? Cat sitter help - short on time

Discussion in 'Feline Health - (Welcome & Main Forum)' started by shelaghc, May 22, 2018.

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  1. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    I've posted in the Prozinc forum tagging the most knowledgeable folks there, but haven't heard anything since Sunday and I'm getting nervous.

    This Friday I'm going away for the weekend. The cat sitter will be giving Jester his dosage but not testing. She's a new sitter and Jester is a shy boy.
    She's familiar with giving insulin, but never tested her own kitty. On top of that, trying to get Jester to sit on the lap of a stranger is just about impossible.
    So we're ruling out testing for simplicity's sake.

    I need to come up with a dosage for Jester that will be as safe as possible for the 3.5 days I'll be away. I had hoped his BGs would have been a little lower by now on 1.5U so that if it goes up a bit it wouldn't be a big deal. Unfortunately he's been in mostly pinks and yellows for over a week.

    There was a choice over the weekend to either increase his dosage or do a curve and it was suggested by one of the board members that a curve would be better and I could increase his dosage on Monday. But Monday his BG was lower and I can't be home to monitor him.
    I don't know if I should increase or not now with time being so short. I don't know if it will do more harm than good if I increase but the sitter needs to decrease over the weekend. I showed her how to eyeball 1.25u, but we didn't get into 1.75u.

    Now I only have till Friday morning to come up with a plan for the weekend and none of the people on the Prozinc board that said they'd help me with one is responding. The most communication I've had was with a totally different board member who scared the crap out of me when I said the sitter won't be testing because their kitty died while they were away.

    Frankly, I'm starting to freak out.
     
  2. Idjit's mom

    Idjit's mom Well-Known Member

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    Hopefully since you posted in main forum it will get noticed. I'm sorry I can't help. Hope something good happens!
     
  3. Olive & Paula

    Olive & Paula Well-Known Member

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    I'm not familiar with Prozinc to give much guidance. Based on your ss 1.5 isn't doing much. And it is a bit early to advise yet. To much can change between now and Friday.
     
  4. SpotsMom

    SpotsMom Member

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    If it were my kitty I would hold off on any dose increase until you get back.. or maybe try a fat 1.5u? Unless you can get some mid-cycle data between increasing and when you leave, I tend to feel a slightly higher number is better than a possible hypo if your sitter is not going to be testing. Does Jester have a history of ketones?

    Don't panic. The person you were mentioning whose kitty died while they were away had other preexisting conditions and a vet tech who didn't listen to instructions. If you trust your sitter to follow your instructions there is no reason to think Jester will be any worse for wear :bighug:
     
  5. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    What's a fat 1.5u?
    Right now I'm eyeballing the 1.5u one single unit syringes because I have a limited number of syringes with half unit markings and I'd rather the sitter have those available to make things simpler for her.
     
  6. SpotsMom

    SpotsMom Member

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    Its a little bit higher than 1.5u but not quite 1.75u. Without the half unit markings it may be hard to eyeball, but you could try just pulling it to where you normally would for 1.5u, then just a hair further.
     
  7. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    Hmmm... That's different.
    btw, do you know if UK syringes are much different than US syringes? I got some from another member for the cost of shipping (still way less than buying them), but when I used them it just seemed like the reading were going up higher.
    I wish I'd kept track of the dates so I could compare better.
     
  8. SpotsMom

    SpotsMom Member

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    That I don't know.. I would think there may be small variances between manufacturers but I couldn't say for sure...
     
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  9. Noah & me (GA)

    Noah & me (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Aren't the syringes marked with a capacity? My U-100 are 1/2 cc, same as 1/2 ml and there are 50 lines so each line is 0.01 cc. Metric is the same everywhere and insulin is measured by volume, not weight. Newbies reading this, 1 line does NOT necessarily mean one unit.
     
  10. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    Okay, thanks.
    And thanks very much for the suggestions about this weekend.
     
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  11. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    These are U40s. I've never been brave enough to try the conversion.
     
  12. Noah & me (GA)

    Noah & me (GA) Well-Known Member

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    U40 to U100, multiply the lines by 2.5
    I need at least two other people to verify that before you even consider it.
     
  13. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    Well, since I have a lot of U40s, I'm going to keep using those for now.

    Maybe eventually, but not now.
     
  14. Noah & me (GA)

    Noah & me (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Agreed, why bother with the extra stress. Sorry, what days are you leaving/returning?
     
  15. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    Friday after AMPS and morning dosage / Monday after evening dosage - planning to do a mid-cycle after I get a short breather and hug my kitties.
    Or, I might wait until morning so that Jester isn't getting a poke in the ear right after I get home. *g*
    I want him to realize he missed me.
     
  16. Zoey & Carol

    Zoey & Carol Member

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    Just my two cents from someone who uses a pet sitter a lot. I wouldn't increase the dose when I'm not around to monitor. Better too high than too low. A couple of days a little higher won't harm your kitty. (And I've used the U100 syringes for a long time with the conversion chart. It's so much easier to see when you are giving smaller doses.)
     
  17. Noah & me (GA)

    Noah & me (GA) Well-Known Member

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    I know this is basic stuff you know. Noah still bounces and is unregulated after all this time so I haven't invested everything in getting him just right. He'll probably never be "just right". If I had to do this in a big hurry I'd cut the dose to 1/3 and deal later because Better too high than too low isn't just some clever saying.
    Are you going to be in constant contact with us and the sitter; photos, video, the whole smart phone 9 yards? I'm still on a land line so I'm just groping with that.
     
  18. Idjit's mom

    Idjit's mom Well-Known Member

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    Found that out! Sent DH for U100, 1/2 Unit markings, he came home with what you describe. Can't return ,opened a 10 pack and went "what"?
     
  19. Ana & Frosty (GA)

    Ana & Frosty (GA) Well-Known Member

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    I agree, don’t make any changes. He won’t die of sugars in 300s - as my poor boy has demonstrated over the last 3 MONTH (we are working him up for a more serious metabolic condition which is causing this, but as you can see higher is safer than lower LOL). Go with the current dose and adjust when you get back.

    I also went away for 10 days before and my pet sitter didn’t test. Cat was fine. Better err on the higher side than lower.
     
  20. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    Jun 28, 2017
    Contact - yes.
    Constant? Depends on what you call that. There are two sitters - one who's taking care of food, litter, etc.; the other is taking care of the insulin.
    It's a long story.
    Neither of them are going to be with the kids 27/7.
    But they're going to check in with me daily with info on how much Jester is eating and how he and the other kids are handling everything, along with what time Jester gets his insulin.

    I actually bought a nanny cam so I can keep an eye on the kids myself, but there have been problems with connectivity and I'm not sure if that's going to work.
     
  21. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    I wasn't actually planning to increase while I'm away. But I've been a bit worried about the pinks and yellows and had been trying to decide if it would be okay to increase for a couple of days while I'm still home.

    The Prozinc folks have been weighing in this evening and we're now discussing in more depth.

    Thanks everyone for hand-holding me today. This has all been very calming for me.
     
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  22. Nancy & Cootie (GA)

    Nancy & Cootie (GA) Member

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    Oct 16, 2014
    One thing you may want to do for the insulin dose—set up a dummy shot filled with colored water to the dose you decide on for the pet sitter to use. She/he can use that as a guide.
     
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  23. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    @SpotsMom I tried the "fat 1.5U" tonight and am going to check at +5 (about midnight) to see what that does for him. Thanks for the suggestion!

    UPDATE:
    Wow! I got one of the lowest readings I've had this month on that +5!
     
    Last edited: May 22, 2018
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  24. SpotsMom

    SpotsMom Member

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    Nice blue!
     
  25. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    And we're back to a pink AMPS.
    Oh Jester, you're so changeable.
     
  26. SpotsMom

    SpotsMom Member

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    Spot does he same thing. Every time he gets a good number for the first time in a while he bounces up for the next PS. The life of a bouncy kitty haha. I wouldn’t change anything else for him until after you get back. He is definitely very responsive to small dose adjustments!
     
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  27. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    And that backfired on me.

    Jester's BG when I got home this afternoon was 146. Mind you, that was a +10 and he isn't due for an injection until about 7:00pm. But I hate to make him wait until then for "dinner" so I use it as a sort of guide.

    Except his +10/+11 after work hasn't been this low in nearly a month. And I never think about stalling.

    And now I don't know what to do with just over 36 hours until I leave.
     
  28. SpotsMom

    SpotsMom Member

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    Wow Jester!! Normally this would be a great number but I understand your concern since you’re leaving this weekend. It is only Tuesday so you have a few days to see what happens. Are you comfortable keeping him there til Thursday to see if he settles, then maybe reducing to 1.25u for the sitter?
     
  29. SpotsMom

    SpotsMom Member

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    And I just realized it’s not actually Tuesday haha. Long week. Well you have one more day......
     
  30. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    Today is Wednesday .
    I leave Friday after his AM injection.

    I don't even know if I should give him his insulin tonight.
     
  31. SpotsMom

    SpotsMom Member

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    I think at this point I wouldn’t go any higher than 1.25u for the weekend. A little high is safer than too low. Fat 1.5u looks good for him once you get back but no need to experiment while you’re not there to monitor.
     
  32. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    I can't even do a proper PMPS because he ate a full can of food.

    This hasn't been an issue for most of the year since I started working.
    I get home, get a bg at about +10 or +11, feed everyone, and - unless something weird has happened- give Jester his insulin at the 12-hour point.
     
  33. SpotsMom

    SpotsMom Member

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    I think he should still get his shot tonight. Based on his previous numbers, you have shot 1.5 & 1.25 on preshots that were only a little higher than where he was at +10 today. He probably would have come up quite a bit in that last 2 hours. Test him again at shot time, which will be food influenced but that’s ok. If it’s still under 250, maybe reconsider, but if it’s over give a maybe slightly reduced dose.... 1u or 1.25u.
     
  34. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    How do you mean reconsider?
     
  35. SpotsMom

    SpotsMom Member

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    If it’s still under 250 despite the high carb food, skipping is probably ok.
     
  36. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    Okay.
    Thanks. I've been in full blown panic mode since taking Jester's BG at 5:15.
     
  37. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    It was 270 - maybe .5U?
     
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  38. SpotsMom

    SpotsMom Member

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    Yeah I think that’s a good call.
     
  39. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    Done - thanks so much.
    I'll check him again before bed. Tomorrow I'll probably be dosing him about 7:30am.

    The dose for the sitter is going to be tricky though.
     
  40. shelaghc

    shelaghc Well-Known Member

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    @SpotsMom - fasting BG at +5 was 225.
    .5U wsa the right call for now, I think.

    Thank you again for holding my hand.
     
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