Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage? Hamilton ON?

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cellosmom

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I don't know if I'm really looking for advice or support.

I'm a PhD student living on my own, I've always put away money every month for my pets (2 cats) which has helped me a few times with medical issues, but I never anticipated something like diabetes. The money isn't what is crippling me, but the shots. I always thought I was so prepared and a good kitty mom with saving money, automatic feeders, water fountains, litter robot and reliable pet sitters.

I work a minimum of 8 hours a day, plus traveling I'm gone frequently 10-12 hours a day. Prior to the insulin shots I often did other things after work, including part boarding and riding a horse which I've given up since the insulin.

I taught myself the home testing after research, my vet isn't very supportive of it. I had to prove to her that caninsulin wasn't working, found somewhere to get PZI compounded and it was a huge fight to get her to prescribe it.

Now I am trying desperately to figure out dosage but the mid cycle testing is killing me. I can't get home during the day, so I've been staying up until 1-3am (sometimes I try to sleep before and set an alarm but I just can't get to sleep, or back to sleep) then I get up before 7 to give him his shot so I've had about 4 hours of sleep a night since this started, obviously work and social life is suffering, and I'm still expected to work a lot....... I have missed out on trips to see family, I haven't really seen them much since since they live too far away for day trips, I've missed helping friends move and other promises I made etc. because I currently don't have anyone to help me and my normal pet sitter doesn't live close enough to make coming twice a day feasible, plus I don't feel like I have things worked out well enough to leave him with someone who doesn't really know what they are doing. I have found one vet tech who is willing to help maybe with morning shots when I have to go away and possibly someone I found on the internet to do other shots (although I haven't met them yet and I'm really nervous about it)

The worst part about all this is after christmas I have to travel a lot. I am making life decisions and have to fly to a bunch of different places for work and job interviews. I pretty much NEED cello to go into remission or I don't know what I'm going to do as I may be relocating to another continent that requires quarantine and he can't be on insulin in there as soon as 6 months from now :( :( :(

How do people do this when they live on their own honestly??? I don't know how much more I can physically and emotionally handle.

:sad: #overwhelmed
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage?

Well I don't live on my own, but I am the only one that cares for our 13 cats (2 diabetics) and our large dog, I'm also a full time college student (Vet Tech). I don't always get nadir tests when I don't have time. As long as you can get pre-shot numbers and then set aside one day (either a day off or weekend) to run a curve it should all work out. Life happens, and even with just getting those preshot numbers everyday is much better than shooting blind and taking Cello into the vet's once a week to have a curve run.

My husband is also a musician so frequently we have late nights out....I get a test in before I give Musette her insulin, then try to get one when we get home and call that good.

Hopefully others will chime in with other ideas for things like travel and relocation etc.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage?

Hi. And Welcome.

I live on my own.

I shoot at 6:00am and 6:00pm. I try to go to bed early to make up for the middle of the night tests. And, I try to sleep in on weekends and whenever I can (which I never used to do), to make up for sleep loss. I try to set an alarm, wake up and test, and go right back to sleep. If I wake up and then log onto the computer or turn on the T.V., I am doomed to being up for another hour or two. I need to just reach out and turn off the alarm, yawn, call the cat, get the glucometer ready,
test, and turn the lights right back off and I will then go right back to sleep.

On weekends, I do my curves and see what the nadirs during the daytime are.

On weekdays, when I go to work, I try to get up early and do a +11 (5:00am) test first, and then compare that to the AMPS (6:00am) test to get an idea of where my cat is headed (BGwise) for the day.
Even though I sometimes (still) forget, I have to plan social activities around shot times, and the 6:00am/6:00pm doesn't make that too hard to do. My friends understand, and if they don't, then hey, they don't understand me, either.

I fly with my cat on vacations as a carry on (under the seat in front of me), so you may have to consider that, too, in the future.

I wish you The Best Of Luck with your kitty.
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage?

I can certainly understand your feelings of being overwelmed, particularly as you mention moving to another country. That possibility alone would be so worrisome due to quarantines. Where do you live now? Some of the restrictions have been eased somewhat as long as you meet the vaccination, chipping requirements. Depends on where you live and where you are going.

Found this:
http://www.petfriendlytravel.com/intl_travel

Moving can be so stressful (even without a diabetic cat to consider). Just keep up with all vaccinations and information needed for health certification and hope there is no long quarantine wherever you end up. But if there is confinement I presume they give insulin by following conventional treatment that doesn't require frequent testing.

Don't know how you manage all you are doing but I hope you can cope with the testing required for Tight Regulation and that your kitty does go into remission. Just concentrate on that goal for right now. It sounds like you are lining up help for the trips you need to make after Dec.--that sounds like a critical time for you. I agree that relying on someone else or even finding someone is super stressful. Hoping it all works out for you.
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage?

I know it's overwhelming when you live alone. It was a crazy ride for me, a single person, when my cat was on insulin. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to deal with it, my 2 other cats (one with some other worrisome chronic issues) and being gone at least 11 hrs a day for work, as well as a few family issues that were occuring. My coping method was just to take it one day at a time and deal with one issue at a time. You are doing your best and that is all you can do.

There are a lot of people with a lot of experience in this community that can help and if you ask the questions you will get a lot of advice to sift through. Don't feel guilty if you don't feel you are doing as much as others, you are doing what you can. I can't give any advise on dosing ( I used Lantus). But the more specific your questions and information is, I think the more people can give specific information from their experiences which may be more helpful. Some things to consider:

1. Where are you located (city, state/country) ? - someone from that area may be able to suggest resources in your area.

2. What are you feeding your cat? - Diet can play a major role in managing diabetes. Some cats are able to go off insulin with the right diet.

3. Have you posted on the insulin specific board? - They may be able to help with your dosing

4. What city/country might you be moving to? Are you sure quarantine is the only option? I know someone who was moving to a "quarantine" country but they found out if they started several months (30 days is the usual activity before moving) before they moved doing certain blood tests, documentation etc, they would be able to avoid quarantine.

5. IMO, sometimes, depending on the question, it's better to limit a post to a specific issue and mention it in the title. I think there are a lot of people who scan the board but may only read a post and respond if it's something they know they have experience with.

I also had to adjust my schedule around the shots. 6am for the morning, barely home in time for the 6pm shot. anything social had to be scheduled in the evening after shot time or the weekend when I had time between shots. I had to initially waste a lot of cat food until I found the right diet mix. I thought I was going to go crazy because my whole life centered around the diabetes. Although it was an important issue in my day, after some time it did become more "routine" and fade into the background a little.

I mentioned the diabetes to people i know at work (those that I was comfortable discussing non-work issues with) and friends. Most were curious about it, some were disbelieving (you would do WHAT for a cat) and interestingly I found a few people that were also dealing with it. One women at work had a diabetic dog, and a two friends had diabetic pets (1 dog and 1 diet controlled cat - I knew the animals, just didn't know the diabetes issue). Even though the dog owners couldn't help with specific advice, it was nice to have someone to vent with about the issue in general.

You will probably get a lot of advice (sorry didn't mean for my post to be so long winded either). Don't let it overwhelm you. Sift through with an open mind and pick out the things that might help, might work for you, and let the rest go. Don't feel like you have to do it all.

Good luck!
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage?

You have already gotten some great advice, so I will just give a little 2 cents. I live alone as well, and work 7 days a week. Unless the office is closed or I take a day off from either F/T or P/T job at Walt Disney World, I had to be creative to get a curve in for Cedric (my FD). I am fortunate that I could bring him into our small office for 2 of the 3 curves I did on him. My vet was very supportive of home testing - he and his vet GF have a diabetic dog & cat. Cedric went into remission after a month on Lantus, a diet change and a little bit of excerise (we moved into our new townhouse a week b4 his dx). I have rescued a neighborhood stray, so now he gets lots more exercise. :smile:

I also have no family here, so I understand how you feel. Since I bought this house, I had no plans to go home for the holiday this year (double so since new cat's vet bill was $1600) but sometimes I wish someone was here for some help. When Cedric was fist dx'd, I found this place which was an amazing help. I think I have taught my vet's office a thing or 2 about FD! I found out that a co-worker here at the office has a FD cat (now has 2, and REALLY needs to come here to learn a few things), and a co-worker at WDW has a diabetic dog. I have also talked diabetes with some other friends and co-workers who have the human version. Makes you feel better that you can bounce info off people who "get it."

Since I already work so much, I don't have much of a social life since moving to orlando in 2004, but I am probably older than you anyway. ;-) You can work around your cat's FD. I don't know anything about your insulin, since we used Lantus with such success. Posting in the insulin type forum should be a help to you. Good luck with your job search and I hope everything works out!
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage?

Welcome and expect to be overwhelmed anyway without the travel and moving decisions..
I just wanted to let you know that I used - yes used - PZI as well, and my Sugar Bean is in remission... All from the help from this site....
Just moved out of my home 9 hrs away, thought Bean was depressed and loosing weight, stayed there for 6 months and moved back to the area I came from, again thinking she was scared and depressed due to the move...Lost from almost 12lb to 8!
Once I got back here and a bit settled, to her to her normal vet, ran blood work and WHAT???? SHE IS A WHAT??? NEVER HEARD OF THIS.....
He dx with 1unit of PZI BCP and gave me a quick lesson on insulin injecting, gave her prescription food, and advised NOT to home test and told me to bring her back for her curve in one week. Her bg number was around 450ish. One week later I took her back, she was around the 500 bg level and he doubled the insulin... Meanwhile, I found THIS PLACE :smile: , and DID NOT double the insulin but increased to 1.5 and 1.25, also changed her food to what everyone here used, printed my list and went to transitioning my girl.... Ordered my newbie test kit and started trying to test Bean... momma was not that good at first...... The first sucessful test I got, she was only 27!!!! That is when a became a BIG believer in the ppl here, knowing that their knowledge was much more powerful than my vets.....
I had started a new job, and could not do the testing curves like everyone was suggesting, but after that low number, the ppl here helping to bring her number back to normal range....staying up with me until well after 1am....I decided the first weekend I could curve, I would....
Due to doing what I could when I could, my girl has not had insulin since 5/24ish!!!!
We do understand that she will always be a diabetic and she will never get dry food or high carb wet food or any other kind of high carb treats... I have 1 other girl that eats what Bean eats and 1 other older girl (15) that refuses to get with the program.... so, she gets fed when I can watch and make sure Bean doesnt get into her higher carb food.... I try to keep Bean as less stressed as possible which helps keep her bg in check... She has not been back to the ver since that last weekto do her curve.

Good luck to you and ask away....everone helps everyone the best way they can..... furry paw hugs your way.
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage?

just to answer most of the questions

1: I am located in Hamilton, Ontario. Haven't been able to find anyone on the board in the immediate area.

2: Diet: all high protein low carb. Mix of FF and DM. Gets freeze dried chicken treats after testing. That's about it. The diet switch helped get his BG's down from 500-400 but that was about it.

3: I am posting in the PZI board, this post just seemed more appropriate here

4: Moving from Canada - UK. Quarantine is almost 100% and I don't know if I could do that to him if he is on insulin.

As for me I have my own issues. I have chronic insomnia and need to take sleeping meds. I can't take them before nadir test because they only work to get me to sleep, so if I wake up then I won't sleep the rest of the night. I'm supposed to only take them when I can sleep 7-8 hours but even if I only do the 1am test, I have to be back up before 7 to test and shoot, so it's not been very good for my body at all and it's def. showing, but I don't think I really have any other option.

As for my travel after Christmas, it isn't optional, it's for my job, and not generally the kind of scenario where I can bring a cat with me. And I just can't help missing my family and friends, especially when I'm so tired and stressed out. Seems like an impossible situation sometimes.

I will say I am lucky with Cello in that he is very easy going (I used to use him as a therapy cat until he got older). He doesn't really get stressed with moving (I've moved 3 times with him, never been a problem) and he is wonderful about the testing and needles
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage?

We have a couple members who live in Ontario but don't list a city. I'll send out some pms and see if we get any responses.
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage?

Sue and Oliver (GA) said:
We have a couple members who live in Ontario but don't list a city. I'll send out some pms and see if we get any responses.
Click to expand...

thanks. I searched "hamilton" and found one person and PM'd them, but I don't know if they are active anymore, have't heard back anyways....
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage?

Vicky & Gandalf (GA) said:
Are you positive about the UK quarantine? I thought I had read somewhere that they were either changing the requirement or ending it in 2012?

Here are some of the new regulations: http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2011/06/30/new-rules-pet-passports/ Looks like the wait is less than a month now for pets from beyond EU countries.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I've been trying to get the actual information on this, waiting on a response from government officials....
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage?

Hi,
I grew up in Hamilton, but live an hour and a half east now. I don't recollect any Hamilton members, but I do believe we have some in Oakville. If you could edit your heading to mention the Hamilton area, you might find someone living closer by.
Dana
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage?

I understand your situation completely--I work about 65-80 hours a week with two jobs (with an hour commute each way), and I'm in grad school. I was doing everything alone for the first 6 months when Bandit was diagnosed (I convinced my brother to move in with me and help with Bandit after that. In exchange I found him a nice job in Ithaca, so it was a good trade).

I'm not going to lie and say it was easy--but it definitely got easier once I found a routine. I shot at 7am and 7pm, and yes it was a pain to have to be home or make arrangements at those times. I couldn't test at all during the day because of work, so I either stayed up (I've been existing on 4-6 hours of sleep most nights for about as long as I can remember) or set an alarm and go right back to sleep after the test. Of course, I don't have the insomnia problem that you have, so I understand that it's harder for you in this respect.

Travel was hard (and still is,to a degree). Bandit doesn't travel well so I had to find a reliable sitter when I left town, which forced me to take shorter trips. Thanksgiving and Christmas were always only a day or two of travel, because it was very hard finding someone around to help with shots during the holidays. I also had to cut Bandit's dose in half while I was gone because most of the time I couldn't find anyone willing to test him.

I do have a few suggestions for you, though. Do you have any friends or family that might be willing to help you out? If not, you're a PhD student, so I'm assuming you know a lot of college students? You'd be surprised what undergrads are willing to do for small amounts of cash and/or food. If you can teach one or more of them to test or give shots, then you have people to call on when you need a sitter, or possibly even come over to your place a few days/nights a week to get a mid-cycle test while you sleep. Bribe them with a little money or dinner at a nice restaurant. You can even convince them to use it as field experience if they are in a health field, and they can use you as a reference if need be. If you come at different students from different angles, you'll surely find a few to help you out. I once convinced a Cornell student to help me out in exchange for being guest-listed for shows at the club I work at for my second job. It cost me nothing, and she was a wonderful help. You just need to sell it the right way. Once you get someone to agree to just "come over and see what it entails and then make your decision", you're all good, because the shots and testing are WAY easier then they sound, especially when demonstrated at home.

You said that you're still feeding DM--is this dry DM or canned DM? If it's dry DM you'll want to get rid of it. Diet is very important to reach remission. Also, how are your cat's teeth? Is there any inflammation/infection in the gums at all? If a dental is needed you want to get that done asap. It will also help lower BG.

And finally, if you're looking for better odds to remission, can you find a vet that will prescribe you Lantus (glargine) or Levemir (detemir) instead of PZI? PZI is not a bad insulin, but Lantus has a better remission rate. Normally I would say stick it out and see if the PZI works because it does for many cats, but if money is not an issue and time is of the essence, you might want to consider switching insulins now. I've attached a couple articles for you to read, and also give to your vet (or a new vet, whoever will give you the script).
 

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Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage? Hamilton

Thanks Julia..... I do have a few offers for help. I think there are people who can handle the shots, I just don't think they really understand the importance of the schedule though. I won't have them do testing, at least for the next few times I'm leaving it's only 24 Hours or less until after christmas, then things get tricket. He does travel OK so I will take him home if I go for longer than a day

He is on canned DM (no dry food) once I run out though (bought at vet after DX) I will stick to FF and some varieties of friskies. He got his check up recently and they said teeth were fine so I don't think that is a problem.

As for the insulin... well I'm a grad student so I'm certainly not rich and the BCP PZI is quite affordable.... and I'm happy with how he is reacting to the PZI so I'm going to stick with it for now..... way better than the caninsulin anyways.
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage? Hamilton

I agree PZI is way better than Caninsulin! And many cats go into remission on it (around 50% I believe).

I always explained to the students that helped me out why the shots were important and why the tests were important, so they understood why they were gathering them. I was lucky that one was a genetics student and the other was a vet student, so they were eager to learn everything why I did things the way I did. Most of the time when I explain to people about cat metabolisms and duration of action and nadirs their eyes glaze over, so I was lucky to have an interested audience.
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage? Hamilton

Hi there,

Just a note to do a check on the price of a Lantus cartridge, rather than the vial. Lantus is much, much cheaper in Canada than in the US.

Have no idea what compounded PZI costs in Canada. Just know that Lantus is less up there.

Good luck with Cello,

Claudia
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage? Hamilton

Hi -
I live in Michigan - about 30 miles from Windsor.

I just bought some Lantus in Canada a few weeks ago -- $120 for a 5 pack of 3ml pen cartridges.

We do have several members in the GTA - hopefully they will see your post.
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage? Hamilton

I am in Toronto as are a few others, also Mississauga and Oakville.
You don't need a prescription to get Lantus or Levemir in Canada, and you will find it is better, more flexible, as well as cheaper, if you go with Lantus or Levemir.
Personally, I prefer Levemir, it's very forgiving if your shot times are off, and if you buy your insulin and other supplies at Shoppers Drug Mart, get points on their Optimum card.... a few times a year, I have enough points to get my insulin 5pack or cartridges FREE.

Going with PZI, you are stuck with getting it at the vet along with your syringes, so you are better off with an insulin you can buy at shoppers or costco or any pharmacy at all. The syringes U100 are all available at pharmacies as well.

It is much more economical for you to get the cartridges; with a lower dose, you may not use an entire vial of 10ml and if it goes bad or is dropped, that's alot of waste. Go with the package of five 3ml cartridges.

You will find that you get a more gentle and long lasting curve from Levemir.
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage? Hamilton

Hi there,

I don't have any advice for you but I just wanted to say that I understand how totally overwhelmed you feel because I am in a very similar situation. I live alone and often work 12-plus hours a day outside the home. My social life has also pretty much disappeared because of having to rush home to give Lucy her shot. I don't begrudge the attention she needs right now but her illness has completely taken over my life and I don't really know how to manage thing better.

It sounds like you are doing amazingly well, all things considered, and like others suggested, I guess all you can do at this point is take things one day at a time.

Anyway, I am in Toronto so if you ever want to talk feel free to PM me and we can exchange phone numbers.

Take care - kally
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage? Hamilton

One thing I would say is really important is to make sure you do HAVE a social life somehow, even if means running home and back out again. I always had to rush home and give Bandit is shot at 7, but that left me a few hours before his next test to run out and hang with friends. There were times with Gabby's cancer that I couldn't leave my house at night or on the weekends because she needed such constant care and I was already asking too much of people to care for her while I was at work. So I arranged things at my house with small groups of friends--themed movie nights or video game parties. I can't imagine how I would have gotten through it all had I isolated myself through the whole thing.
 
Re: Newbie: living on my own, how do people manage? Hamilton

thanks guys. I'm over my freak out from last week. Met with a new pet sitter, she is happy giving shots (retired nurse), doesn't want to test though, but better than nothing. I have a few good friends who don't think I'm too crazy and it's helping a lot, and of course the advice and support here. I'm def. sticking with the PZI though.... we are starting to get some pretty terrific resuls.
 
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