New user Acclimting cat to other shot givers

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mrkxplrer

Member Since 2013
We have recently ( seven weeks) found out that Monty was diabetic and I have been the main shot giver but we are planning on going away for the weekend but need to acclimate our cat to our pet sitters so they can give him his shot. They have given him a shot before but they had to chase him down that one time. He was fine with our pet sitters prior to his diagnosis but he ran and hid the second time they tried to give him his shot. We blocked his access to his cat door today and had them come over today but he wouldn't eat until he couldn't sense their presence. We are trying to get him acclimated without feeling threatened but fear we won't ever get to go away or that their actions may traumatize our cat and make it harder to give him his shot when we aren't away.

Having recommendations on this site for pet sitters leads me to believe that others have resolved this issue and we think our pet sitters can do this as they have lots of experience with having dealt with diabetic cats and dogs in the past. Does anyone have any ideas of how to resolve this and how long it has taken for them to do so?

Thanks for any advice or ideas.

Regards

Mark
 
We have our sitters shoot Tiggy while he is eating dinner or treats. We also have shaved him to make it faster and easier for the sitter to shoot since Tiggy is long haired and she doesnt have to dig through the fur.

Wendy
 
We were trying to do this at feeding time but Monty got stressed out. He did warm up to the sitters as time passed but did Tiggy ever have issues with the pet sitters at all?
 
Oh yes. He hates strangers and hisses and growls and swats. The sitter took it gradually, talking to him, letting him sniff her without grabbing or pushing it beyond what he would take. By the end of the four days he was letting her stroke him and rubbing round her...
 
I've left my kitty, Michelangelo, a few times since diagnosis. He's a part-feral so even more skittish around strangers than normal. One thing I do is try to find surrogate testers and shooters for times even when I'm not going to be gone so he gets used to other people doing it. (Basically, if you're in my house at his shot time, you're getting a crash course in testing and shooting a cat. :lol: )

One other thing is to be comfortable knowing he might have a missed shot or two. Mikey is well-regulated enough and has never been prone to ketones so if it's just too difficult at shot time, I don't mind if they try again later (keeping in mind the 12-hour separation between shots rule) or even skip it. This last time, Mikey was completely uncooperative for the first two days I was gone and missed one shot and had the other shot delayed by an hour because of his attitude. After the first two days, he got over his stubbornness and cooperated beautifully for the last two days I was gone. It did take a few days to get him back on cycle and back into seeing really good numbers again, but he was alive and doing just fine when I returned home. :thumbup

I also leave a modified version of Michelangelo and Henry's Cat Sitting Guide each time I go so there should hopefully not be too many questions or problems for me while I'm away. I also leave a syringe filled to the proper dose with colored water so they can make sure they're giving the right dose every time.

Are they also going to be testing his BGs while you're away?
 
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