Weighing boarding at vet vs skipping doses

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Kelsey R

Kelsey R

Member Since 2018
Hi all,
Happy Thanksgiving to the Americans and happy almost weekend to everyone else!

We are traveling to my dad's for Christmas and will be gone for 3 nights (leaving sunday am and returning Wednesday pm. Loki was recently diagnosed in the high 300s. We've switched him to a wet food only diet and give him prozinc twice a day. For the past few days he's been averaging around low to mid 200s right before insulin shots.

I'm currently weighing which would be more stressful on loki, taking him to a vet versus going without his insulin for 6 cycles. He's never been boarded before.

I realize any regulation we've attained will have to be restarted if he's left without insulin. But, i also know the stress of going to the vet will cause glucose spike. Our pet sitter doesn't feel comfortable giving insulin. (I might be able to convince a friend to stop by once or twice to give a dose, but it wouldn't be anything consistent.)

Advice please. I'm leaning towards leaving him here with my other cat (who's also never been boarded or been left alone). Just for full disclosure, finances are also a factor here. Between boarding my dog and getting my other cat a sitter, when we looked at also boarding loki, we're looking at close to $600 in boarding/sitting costs - for 3 days.

I'd love to hear if anyone has had similar experiences with missing a few days of insulin.

Thanks!
 
Although worth noting, loki is otherwise healthy. The only reason i got him tested in the first place was because he was drinking a lot of water. He's playful, has a great appetite (too great), and the vet saw no ketones at diagnosis
 
Hi Kelsey - I faced the same dilemma for a two day out of town visit. I didn't want to stress Kallie by boarding and left her at home with someone coming over to feed twice a day and she was fine.
 
@KrisQ, it feels like such a damned if i do, damned if i don't situation. Being a parent is hard! Thanks for sharing your positive experience!
 
Are you sure you cannot talk your pet sitter into giving the shots? Is this person someone you use every time you are away? If so, you really need him/her to be willing to take appropriate care of your baby. So, if he/she is not willing to do so, maybe you could start looking for another one.
 
@FurBabiesMama, unfortunately our cat sitter said that she is not comfortable giving insulin. Fortunately, we do not travel often. We only use a pet sitter, once or twice a year. (well, fortunate for our animals, not our vacation schedule). I will keep looking for other pet sitters, preferably vet techs looking for a little extra $. The problem I've come across right now is that we do not live close to any of our vet techs and they don't want to travel during Christmas.
 
Kelsey R said:
Just for full disclosure, finances are also a factor here. Between boarding my dog and getting my other cat a sitter, when we looked at also boarding loki, we're looking at close to $600 in boarding/sitting costs - for 3 days.
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Playing devil's advocate...

Cats often get upset when their person is gone. As a result, they don't eat well/normally. The basic recipe for developing DKA = an insufficient supply of insulin + inappetance + infection OR other systemic stresses.

In this scenario, Loki would not be receiving any insulin, if he goes off his food because he's stressed that you're gone... well, all three ingredients for developing DKA are in place. It's not unusual for hospitalization for DKA to run into the thousands of dollars depending on the severity and geographic location... and that's not including what Loki would have to endure.

Everything could be fine leaving him at home OR the decision could end up costing more than the entire boarding bill. After coming very close to losing my own cat to diabetic ketoacidosis, I don't think I'd take that chance, but that's just me. Weigh your options carefully.

Another thought...
Do you have the option to bring Loki with you? That's what we ended up doing with Alex.
 
$600 for 3 days? I assume you're supplying the insulin and food, that seems excessive. We want what's best for our cats but that seems like emotional blackmail.
 
Krystina & Nelli said:
Think of it as jail to him
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That sounds nasty but that's exactly what a cat must be thinking.
We boarded Noah because we had no other choice. He got excellent care from our secondary vet who was genuinely interested in bouncing and the techs clearly understood how nervous he was.
Everything else was awful; he hated the car, he hated strangers in his world, he hated being picked up even by me, he lost control of bowel functions as soon as the front door opened. Then I just dropped him off somewhere strange and he couldn't have known why. Not every cat is that nervous and Noah rebounded quickly when he got home but to be honest I only gave him a 60/40 chance of making it through the week.
And now I hate my sister in law for being so stupid as to book our trip on eight flights, it was not a vacation.
 
I recommend the neighborhood application or website. I posted there looking for vet techs, and I got like 4-5 responses the same day. Since you have a month, I recommend checking out the website or application on your phone, and interviewing some so your kitty can get insulin while you aren't home. My sitter was fine giving insulin, but couldn't test, and I was trying to find someone who could test before giving shots. All the vet techs said they would test with no issues, but sadly Frosty passed away before our next trip. Either way, it's great to know that we can get a professional out here if we ever have a cat with special needs. <3

EDIT: The website is called next door, not neighborhood. Sorry. Here is the link: https://nextdoor.com/find-neighborhood/
 
Noah & me (GA) said:
$600 for 3 days? I assume you're supplying the insulin and food, that seems excessive. We want what's best for our cats but that seems like emotional blackmail.
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The $600 is for boarding my dog and Loki, as well as getting a cat sitter for the house for my other cat. It's about $200 for boarding Loki - and yes, I will be providing the food and insulin.
 
Jill & Alex (GA) said:
Playing devil's advocate...

Cats often get upset when their person is gone. As a result, they don't eat well/normally. The basic recipe for developing DKA = an insufficient supply of insulin + inappetance + infection OR other systemic stresses.

In this scenario, Loki would not be receiving any insulin, if he goes off his food because he's stressed that you're gone... well, all three ingredients for developing DKA are in place. It's not unusual for hospitalization for DKA to run into the thousands of dollars depending on the severity and geographic location... and that's not including what Loki would have to endure.

Everything could be fine leaving him at home OR the decision could end up costing more than the entire boarding bill. After coming very close to losing my own cat to diabetic ketoacidosis, I don't think I'd take that chance, but that's just me. Weigh your options carefully.

Another thought...
Do you have the option to bring Loki with you? That's what we ended up doing with Alex.
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It's that what if that certainly keeps me worried! I'm not concerned about him not eating, Loki is an emotional eater -- any emotion, so I'm sure he'll still be eating all of his food, and trying to get his brother's food as well. We also bought a timed feeder to help give him food throughout the day. But, you never know! We can't take him with us on this trip.

I have asked our neighborhood vet tech, the one I trust and like, she said she can't over Christmas, but any other vacations during the year, she can probably help. I can look on nextdoor, also. I'm just a wary of entrusting strangers with my baby's insulin injections!
 
Kelsey R said:
I can look on nextdoor, also. I'm just a wary of entrusting strangers with my baby's insulin injections!
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Understandable. What I would/will do if I ever need it is interview all of them, ask them for their vet tech certificate or diploma, and watch them test and give insulin. I trained 2 of my non-vet tech sitters to give insulin, and one of them had to come a few times to practice. Unfortunately, I think she missed the few times she gave it, but she tried. She was very nervous. That's what I knew it was time to get someone who's a professional.

Nothing against her, of course. Our sitters are excellent with our dog and kitties. But when it comes to giving meds and testing, it's not easy.

Anyway, just sharing what I would do.

EDIT: I should also add that I found my regular pet sitter on next door. She's a really nice lady and the one good thing about her she's available at the last minute all the time. If I am late at work I can just text her and she goes right over. So I had good experiences with finding people there so far.

I found my housekeeper there too, and she's AMAZING. She cleans my house better than I ever could, and better than any other housekeeper we've had in the past. The other day, she randomly folded all my laundry and organized my towel/sheets closet. Like, who does that without even being asked? She's getting a nice Christmas bonus this year :D
 
Ana & Frosty (GA) said:
pet sitter on next door. She's a really nice lady and the one good thing about her she's available at the last minute all the time. If I am late at work I can just text her and she goes right over. So I had good experiences with finding people there so far.

I found my housekeeper there too, and she's AMAZING. She cleans my house better than I ever could, and better than any other housekeeper we've had in the past. The other day, she randomly folded all my laundry and organized my towel/sheets closet. Like, who does that without even being asked? She's getting a nice Christmas bonus this year :D
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OMG! Can you send her here please?! My clean laundry pile is more like a clean laundry mountain these days! :arghh:
 
deleting previous post for something more helpful
Noah was a special-needs cat so this is really over the top advice but if you find just one thing helpful then boarding doesn't have to be awful. For us it was a balance between reading someone the riot act (which never helps) and asking the right questions. This was at our second vet where the staff has not known me for 16+ years so to them I'm just some guy with a cat.
>I needed to see where Noah would be. How noisy/bright/busy and crowded the room would be. He got a double wide crate at floor level.
>It won't be the vet testing and shooting so I brought Noah in near shot time and had the lead tech see how he needed to be handled and the very few places he could be tested and given insulin. Don't assume the smartest person in the building will be taking care of your cat.
>I had everything Noah needed preapproved; basket, dishes, blanket, food. You never know what might be considered unhealthy or not sterile.
>Noah was beyond nervous, lived in our walk-in closet for years so I made sure they understood this. I learned that lesson the hard way when a tech just rolled her eyes and gave me the "all kitties are special" look. Not getting that point across cost one of our older cats his life. There's ne easy way to say that and I'm not being dramatic.
>I knew this vet had everything except an MRI which is what we needed because the nearest emergency clinic is 45 minutes away.
>Noah was old enough and had so many medical issues he came with and "end of life" paper I had written. It can be important for a vet to know what you expect when you're 3,000 miles away out of cell phone range.
 
I agree many vet techs will do the job--I am not in your area but if you start asking you never know. My sister pet sits and for cats mostly goes to the home, I have taught her to test and dose and give fluids... if you have a good groomer they may know someone?
 
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