Opinions Please & More Questions

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terriy

terriy

Member Since 2011
I have to go out of town in October and in November. I have not left Chicken Little with a sitter since she has had diabetes so I'm torn on what I should do!!!
Here are my two options and I'd like some feedback so I can decide the plan best for her.

Plan one would be to leave her at the vets office. I have never left her at the vets office overnight before. She will be scared to death and even though she would be in a cage where they can get their hands on her to give her a shot, chances are that she wont eat. What I see happening if I leave her at the vet is high BG because of being scared, will not eat because of being scared and no insulin because of not eating. The plus of leaving her there is medical attention on the spot.

Plan two would be to have her stay at home and have the pet sitter come twice a day to feed her and change the litter box. The sitter can give the insulin however the pet sitter has never been able to get her hands on her to shoot her. She has not even been able to get her to come out and eat. The sitter would have to leave the food and she would come out and eat when she left. What I see happening in this plan is again she would not get insulin however she would eat and I think that she would have lower BG since this would not be as stressful for her as staying at the vets office. This would mean that the day I left and the day I come back she will only get insulin once and for 2 days she would get no insulin if the sitter is unable to feed her and to catch her. We have had "dry runs" before however so far she has never been able to feed her or even see her while she was here. I just cant afford anymore "dry runs" because it cost $25 to $35 a pop to have her come over!! Its $25 to come for 30 minutes and feed her and change the box and $10 more to shoot her!!

I guess that about sums up my problem and any thoughts on the best plan of action would be most appreciated!! I dont like either plan but I have to figure out something because I cant stay home forever!!
Thanks bunches!!
 
Re: Opinions Please

Since we are only talking opinions, personally I would opt for the second choice assuming you're only going to be gone for a short time? If we are speaking short term, I would think she would be better off with high sugar for a short period versus the huge stress of a vet stay. I just can't see anything good coming of leaving her in a place where you KNOW she won't eat.
 
Re: Opinions Please

Keeping the cat in the home environment is always the best option.

Something you can do that may help for this option is to close off all bedrooms, closets, bathrooms, upstairs, downstairs, etc.

Only allow her to be in the living room or kitchen or a room that in a sense is large enough to live in, yet, she can't hide, so this would ensure that the sitter can find her, see her and catch her. Do you have a space that you can do this with?

A third option would be to take her to the pet sitter or a friend's place to live and again, keep her in a confined space/room. It may take a few days for her to calm down and adjust, but at least she will be supervised 24/7 and won't be in a cage.

I have taken in a couple cats and set them up in the "guest room" and it worked. no hiding under furniture and in a couple days, the cat was lonely enough that he wanted attention and pets. something else to consider.
 
Re: Opinions Please

I agree with the above comments - having Chicken Little stay at home would be the better choice. I also encourage the idea of isolation. My sugarfoster has his own room. He is isolated there by babygates during the day and when I am away. That way the catsitter can find, feed and shoot.
 
Re: Opinions Please

Thanks for the ideas! I am able to shut off some of the house and at least that would limit the places she could hide. Maybe that would give her the opportunity to shoot if she can get her to eat while she is there.
Thanks so much
 
I am going with the pet sitter coming to the house to take care of Chicken Little. I am going to close off as much of the house as I can so that the sitter will stand a chance on getting her hands on CL. Now here are a few more issues with this plan. I know that this is not ideal however I will have to "pre" load the syringes with 3 units for the sitter. Also she will not be able to test the BG, she can only shoot the insulin. Assuming that she can catch her I think that with a stranger chasing her around and touching her will raise her BG up high. I still worry a tad about shooting without testing!!
Would it just be best for her to be left alone so that she dont get stressed and go without insulin for 2 days. Neither way is ideal however I have to go with one. What would you do???
Opinions again please!
Thanks
 
Introduce her to the pet sitter.

Have the pet sitter give her some low carb treats, to associate a positive experience with the pet sitter.

If she likes to play, have the sitter offer play with favored toys.

Feliway plug in diffusers - put 1 in the main hangout room.

Maybe have a clothing article of yours the pet sitter can rub to scent herself like home?
 
When I went on vacation for a week, my catsitter came twice a day for which I was happy to pay for and she was able to give shots but not test. Because of that I lowered the dose by .50. Luckily she was also able to load the syringe.

I have preloaded a syringe for my BF to give shots a few times when I out of town for a night. I isolated my sugarfoster in his room (which he recognizes as his room and is where he feels most secure) with three babygates across the doorway. I wanted to keep him in but I also wanted to keep my civvies out. I used the babygates so he didn't feel too alone and also because the room gets really hot with the door closed. I am glad you found a sitter who will try to give her shots.
 
RobinCot said:
When I went on vacation for a week, my catsitter came twice a day for which I was happy to pay for and she was able to give shots but not test. Because of that I lowered the dose by .50. Luckily she was also able to load the syringe.
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Yep. I would definitely lower the dose a tad. Some cats do run higher, but in Michelangelo's case, he always eats less and drops lower when I'm gone. I'm lucky enough that whoever is watching him always tests before giving a shot since he usually ends up testing too low** at pre-shot at least once whenever I've been gone.

**Disclaimer - too low: At this point in the game, I shoot pretty much any low number he throws at me if I'm going to be around to test. When I'm gone, however, I give his caretaker(s) the 150 BG cut-off limit so they don't have to monitor him. This is with Lantus, which is handled differently than ProZinc.
 
I have already had several "dry runs" with the pet sitter. Sometimes I was present and sometimes I left the house and left the sitter on her own just like it would be if I were out of town.
My Chicken Little is one tough cookie! In all the dry runs we have had the sitter has never been able to get her to come out from under the bed. That wont be a issue for the real thing because I am going to close off the bedrooms and she wont be able to hide under the bed. Im going to do a few more "dry runs" with her (as many as I can afford) before the real trip comes up. Maybe in the 2 days that Im gone CL will get hungry enough and lonely enough to bond with the sitter. Worst case she wont get any insulin for 2 days and I think that would still be better than being at the vets office.
Thanks for all the help!
 
would still be better than being at the vets office.
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I agree with you.
My own girl is never seen by sitters for all 12 yrs of her life. The most any one every saw was a tail disappearing.
The stress of the vet's kennel cage would be even more stressful. It's just not home.

She'll be happier at home. Glad it's a short trip.
 
I would reduce the dose too and give her maybe half the usual dose. And if the sitter cant shoot for two days then its not the end of the world. Two days high is better than too low

Wendy
 
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