet and there were no other cats or weird noises to disturb him and he was fine. You want to get her eating within 24 hours.

Cheryl & Winnie wrote:
Enticing a Cat to Eat

Here are some things you can do do entice your cat to eat:

-sometimes in order to get a cat to eat you even have to resort to dry it is more important that they eat. there are a couple low carb / grain free brands -- EVO and wellness core.

-making a buffet to give him choices
- heating food

sprinkle food with :
FortiFlora -- a probiotic you can get at vets or online. is very smelly and cats love the taste of it.
parmesean cheese
smashed crumbles of dry food
bonito/tuna flakes (Can be found at Asian markets or sometimes in the Asian food section of a large grocery store.)
halo chicken treats (freeze dried chicken) -- crumble into dust over food -- my Wolfie loves this stuff.
pour a little water from tuna in water over food (I use low sodium/no sodium added as other kinds in water has veg. broth in it and I assume that means onions, which are toxic to cats and it shouldn't contain soy -- check labels)
powdered oregano. yep sounds weird . but some cats like it and it will entice them to eat.

other ideas of foods to offer your kitty to stim appy:
trader joe tuna for cats
baby food -- beechnut or Gerber Stage 2 -- you want a baby food that is only a protein + broth (although the Gerber contains cornstarch). It should have no onions or other additives. some babyfoods have onions . please read labels if you can't find beechnut.
kentucky fried chicken
deli turkey /chicken
plain cooked ( boiled or baked ) chicken breast
canned chicken for people (watch the label that their are no onions)
chicken broth -- low sodium
 
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