Diabetic cat with extreme separation anxiety

Hi – I'm Lizzie. Brand new poster here looking for some advice. I apologize in advance for length. The cliff’s notes are that I am looking for advice on managing a diabetic cat (10 yrs old, diagnosed at age 5) with extreme separation anxiety who has gotten sick enough to require hospitalization the last two times that I left town for more than one night. Please read below for details if you can help in any way, and thank you in advance for taking the time:

My cat, Frankie (female) is 10 years old and was diagnosed with diabetes when she was 5. She is on a very high dose of insulin (4 units 2x a day), which has climbed to that point over the years, only achieving good regulation within the last year (she has also been on 3 different kinds of insulin, and is currently on the Lantus insulin pen). For the last few years, every time I’ve had to go out of town (which isn’t often), I’ve either boarded her at the vet (which she did not handle well – have not done that since she was about 6 yrs old) or had a sitter come to feed her and give insulin injections. She handled sitters well at first, but for the last year or so she has not – gets extremely stressed and aggressive toward sitters. I think this stems from an incident in August 2015 where a pet sitter gave her an insulin injection after I had already given one (she misunderstood that she was supposed to come that evening, not that morning after I had left for work) and I had to check her in to the emergency vet for observation for the whole day. Frankie was fine – I remembered later that not all of my injection had gotten under her skin, so she probably didn’t even need the emergency vet – but ever since that incident, she has been extra aggressive and stressed every time I have left town (charging at the pet sitter and trying to attack her, urinating when she is cornered, etc.). At the end of September last year, I left town for 4 days, and Frankie had to be hospitalized for 4 days after I came back with an episode of pancreatitis that led to diabetic ketoacidosis after a couple of days of not eating and therefore not being able to receive insulin. My vet and I talked about managing her anxiety after that, and she started taking fluoxetine (Prozac). I went out of town for one night in November, about a month after her hospitalization and 2-3 weeks after starting Prozac, and she did fine. Then I went out of town for less than 48 hours for Christmas, and she was vomiting and refusing food when I came home – no pancreatitis, but she did have ketoacidosis, and had to be hospitalized for 6 days.

I have a consultation with a behaviorist scheduled for April 10, but for the time being I am just looking for any suggestions from anyone who has dealt with a diabetic cat with separation anxiety (or any cat with extreme separation anxiety). I may soon have a project assignment that requires me to take a few out-of-town trips this year, and I am not ready to lose her, especially since she seems perfectly normal whenever I am home and I don’t believe she is feeling sick or suffering at all.

 

HI Lizzie, sorry you're having such problems! I don't have any suggestions, but you may want to post this in the Main Health Forum where more people will see it.

 

Thank you for the tip! Will do.