Work Trip coming up-what to do???

After recent events I'm a little leary about posting this, but would really like some ideas....
So, I have a work trip coming up in 2 1/2 weeks. I'll be gone for 7 full days.
I'm not sure what to do about the insulin???
In the past if I've gone away, it's never been more for a weekend. In that case she always just went without insulin.
I've got a friend who is taking the dogs to her house and will come and feed the cats twice a day and clean litter.
Korbel has never allowed anyone but me touch her, much less sit still for an ear test.
I can't afford to board her at the vet-plus she gets outrageous vet stress-about a 300pt increase.

Before Korbel's hypo, the plan was to prefill some syringes and hope that my friend would be able to give a shot or 2 during the trip.
After the hypo, I'm obviously leary of that idea.

So, no insulin for 7 days (granted it was 10 years ago, but she was diabetic for a long time before dx) or risk it with giving a small dose (like 1/2 normal) every few days-if she could even do it.

 

Ask if any of the vet techs are interested in making a few dollars on the side to check in on Korbel.

Contact a Professional Pet Sitter. Generally they are not as expensive as you might think, for the peace of mind you get. Here's some from the PUP directory for your. Look for one that is licensed, bonded, and experienced. http://www.petsits.com/findasitter.php You can also try Pet Sitters International. http://www.petsit.com/

I've also heard of clients prefilling syringes and cutting the dose by 0.5 to 1u. I've also heard suggested to prefill a sample syringe with colored water that the sitter can compare their draw too. Edit* Lantus should not be pre-filled.

Or is there maybe anyone right here on the board that could look in for the few weeks?

 

Hi Jennifer,

Just a note:
Pre-filling syringes with Lantus is not generally recommended.

Proper Handling & Storage


As they usually suggest here, a lot can happen from now till your trip time.
I would suggest highlighting the date in your SS, and giving a reminder here and there in your condo's.

One of the other suggestions is also reducing the dose, having someone who can test and shoot, preferably.
It helps for the DPS (dear pet sitter) to meet and familiarize themselves with the kitty.
You can also show DPS how to test and having a sample syringe filled with fruit juice, for example, is a great idea.

 

Unfortunately, you really shouldn't pre-fill syringes with Lantus. See page 3 in this link from the Handling Lantus sticky.

You might check with your vet's office to see if one of the techs does pet sitting on the side. That's what I do for Gabby when I travel. She will not allow anyone but me to test. I reduce the dose and the pet sitter comes by x2/day to feed, clean the litter, and shoot.

 

No pet sitters in my area-small town living at it's finest :roll: To make it even worse, I'm about 45-60min away from the nearest town, up a mountain. Ironically, the reason the town was chosen to be here is because of the isolation-which is good and bad for those of us living here today!
Sienne, so you don't have the tech test? Just give a reduced dose? I was toying with the idea of having her get a reduced dose every few days, just to get some insulin into her.
That's good to know about the pre-filled syringes, guess that part of the plan is scrapped!

 

Seriously, Gabby won't let anyone but me test. I've had both a feline vet nurse and a feline vet tech pet sit. Gabby hisses, then growls, then screams, and then the claws and teeth come out. She gets incredibly stressed. She will let them shoot since food is involved. If you look at our SS, the grayed out blocks where tests are noticeably absent is when I have a petsitter here. You can see how the dose has been adjusted. It makes me absolutely nuts that my DPS is shooting blind but I really don't have a choice. All I can do is to make sure that the dose is safe and there's plenty of food left out.

I've also set up a demo syringe. I usually use milk or orange juice as the liquid since the marks on the syringe show up against the color and measure out how much I want drawn up.

 

I'd go with pre-filled juice syringe as a sample. Then reduce the dose 0.5 to 1.0 unit. While you often worry about the amount in the syringe, we had one pet sitter in a panic after several days because that cat went "rads" (radioactive fractious). Well, it turned out the sitter wasn't paying attention to the bevel on the needle and the technique wasn't good. After a bit of coaching, things were better.

This advice is what my experience has taught me as both a diabetic care giver and as a Professional Pet Sitter myself. Many sitters are scared to death of handling diabetic pets. Generally most owners understand this and will simply cut the dose and keep the pet as close to normal schedule as possible.

 

Oh, I can completely relate to that, must be that calico thing!

 

That sounds like a good plan. She's only on 1 unit right now, so unless something changes, I'll drop it to 0.5unit. I like the idea of the mock syringe.