Looking after a diabetic cat when you go away

Why the gap between injections matters

Most diabetic cats have insulin twice a day, roughly twelve hours apart. Each injection works for a limited stretch, and the aim is to keep blood sugar reasonably steady across the day rather than swinging. Two doses too close together overlap, which can push it too low. Too long a gap leaves a stretch with nothing working at all.

“Roughly” is doing some work there. Most vets allow a little leeway either side, and how much depends on the cat. I am not going to put a number on it, because it is not mine to put. Speak to your vet before you go, get the answer in writing, and hand it to whoever is covering you.

The other half of the routine is food. Many cats have the injection with a meal, and a cat that has not eaten is a different situation from one that has. Whoever covers you needs to know what your vet wants done when the cat turns its nose up. Get that answer before you leave as well.

If a dose is missed

It happens. The cat was out, the cat moved, somebody got the time wrong, or nobody is sure the needle went in properly. The answer is the same every time: do not give another dose to make up for it, and ring the vet.

Never guess at a second dose. What happens next is the vet’s call, not the sitter’s, and not yours from a hotel balcony.

If a cat that has had its insulin seems wobbly, weak, unusually quiet, or is not behaving like itself, that is a call to the vet straight away, not something to watch.

Two things make this easier. Put the vet’s number, including the out-of-hours one, where the sitter will see it. And keep a log: time given, whether it went in cleanly, whether the cat ate. Then the vet gets facts, not a best guess.

Before you go

• Supply. Enough insulin and needles for the trip, plus a margin. Check how yours should be stored and tell the sitter. Know where used needles go.
• The routine, written down. Times, food, what to do if the cat will not eat, and the signs that mean ring the vet. If it only exists in your head, nobody else can follow it.
• The vet. Tell them you are away and who is covering, and leave written permission for that person to act for you; your practice may want it before discussing your cat with anyone else.
• A handover in person. Whoever is doing the injections should watch you do one, then do one while you watch. It is the step people most want to skip.
• No changes in the last week. Same food, same times. A cat that is settled going into your holiday is far more likely to stay settled through it.

If a cattery is not the right fit

Catteries can usually manage insulin, but your cat has to go there, and a cat managed by timing and appetite does not always settle somewhere new. The wider comparison, including the cases where the cattery is the right answer, is on the cattery comparison page. The narrower question is who can hold an injection routine if your cat stays at home.

A friend or relative you teach

Fine, if they can be there at the same two times every day for the whole trip and are genuinely comfortable with a needle. Be honest with yourself about day nine at seven in the morning. A willing person who is secretly nervous of the needle is how doses end up missed.

A pet sitter who does injections

Ask directly, because a sitter who is fine with tablets is not always fine with a needle. Then ask whether they will hold fixed times, whether they want to see you do it first, and what they do if the cat will not eat. The answers tell you most of what you need.

Somebody staying in the house

Overnight house sitting in your own home can include the evening and morning injections, with somebody there through the night. It is not a cat being watched round the clock. If your cat is newly diagnosed or not yet stable, whether it should be left at all, and with what cover, is your vet’s call before it is anybody else’s.

A shorter first trip

Owners of newly diagnosed cats often go somewhere close for a few nights before they try a fortnight abroad. That is sensible, not over-cautious. Once the routine has been handed over successfully, the second time is much easier.

Where I come into it

I give insulin to cats at home as part of a normal cat sitting visit, at fixed times twelve hours apart. How the consultation works and what it adds to the price of a visit are on the medication visits page. Everything else that happens while you are away is on the cat sitting page.

I cover Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton and St Helens. Not the Wirral. Full list of postcodes.

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