eastsideTim
eastsideTim UltimaDork
11/21/22 12:07 p.m.

If you've seen some of my post history, my wife and I had two cats, one of which was medically complex.  We lost him a year ago, but for a few years before he passed, we pretty much needed one of us to be around the house to medicate him every day, so only one of us could be away overnight at any one time.  Nearer to the end, it was taxing enough that neither of us could be away.  From about the beginning of this year forward, we assumed we'd be able to take a vacation together sometime, but hadn't gotten around to it.  Well, fate intervened. 

Our other cat (who has been incredibly healthy, but is now 17 years old), has started needing some regular medication.  She's also a lot feistier than her brother was.  At first, we were able to hide pills inside treats and pastes specifically for that, but she's figured that out, and as of about 3-4 weeks ago, we need to do the "force the cat's mouth open, use a pill dispenser to get the pill in her mouth, hold her mouth closed to force her to swallow" trick.  And she fights us the whole time.  We've used a syringe of water to try to "encourage" her to swallow, done the rubbing the underside of her jaw trick, and multiple other things.  Right now, at least, she only needs a pill every other day.

I have work travel coming up in late January, and my wife and I are both trapped at home in general due to this situation.  If each of us could get out for a few days occasionally, it'd be really nice.  I was wondering, has anyone hired a vet tech to assist with medicating their pet at home?  If so, how much did it cost?  If we could hire one for the occasions one of us won't be around, it could make life a lot more pleasant.

LifeIsStout
LifeIsStout Reader
11/21/22 12:59 p.m.

My fiancee is a Vet (Emergency Dr.) and we use her techs to house/pet sit. We also have daily medications that our cat has to take, so when we leave town the tech takes care of everything. A vet tech is pretty underpaid money wise compared to other professions, so the ones we have are super happy to get the extra money, and they stay at our house.

Here in Seattle we pay them 100$ a day, but that is for 2 cats and one dog. One cat requires meds both morning and night.  One thing we do is use a compounded medication, so it's not quite your bitter pill.  We have one that is a soft chew and one that is called a bitter block which is like a crunchy treat. We mix them into wet food in order to get him to eat it all. If you have a good relationship with your vet, I would start by asking them if they have any techs that might be interested, but I would ask for a tech that has been doing the job for awhile or is a registered vet tech (they have gone through a certain amount of training).

JThw8
JThw8 UltimaDork
11/21/22 8:32 p.m.

We are in the same boat with not being able to leave animals alone and have been for years.  It seems we always have some special needs animal around here.   For quite some time we did have the vet tech from our local vet acting as our petsitter so it was a great arrangement.  Unfortunately she went off to veterinary school and we've had a mixed bag of petsitters ever since.

eastsideTim
eastsideTim UltimaDork
11/21/22 9:00 p.m.

Thank you.  This would likely be a situation where they'd just need to stop by in the evening to give Lucy her pill, then head on out.  I don't see my wife and I taking any vacations that require a pet sitter, we'll probably stick with separate trips while the cat is still with us.  It does sound like getting a vet tech to help out is viable, though.  I'll check at the vet's office at some point.

Duke
Duke MegaDork
11/22/22 7:59 a.m.

My sister had a diabetic cat who needed an insulin shot every day.  During the week she had a service that sent a tech by every afternoon while they were at work to dose him.

I don't know if it was from a vet's office or just specialist pet sitters. I can find out if you'd like.

 

Jerry
Jerry PowerDork
11/22/22 8:39 a.m.

When I first got Chewie, I tried Rover and the person I used was a vet tech at a local place.  Don't know if that's an option.

The 9yr old kitty I adopted last weekend came with eye drops and a pill they said I could grind up into her food, but she's still hiding so much I haven't been able to try it.  She's old and pretty chill so I'm hoping tonight I can make the attempt and not lose skin.

AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter)
AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) SuperDork
11/22/22 8:49 a.m.

The kennel (pet resort) we use for our dogs also boards cats and has a 'day care' area. If you can't arrange for a tech to come to the house, dropping off Lucy for a few hours or a few days may be a good alternative.

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
11/22/22 5:03 p.m.

We use a professional dog sitting service based here in Ormond Beach, Florida. Looks like they will administer meds. Perhaps you have a similar service near you? 

eastsideTim
eastsideTim UltimaDork
11/22/22 5:57 p.m.

I did find a local vet service that does house calls, so I suspect that will work (but be more expensive) if my local vet office doesn't have a vet tech that feels like moonlighting.

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