Pet sitter questions

Sarah and Blaze

Sarah and Blaze

Member Since 2019
Hello!

I’m needing some advice about an upcoming vacation and having a pet sitter come to my house to take care of my diabetic kitty and his civvie siblings. I’m getting married and honeymooning in Maui and will be gone 9/19-9/29, and am meeting with a pet sitter next Saturday to go over Blaze’s routine and have her meet my kitties. She will only be able to come twice a day, at 6:30 am for AMPS test/feed/shoot and 6:30 pm for PMPS test/feed/shoot and she will not be able to get any other testing in besides those.

Is that okay? Should I tell her to not give insulin if Blazes pre shot number is below 200 since she isn’t able to get supplemental testing in throughout the AM or PM cycles? I just want to make sure Blaze is safe, I would rather have a pet sitter come in so he can stay home. The other option was boarding him at the vet but that sounds awful for him.
 
Sarah -

My petsitters have done exactly what you describe -- come to check on my kitties twice a day. To complicate matters further, Gabby categorically refused to allow anyone test her. (She was a tortie and had all of the attitude that they are known for.) You are welcome to look at Gabby's SS to see what I did. In brief, I lowered Gabby's dose because my sitter(s) had to shoot blind. I'd encourage you to lower the dose since many cats don't eat as well when we're not home. Better that Blaze is in higher numbers while your gone than ends up in low numbers when no one is there to test. I would raise the dose back to what I was giving before I left once I was back home.

No matter how experienced your petsitter is, I would let up a sample syringe with colored water at your travel dose so your petsitter has a comparison. You don't want the sitter to assume she has the right dose.

Set your "no shot" number wherever you're comfortable.

Make sure. you leave information in compulsive detail. I've been using the same petsitter for 5+ years and trust her completely. I still leave very detailed instructions (e.g., where the litter and scoop are, exactly what to feed, info on any medications, my phone #, e-mail, and number where I'm staying). When Gabby was alive, I had the dose info in oversized, bold, red numbers.

Make sure the sitter has the address and contact info for your vet.

I'm sure others will chime in with their suggestions.

Congrats on your marriage!!
 
Also let your sitter know all the hiding/sleeping spots your kitties like. I can tell you from experience that there is nothing worse than showing up to give shots and being unable to locate the cat. :banghead::arghh:

Leave instruction manual for the auto feeder readily available.

I always leave a credit card number along with the sitter's name with the vet so if there is any reason to need to take any of the kitties to the vet, sitter can do so without any hassles.

Like Sienne, I left what amounted to a novelette of instructions and info. Never hurts to include pics of the babies so there is no confusion about whose who.
 
@Sienne and Gabby (GA)
Thank you so much for this info Sienne.

I was planning on giving Blaze his first dose increase tonight, from 1U to 1.25U, but we leave for Maui in 10 days. Is it okay to start his dose increase tonight and then have the pet sitter start giving a decreased dose on the morning of 9/19 when we leave? And would it be best to drop back down to 1U while we're gone? Is a 0.25U decrease enough of a safe decrease while we are on vacation?

She is coming to my house next Saturday like I said, to meet the kitties and go through Blaze's routine and watch me test/feed/shoot. She said she would like to be able to come over one more time before we leave to go through the routine on her own, while I'm home. Hopefully Blaze doesn't give her any trouble with testing but only time will tell!

That's a great idea about the sample dose in a syringe with the colored water, I will do that. At least if we have her give 1U, that's much easier for her to draw up than 1.25U. This will be my first time away from Blaze and using this pet sitter, but she said she has experience with BG testing and giving insulin to cats.

I'm not sure what a safe "no shoot" number is for her, since she won't be testing mid-cycle. Maybe I will tell her not to shoot under 200 and if it's under 250, I will instruct her to leave out MC food for snacks in the auto feeder. Does that sound like a good plan?

I will definitely leave written instructions with my vet's info and the ER vet as well.

And thank you for the wedding congratulations!
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Also let your sitter know all the hiding/sleeping spots your kitties like. I can tell you from experience that there is nothing worse than showing up to give shots and being unable to locate the cat. :banghead::arghh:

Leave instruction manual for the auto feeder readily available.

I always leave a credit card number along with the sitter's name with the vet so if there is any reason to need to take any of the kitties to the vet, sitter can do so without any hassles.

Like Sienne, I left what amounted to a novelette of instructions and info. Never hurts to include pics of the babies so there is no confusion about whose who.
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That's a great idea Linda! Blaze usually isn't one to hide, his typical spots are in the living room or in a window BUT I will show her places I have seen him before. Thankfully all my cats look different so leaving pictures of each of them will be really helpful too.

I will show her how to use the auto feeder, leave extra batteries and leave the manual out too. All great advice. The pet sitter might be overwhelmed by the amount of instructions I leave her:eek:
 
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