New. Vacationing. Cat fighting house sitter and insulin 8 hours overdue!

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ChrisWith8

Member Since 2015
What do I do? My cat gets 7 units of Vetsulin every 12 hours. We are away. Day 1 went fine with the sitter but today, day 2, he is fighting her and she has not been able to dose him. He is now 8 hours overdue.

He is about 6 years old. Diabetes was diagnosed last fall and it took maybe 4 months to get him under control but he has been well controlled and improving for about 8 months now. He always cooperates with me.

Saturday morning I dosed him and then the sitter took over. Saturday evening she dosed him without any trouble. But this morning he fought her. He's trying to scratch her face and she's afraid of him. She is trained and experienced and has her own diabetic pets, and out regular vet recommended her, but something went wrong, I guess. She does not think she can get him into a carrier but is going to get her son to help. She wants to consult our regular vet tomorrow morning (Monday).

Our emergency vet says if dosing him is not working, they should bring him in. I'm not sure if they will be able to, and also not sure how upsetting it would be to make a all out effort. Don't know if this could traumatize him enough to actually make the situation worse.

What do I do???
 
What a horrible situation for both you and your house sitter! :bighug:

Can she try giving him his shot while he's eating and distracted? That way he shouldn't be able to scratch her face and he might not even notice the shot going in if he's busy with his favorite food! If he's not letting her give him a shot, do you think she'll be able to get him into the carrier to go to the vet? While that might be the only other way to get him his shots if he really won't co-operate with the house sitter, she will have to be able to get him in the carrier to do that...I'd have thought giving him the shot might be easier than getting him into the carrier!

Also, whereabouts in the world are you located? It might be that there's someone on the board local to you who could help out!
 
She did try to give the shot while he eats. Our routine is to carry him to my downstairs office, give him a half a can of the wet food the vet recommended, and do the shot while he eats. She says he gave the food a couple of licks and then just sat there. He hisses and tries to scratch if she gets a hand near him. After a while she could scratch his head a little with the handle of one of his toys, but otherwise no improvement.

I don't know if she can get him into a carrier. She says she thinks she won't be able to. I've suggested a giant cloth carrier we have, or really more of a tiny holding pen, to see if that might work better. She has gone off to get her son to help and I haven't heard back the result of this.

The location is Port Deposit, Maryland. It's midway between Baltimore and Wilmington, Delaware. Anybody near here?
 
It certainly sounds as though he's reacting badly to having anyone else take care of him. Unfortunately, I am familiar with that as my Rosa wouldn't allow anyone but me to treat her either! Do you home test him? If she can't give him a shot, I'm not sure I'd rate her chances of being able to test his BG to make sure he's not dropping low!!

If I lived closer I'd go and help...but there's not much I can do from the other side of the country!

OK, let's try doing a shout out to see if there's anyone near enough to you to go help - even if she can get him to the vet today, that's really not an answer longer term.
 
Without the insulin, he won't be able to use the glucose.
The up side of that is he will be hungry. That should give her an opportunity to corral him.
A heavy blanket could be used to wrap him so she could shoot safely or to bag him up to take to the vet.
 
Any sense of how much of an emergency this is? As in, the sitter wants to call the regular vet tomorrow morning -- how hard do I push to trap him and take him to the emergency vet tonight?
 
He's extremely unlikely to get seriously ill from one day running in higher numbers from skipped shots. He's probably not going to feel great if his numbers shoot up and it's not an ideal situation when he's usually regulated of course, but he'll be OK until tomorrow without insulin. It does all depend on whether she can get him into a carrier though - you wouldn't want him missing his shots all week.
 
Meanwhile I called the emergency vet and they said better to bring him in now, not wait for the regular vet. Maybe throw a blanket over him and put him into our giant cloth carrier, blanket and all. So I passed that along to the sitter. Not sure what happens next. Glad to hear it is not likely to be a disaster if he does not get to a vet tonight!
 
If she can, that's great, but as he's probably already fairly stressed and on high alert she might find it really difficult to get him into a carrier tonight. If so, then it's most likely not worth stressing him out even more to trap him and get him into a carrier. By the morning, hopefully he'll have calmed down a bit - he might even let her give him a shot by then, though I think if she wants to take him to the vet anyway it might make more sense for her to just go with getting him into the carrier to prevent her ending up with the same situation again if he decides he's not going to allow her to give the shot!
 
She caught him with the help of her son and they are at the vet now. They say he's really mad. He's probably scared to death and I feel terrible about what's going on, but it was the only vet advice I had so it's hard not to try to follow. I feel like I deserted him and I'm hoping this doesn't create some kind of physical setback for him. I am afraid to imagine what he must be thinking.

We are supposed to return a week from today and I'm pretty completely sorry I left him at all. But, this is vacation for three other people, and I'm not sure how I can just leave now.

Waiting to hear from the vet....
 
Let me know if I can do anything to help, I'm in Earleville (below Cecilton) but can get to Port Deposit in the evenings, if need be.
 
Hi Lucy, I might take you up on that. Though I am also scared about whether it would work.

The vet says he's extremely upset and difficult and traumatized. They are keeping him there. He's backed into his cage and scratching at anything that gets near him. They are going to place an IV catheter so they can treat him without touching him, and use Propofol to knock him out whenever they do need to touch him. The vet says he scratched up the sitter "pretty profusely", though the sitter says some of the scratches are from gardening and from her other pets.

I just feel sick about it all. He is my favorite and he's great with me but I guess not with others. He was abandoned in a daycare parking lot in a piece of luggage with food and water in it, and was very anxious and skittish when I met him but he warmed up to me tremendously. These days he shadows me everywhere and sits with his head against my leg when I work at home. He was OK with the sitter last summer but that was before needing shots. Now I feel like we are going to make him fearful forever. But it's a nine hour drive back and the rest of the family hopes I can go get him and come back to vacation with him even though this rental house doesn't allow cats, and I have no idea how badly two nine hour rides in a few days would damage him further. What a mess. I have to wait till morning in any case, maybe it will be more clear what to do then....
 
Awww, Chris, I'm so sorry you're going through this worry. I'm sure he will settle down once he's back with you. Sending prayers.
 
ChrisWith8 said:
Hi Lucy, I might take you up on that. Though I am also scared about whether it would work.

The vet says he's extremely upset and difficult and traumatized. They are keeping him there. He's backed into his cage and scratching at anything that gets near him. They are going to place an IV catheter so they can treat him without touching him, and use Propofol to knock him out whenever they do need to touch him. The vet says he scratched up the sitter "pretty profusely", though the sitter says some of the scratches are from gardening and from her other pets.

I just feel sick about it all. He is my favorite and he's great with me but I guess not with others. He was abandoned in a daycare parking lot in a piece of luggage with food and water in it, and was very anxious and skittish when I met him but he warmed up to me tremendously. These days he shadows me everywhere and sits with his head against my leg when I work at home. He was OK with the sitter last summer but that was before needing shots. Now I feel like we are going to make him fearful forever. But it's a nine hour drive back and the rest of the family hopes I can go get him and come back to vacation with him even though this rental house doesn't allow cats, and I have no idea how badly two nine hour rides in a few days would damage him further. What a mess. I have to wait till morning in any case, maybe it will be more clear what to do then....
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You and your kitty are really in a tough spot! It might be better for him to stay at the vet's if he's that traumatized. On the other hand, obviously you're his most trusted person, so maybe nine hours in the car with you would be less traumatic. Hard decision to make. But if you do take him back with you on your vacation he will be away from his vet, if he should need to be seen or treated. Just something to think about. Keep us posted, please!
 
Someone at the vets could try using his favorite treat and every time going past the cage, toss a treat in there. This may help him feel less terrified.
 
Just got off phone with both emergency and regular vets. He's got the catheter now. Still hasn't eaten. Blood sugar was, I think, 540. They are giving insulin and trying to get hi right. He's groggy from sedation.

My regular vet is going to call the emergency vet and they will see if they think of anything to improve things.

My biggest worry right now is what kind of permanent trauma or setback his could represent.

If it were just me, I would be on the road back already. But this is the year's vacation for three other people, and that makes it much harder.

I really appreciate anybody volunteering to try to help. But, the sitter we already had should have been the ideal person to take care of him if I was away. I wish I knew what a sitter could do differently to make it better.

Plan for now is to watch for a day, unless something changes or somebody gets a new idea.
 
ChrisWith8 said:
Just got off phone with both emergency and regular vets. He's got the catheter now. Still hasn't eaten. Blood sugar was, I think, 540. They are giving insulin and trying to get hi right. He's groggy from sedation.

My regular vet is going to call the emergency vet and they will see if they think of anything to improve things.

My biggest worry right now is what kind of permanent trauma or setback his could represent.

If it were just me, I would be on the road back already. But this is the year's vacation for three other people, and that makes it much harder.

I really appreciate anybody volunteering to try to help. But, the sitter we already had should have been the ideal person to take care of him if I was away. I wish I knew what a sitter could do differently to make it better.

Plan for now is to watch for a day, unless something changes or somebody gets a new idea.
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Well, at least you know he's safe and getting his insulin again. Poor guy has been through a rough time, for sure. Fortunately, it's been my experience that our kitties are pretty resilient and forgiving, so hopefully he'll recover from this trauma unscathed; keeping positive thoughts for you. Please keep us posted!
 
Chris - This isn't going to help for NOW, but I went through the same thing with my Tasha and our sitter. Our sitter has always been amazing, but our Tasha has always been stand-offish. We knew when she was diagnosed and needed insulin that it would likely be a bit of an issue. Long story, but the first time we were scheduled to go out of town, we had a problem and were here when the sitter came. For no other reason, my husband was there when the sitter gave Tasha the injection. No problems at all!

Then we left and it all fell apart. That night, Tasha lost her mind. As soon as the sitter approached her, Tasha started to spit and hiss and scream and slap. She ran away and dropped to her back and turned into Satan. The sitter called, in a panic, and we decided to leave kitty with no shot that night, try again in the morning. The next morning, same thing, and we were able to drive home.

With suggestions from the sitter and this board, we started having the sitter come over more frequently before our next trip. She came while we gave the shot. She gave the shot while we were in the room. She gave the shot while we were upstairs. She gave the shot while we went for a walk. She gave the shot while we left for the preceding 6 hours. We worked up to it and eventually Tasha became OK with her. Especially when supplemented with many chicken treats.

We still feel weird about it because the sitter can't do BG monitoring but (long story and this is too long already) we had an issue when boarding last time that really stressed Tasha so we have to weigh the pros and cons.

I hope things resolve quickly for kitty now. I understand that feeling of being away and worrying and thinking you shouldn't have gone and wish you could just go home. But kitty is in the best place to be helped. And then you can come up with a plan for next time. It's not easy, but the little furballs are worth it.
 
We are all fixed now.

My favorite kitty was stuck in a stainless cage at the emergency vet with the catheter and the Propofol, hissing and scratching at anybody who came near, surrounded by barking dogs. I was afraid spending an entire week like this would do something terrible to him. Also, not that money was driving everything, but they gave me an estimate of $1,200 to $1,800 for keeping him (and yes I did give them an $1,168 deposit toward this).

So yesterday my spouse and I drove up the island, took the ferry, drove up the next island, took the bridge, and after 4 hours got someplace populated enough that there was a car rental place. And I drove home, which actually took 12 hours total, and she went back to be with the rest of the family, and they are staying on vacation and I'm home for the week.

I called when I got close to the vet, and they warned me he was very angry. When I arrived they brought him out in a carrier and I called to him, and he immediately began meowing and purring and rubbing the inside of the carrier, to their complete amazement. So, we were reunited, and he has been completely fine after his 24+ hours there, and is curled up purring next to me.

I am pretty sad about having lost my island vacation and not being with my family. But I don't feel absolutely sick about it, which is how I felt about the situation he was in. Today I've just sort of been recovering from three days of driving and worry, plus what was for me a very late night, and have been giving him plenty of attention. Oh, and I also took a carload of recycling to the ironmonger and rescued a baby bird. But I wasn't on the beach with my spouse and kid and grandkid.

Stacia, it sounds like we are on parallel paths, and I might try what you describe for next year. But I am worried a bit that the relationship between this particular sitter and this particular cat might be too damaged. It sounds like you made it work with the same sitter, so that gives me hope.

What my spouse proposes is traveling with him, bringing him along next summer. Tactically, this is possible (rentals et cetera). Anybody have any thoughts on how this might work out? Have any of you solved the problem this way?
 
A LOT of us pack up the cat, the supplies and take them with us!! When my 85 year old mother wanted to go see the Christmas shows in Branson last year, China went with us and we had a lovely time!

Here's a great piece written by a member of the FDMB on "Camping and traveling with a special needs kitty"

It takes some planning, and the cat usually ends up with more "luggage" than the people do, but it's very doable!!
 
ChrisWith8 said:
We are all fixed now.

My favorite kitty was stuck in a stainless cage at the emergency vet with the catheter and the Propofol, hissing and scratching at anybody who came near, surrounded by barking dogs. I was afraid spending an entire week like this would do something terrible to him. Also, not that money was driving everything, but they gave me an estimate of $1,200 to $1,800 for keeping him (and yes I did give them an $1,168 deposit toward this).

So yesterday my spouse and I drove up the island, took the ferry, drove up the next island, took the bridge, and after 4 hours got someplace populated enough that there was a car rental place. And I drove home, which actually took 12 hours total, and she went back to be with the rest of the family, and they are staying on vacation and I'm home for the week.

I called when I got close to the vet, and they warned me he was very angry. When I arrived they brought him out in a carrier and I called to him, and he immediately began meowing and purring and rubbing the inside of the carrier, to their complete amazement. So, we were reunited, and he has been completely fine after his 24+ hours there, and is curled up purring next to me.

I am pretty sad about having lost my island vacation and not being with my family. But I don't feel absolutely sick about it, which is how I felt about the situation he was in. Today I've just sort of been recovering from three days of driving and worry, plus what was for me a very late night, and have been giving him plenty of attention. Oh, and I also took a carload of recycling to the ironmonger and rescued a baby bird. But I wasn't on the beach with my spouse and kid and grandkid.

Stacia, it sounds like we are on parallel paths, and I might try what you describe for next year. But I am worried a bit that the relationship between this particular sitter and this particular cat might be too damaged. It sounds like you made it work with the same sitter, so that gives me hope.

What my spouse proposes is traveling with him, bringing him along next summer. Tactically, this is possible (rentals et cetera). Anybody have any thoughts on how this might work out? Have any of you solved the problem this way?
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You poor thing, it is sad that this wrecked your vaca and you experienced extra expenses. My Bubba is starting to scratch at me while I test him, so I can understand how upsetting this is. So very sorry.....
 
I'm sorry about your trip but I totally get it. I'm relieved to hear that kitty is ok.

We are using the same sitter and it's worked out. In fact, we switched to boarding for awhile and due to the situation there (kitties both went on a hunger strike and we came back to a nightmare bill), we went back to the sitter just this past weekend. We had the sitter come twice before we left to reacquaint everyone and there were no issues.

We haven't traveled with Tasha since diagnosis, but we have prior to that. She always traveled well. We would absolutely do it if our trips allowed. It hasn't worked that way in the past year though.

If you do decide to try the sitter again, start early. This board was full of amazing ideas, as was the sitter.
 
ChrisWith8 said:
We are all fixed now.

My favorite kitty was stuck in a stainless cage at the emergency vet with the catheter and the Propofol, hissing and scratching at anybody who came near, surrounded by barking dogs. I was afraid spending an entire week like this would do something terrible to him. Also, not that money was driving everything, but they gave me an estimate of $1,200 to $1,800 for keeping him (and yes I did give them an $1,168 deposit toward this).

So yesterday my spouse and I drove up the island, took the ferry, drove up the next island, took the bridge, and after 4 hours got someplace populated enough that there was a car rental place. And I drove home, which actually took 12 hours total, and she went back to be with the rest of the family, and they are staying on vacation and I'm home for the week.

I called when I got close to the vet, and they warned me he was very angry. When I arrived they brought him out in a carrier and I called to him, and he immediately began meowing and purring and rubbing the inside of the carrier, to their complete amazement. So, we were reunited, and he has been completely fine after his 24+ hours there, and is curled up purring next to me.

I am pretty sad about having lost my island vacation and not being with my family. But I don't feel absolutely sick about it, which is how I felt about the situation he was in. Today I've just sort of been recovering from three days of driving and worry, plus what was for me a very late night, and have been giving him plenty of attention. Oh, and I also took a carload of recycling to the ironmonger and rescued a baby bird. But I wasn't on the beach with my spouse and kid and grandkid.

Stacia, it sounds like we are on parallel paths, and I might try what you describe for next year. But I am worried a bit that the relationship between this particular sitter and this particular cat might be too damaged. It sounds like you made it work with the same sitter, so that gives me hope.

What my spouse proposes is traveling with him, bringing him along next summer. Tactically, this is possible (rentals et cetera). Anybody have any thoughts on how this might work out? Have any of you solved the problem this way?
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Sorry about your vacation, but really glad to hear kitty is okay and back to his usual self, with you home with him.
 
ChrisWith8 said:
I called when I got close to the vet, and they warned me he was very angry. When I arrived they brought him out in a carrier and I called to him, and he immediately began meowing and purring and rubbing the inside of the carrier, to their complete amazement. So, we were reunited, and he has been completely fine after his 24+ hours there, and is curled up purring next to me.
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My Rosa does EXACTLY that! The 3 or 4 times she's had to be at the vet for the day, I've been warned every time that she's in a horrible mood and that I shouldn't even try getting her out of the carrier for a good few hours after I get her home. I can always hear her screaming and yowling as they bring her from the back...but as soon as she either sees me or hears my voice, all that growling and yowling turns to soft meows and purrs while she struggles to get out of the carrier for a cuddle. The first time it happened, the vet tech told me not to trust her because she might hurt me, while I was taking her out of the carrier and hugging her...and no, she didn't hurt me! ;) I think some cats just react badly to being away from their owner. I'm sorry you had to cut your vacation short, but as he was reacting that badly to being at the vet, I'm glad you've got him home with you and safe. :)
 
Days later, he is still just as happy as can be, and I'm glad I came home and rescued him. It's a shame about the vacation and I miss my family, but it is not a tragedy.
 
I am so glad he was so happy to see you. I think that made missing the vacation no so hard when you were able to make his world better.

Smokey became quite the traveler with us. The first few times she didn't like it all that much, but after a few trips she'd want to sit in my lap or on top of her cubby instead on inside it, and just watch traffic go by. She'd walk around the hotel rooms or our other house swishing her tail all important 'cause she was traveling with Mom and Dad all by herself. She loved the time with us. (our Smokey and Peanut were both ones to scream down the walls at the vet's office. Sweet as pie to us, but in the vets office they were naughty naughty little girls.)

One thing you could try if you'd run into a sitter situation like that again. Once the sitter had him covered in a towel or blanket, she might have been able to just give him the shot through or around the blanket. Or once in the carrier, pop the top off and give the shot while he is confined in the bottom half and covered. I have 2 girls from a hoarder house that are terrified at the vet and this is how we go about most of their exams and shots.
 
Oh, wow, Chris - I feel for you & can totally relate! Bat-Bat hates everybody but me; she only tolerates my husband, a really nice guy! Vet has to wear raptor gloves to handle her; she must be gassed to be examined.

So yes, she goes along when we travel, even though she tends to car-sickness. (Yep, the amount of gear we take along is like traveling with a toddler!) But she actually does really well in hotel rooms, at other people's homes: We confine her to the guest room, and she's happy being cloistered from the hubbub of friends/family gatherings. There are lots of pet-friendly lodging choices out there! (I have never tried traveling with her by air, so can't speak to that particular scenario.)

Have I been able to get her to cooperate with any one else for ear-pricks or insulin shots? In truth, I haven't even tried because she's soooo fractious with everybody else - she'll attack anyone else who even tries to pet her! She WILL allow others to (cautiously!) feed her, but that's all. So until she ever goes OTJ, I won't be making any flights "across the pond" anymore. But as she's nearly 11 years old and I know I won't get to have her forever, I just deal --- because I love my cranky old girl. I've actually had some well-meaning acquaintances suggest I "...just put her down because she's a diabetic now & she's not a friendly cat anyway." Good grief!!!

Anyway, best of luck to you!:rolleyes: - Robin
 
Critter Mom said:
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No kidding! I just can't understand what some people are thinking when they open their mouths.
 
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