To board or not to board...

That is the question I've wrestled with for the last week. I'm reaching out to this wonderful and experienced hive mind for some input.

Alley was diagnosed just last month. I've been testing out TR protocol, currently waiting for levels to settle after what looks like a bounce in response her most recent increase. We are in a good, if fairly exhausting (for me) schedule, so I've been very consistent with timing, dosing, meals, etc. All of this is great, except that I'm leaving town next Monday and will be away for a week.

Before diagnosis, I had a sitter come in twice a day to feed Alley, scoop, etc. She's always been able to remain at home when I travel, even if she misses her mama and gets a bit sad (possibly angry, she's no stranger to peeing in my luggage once I've returned). For this next trip, I have several potential sitters lined up who can give shots, but I've become so accustomed to testing BG before each shot, that the thought of shooting blind now freaks me out. This will be my first time away since she was diagnosed. So...

I made a reservation to board Alley at the vet, a place she VERY much dislikes, just as an option. I took a look at the facility over the weekend. She would been in a quieter area than the other cats, the staff would be able to keep an eye on her and give her shots on time. However, she'd be in a cage for the entire week, and apart from running an official vet curve that would cost me a fortune I do not have, they aren't going to be testing her before every shot and throughout the day as I do at home.

The dilemma is this: Do I keep her at home and have a sitter come in twice daily for meals, to restock automatic feeders, and give shots, knowing she will not be especially closely monitored apart from those times but will be considerably less stressed than she would be in a cage at the vet for a week, OR do I board her and run the risk of completely stressing her out, but with the knowledge that someone can respond to her relatively faster than at home should something come up?

Are there ways to make a sitter situation a bit safer for Alley so she can stay at home? Maybe have her on a slightly lower dose so she doesn't go too low and then readjust when I get home? Alternatively, am I perhaps overestimating the stress of boarding and imposing my own human sense of comfort and time on her?

We need some help with this one...

 

if sitters can give shots than there's no reason why they can't do BG reading before the shots too IMO. the shots are harder than poking ear for blood to me.
she doesn't like the place and they won't do readings before shots so why stress her out, i would keep kitty at home and teach one of the sitters how to do BG reading and going by current spreadsheet numbers i probably would temporarily lower dose back to 1.50 since there weren't any really low numbers at that dose, or maybe even 1.25 if i was really worried since they won't be doing nadir readings.. think your baby will do best and be fine at home on a slightly lower dose, just no need to ruin all the work to get her regulated you have done by boarding her and having her stress level ruin it all. And you could buy one of them cheap $20-30 wifi cameras with audio on them and set it up in her favorite area/s and check up on her to ease your own stress of being away from her for a week.

 

I'd teach your sitter to home test (at least before the shot), reduce the dose while you're gone and try to have a good time!!

You might ask her if she'd be willing to drop by later in the day or look into hiring someone to "live in" while you're gone....that's the best of both worlds but takes some time to develop a trusting relationship

 

It feels like a lot to ask someone to also test. Alley is not compliant and purring like CC when she's tested--what a dream that would be!

Have you (or anyone else who can weigh in) had success having an outside caregiver test as well as shoot?

 

I had to board Noah in May for an unpleasant family trip. Noah has been out of the house maybe 8 times in 15 years, each trip is a tragedy for him. He can't be crated, has to be wrapped in towels and piddle pads and we call ahead to make sure our appointment won't be delayed. In other words, I know exactly how you feel. A sitter won't work because he's terrified of even looking out the window so we made very specific plans with our secondary vet. He was put in a double wide kennel on the floor and we gave the vet's staff specific instructions on what not to do, EVER! I say that because his brother Andrew was basically murdered by an incompetent tech and that was partly on me because I did not demand to see where he would stay and what surprise tests they would perform on him. (They yanked him from his crate at 3AM for a blood pressure test; he freaked and had a cardiac event).
That's all very negative but the point is if you write specific instructions and make double-damn sure not only the vet but the staff as well understand what you expect boarding does not have to be a nightmare. That was the first night I had been out of the house in 3 years and Noah came home fine. It is possible.
Bring your own bed, dishes, water bowls etc. Maybe some Feliway as well.
On the other hand how closely does Alley have to be monitored? You can always reduce her shots slightly and deal with higher numbers later. There's no place like home, we just didn't have a choice.

 

This is a timely thread because I've been wrestling with the same question.

I've taken Pretty Girl to the animal hospital for medical boarding half a dozen times in the last year for 7 to 14 days boarding while I've been out of town - think $$$$$$. But I had no one to care for her at home. It's very stressful for Pretty Girl - she hates it - and has been super costly for me - money I don't really have.

This week I met a vet tech who has a diabetic cat of her own and she is going to cat sit for me. She is already familiar with checking BG with AlphaTrak, giving Lantus shots and testing for ketones. She knows about feeding wet food and will leave food out. And she will feed and care for my 3 other cats. Her name is Kelsea and she is the off-hours on call tech as well so if there is an emergency she is the one who would take care of her at the vet. She will come to my house twice on days she works at about 12 hours apart and will check her 3 times a day on her days off.

I'm sure it will be fine although it still makes me a bit nervous. But I know it will be good for Pretty Girl to not have the stress of leaving home and staying at the hospital for a week.

 

Many vet techs are also pet sitters, at least around here. This means the same people that would be caring for my animals in boarding at the vet are the ones who care for them here. At least four or five of the techs at my vet are pet sitters. I had one take care of my bottle baby kittens this spring, and she ended up taking them home with her for the night to care for them even though I was coming home around midnight.

I can't imagine that isn't true in other places. If you find a tech as a pet sitter, you can ask them to test with no guilt.

 

I agree, if you can get one of the vet techs to come over that would be the best option.

When I had to board diabetic cats at the vet, I always wrote out very detailed instructions that included the cats must be tested before every shot with my meter. My vet's office was very good about folllowing my instructions. If you do have to board her include your "Don't shoot" number in the instructions.

 

I boarded. It was worth the peace of mind.

My niece took care of my other five.

 

Update: we did both, and neither went especially well.

I decided to save Alley the stress of going to the vet and opted instead to have her regular sitter come in twice a day for meals and injections. I purchased an automatic feeder that dispenses wet food, so Alley could eat every four hours between sitter visits. The sitter was comfortable with the injections (we did several tutorials over the days leading up to my trip). Alley's numbers were ok, so I was feeling assured that things would go fine while I was away. Instead, Alley got testy with the sitter on Thursday around injection time, which made the sitter lose some of her confidence. This was compounded by the fact that Alley's appetite was on the decline and she wasn't being super consistent in finishing her snacks. To mitigate the stress on everyone, I made the call to have the sitter take Alley to board at the vet the following day, where they'd be able to keep a close eye on her meals and injections. Just getting Alley into her crate was a huge ordeal that had to be dragged out over the course of a few hours on Friday morning. I eventually had to coach my sitter over the phone to get Alley into the carrier, I was in tears as I could hear Alley was growling and howling. I felt completely helpless.

Alley arrived at the vet on Friday afternoon extremely stressed out, so much so that they gave her gabapentin to settle her down and ensure she could get her pm shot (she'd missed the am). When I spoke to the vet that evening, he wasn't certain the techs would be able to give her the injections because she was so worked up. He gave the me the option of a) having the sitter come back to take Alley home and forego insulin shots until I returned on Tuesday, or b) keeping her boarded and allowing them to give her gabapentin as needed so she could continue to get her injections...he said they'd try to do her blood glucose, but because they couldn't guarantee it, they'd lower her dose to 1 unit (she's been at 1.75) and reassess every 12 hours. They got one glucose test on Monday, and of course Alley was mid-300s. I'm still waiting for a full (and detailed) report on how often she actually received her insulin at ate meals. She didn't eat breakfast yesterday, so the vet advised the tech not to shoot AM, which baffles me given how high she was the previous day. In any case, here's where we're at now:

Alley is home and not well. Her numbers are higher than they've been since I started monitoring BG. She's barely eating, so I'm syringe feeing the prescription canned food because she won't touch the ff at the moment. She's drinking a TON, is crying a lot ,and has trace ketones. I'm concerned and pretty angry that I paid money for 'special' care boarding and the best the clinic could do was sedate my cat and give her 1/2 the amount of insulin her body needed. One would think that twice daily doses of gabapentin would allow them to at least prick her ear and get some numbers a few times.

I upped her to 1.5 last night, gave her the same this morning and thought things would begin to even out. However, I got a +9 350ish reading, and now I'm wondering if I need to up her dose back up to 1.75? I was hesitant to do so last night as I didn't want her to crash or bounce after lower insulin amounts for the last several days. TR says to hold the does for three days, but this seems like a unique circumstance. Unfortunately, I don't have numbers for the last week. But PLEASE, any suggestions? I feel like we're back to square one.

 

It won't help Alley but you paid for professional medical care and did not receive it.
I'm a little irrational about something else today so I can't help with medical advice. My other post about boarding Noah is close to the top. I know how you feel.

 

@Kerri B.

Sounds dreadful and worrying.

I think you'll catch the more experienced eyes if you post a new thread about this in the Lanctus forum . Use the ? prefix in the title.

 

Oh dear, that does sound like a nightmare. And you're right about paying for professional care and not receiving it. Frustrating on lots of counts. And I'm sorry you're having a rough day, too. Sending good energy your way

 

Thank you! Do you know how I link this post when I do that? I'm figuring this will be helpful for some background

 

The quick and easy way.

1 - Copy the URL for this thread. You will see that in your search box or use this one
---> http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/to-board-or-not-to-board.201091/#post-2245062

2 - Go to the Lantus forum to start your new thread. Use the drop down prefix to get the ? as part of the title and state you need dose help.That lets folks know you are hoping for timely advice and help.

3 - Paste the URL that you copied into the message box & tell people this is previous info and post. Also post a quick precis that you need dose help.

The link I did takes more steps and it's best you get it up and running whilst people are still up and about.