Boarding a diabetic dog

[Tori]

Has anybody boarded their diabetic dog and how did it go. I normally take my pup with me when I go on vacation. Unfortunately, I'm going out of the country so I'll have to board her. I spoke with the kennel owner and she said she has dealt with diabetic dogs and cats before. Any suggestions for things I should ask and how should I supply the insulin...pre-made syringes, etc?

[CarolW]

Re: Boarding a diabetic dog

How long will you be away?

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 07:40:52 (PST)

[Tori]

Re: Boarding a diabetic dog

I'm leaving on Monday, so Tori will go in after her morning insulin. I'm going to have my daughter pick her up Friday since I'll be home later than the scheduled pick up times, so I'll be back for her PM insulin.

[Taylor]

Re: Boarding a diabetic dog

It would'nt hurt to supply a photo of your dog along with the insulin instructions. If they inject the wrong dog it would not be good. I am facing having to board next month and the vets office where I left him last time is booked. I am afraid to try a new place and will probably just take him with me.
Pat

[Tori]

Re: Boarding a diabetic dog

Taylor...I don't blame you. I always take Tori but this time I can't and it's stressing me.

[peggy0]

Re: Boarding a diabetic dog

I have a pet sitter whose mother has diabetes. She knows how to take care of him. If I didn't have her I'd board with my vet.

[Roxee'sDad]

Re: Boarding a diabetic dog

Gosh I hate to say this, I did a short internship (lack of another word) at a boarding kennel during my grooming class.

I was shocked to witness what could and does happen. The owner was pretty good about giving meds but the hired help not so good. She intended to give a diabetic dog her shot but forgot and left it on top of the kennel. I found it the next morning and pointed it out to the owner. He threw it away and didn't mark it on the dogs log. I have also seen them throw away meds that were not given (forgotten) because he was sure the owner would count the meds after they picked up their dog.

There are really good boarding facilities out there but there are some bad ones too. Some have nothing to hide and are proud to have a web cam in thier facilities so you can check in via the web and offer 24 hour attention. Some are left unattended from 5 pm until morning.

I either take my pups with me in the RV on vacation or bring in a trusted full time dog sitter. In my case it is a retired uncle that loves dogs and enjoys staying at my house just to get away.

If the above choices are not available to you, certainly get references from your friends or a trusted vet. I visit many kennel in my area so I can recommend a good boarding facilty to my customers. For my special customers that have needy dogs (epilepsy for the most part), I offer to bring them in my home while they are away, but only one or two at a time.

ETA: I forgot to mention that the owner took away all food and water by 3 pm so there wouldn't be much of a mess to clean up in the morning Dogs go out for tha last time at 5 pm then the kennel is shut down for the night (unattended) until 8 am. Don't want to scare you but just make you aware. Some are just in it for the easy money.

John (Roxee's Dad)

[Tori]

Re: Boarding a diabetic dog

You scared me. The kennel I was looking into is across the street from where I work and the owners live on the premises. Also, all of their workers are trained in dog first aid and c.p.r. and they have a vet on call 24 hours a day. I'm going to meet with them before deciding if I will send her there. There is another one that Tori went to years ago and they said they have dealt with diabetic pets and Tori's vet is down the road, but this place doesn't make me as comfortable as the first place. Thanks.

[dctexan]

Re: Boarding a diabetic dog

We love love LOVE our boarding facility. LOVE THEM. Dixon also goes there for daycare 1-2 times per week. They love Dixon and definitely try to do best by him.

That being said, I am just going to be honest with you and say that each time we have boarded him his BGLS have gone up to 600+. Not necessarily everyday, but often enough that we just accept that he will have HIGH BGLs when he is boarded. It sucks and we hate it, but we travel to places where we can not take the dog and we aren't going to stop doing that completely just because the dog has diabetes. I am guessing that what happens is probably a combo of the following
a). a worker forgets to give Dixon his shot (which I would much rather have happen that have him get two shots so I always stress "when in doubt, DO NOT INJECT!")
b). His food is messed up (this happens because part of Dixon's food has to be refrigerated and then mixed in with the dry and I suspect that sometimes he just gets the dry food)
c). He crashes due to increased exercise (doggie daycare is very active!)

Now we could simply chose to board him at the vet. I am pretty sure that his meds and diet would be adhered much better. BUT he would be absolutely miserable stuck in a vet cage all day while we are gone. My husband and I have decided that it is better for him to go to his regular boarding facility and we agree to accept the risk that his BGLs will not be well managed while there. As a previous poster wrote, the owners/managers of a kennel can be fantastic (as is the case with us), but the kennel workers who are actually doing the feeding, cleaning, and medicating are probably not the smartest most organized people in the world and mistakes are going to happen regularly (and those mistakes will probably not be reported or caught). It is just one of those things you need to accept if you board your dog.

I will also say that I know that our kennel would be great about getting Dixon to the vet right away if needed (stopped eating, excessive urination, behavior "not right"). We call every day while we are away and get an update and we know that if we ever say "take him to the vet", they will.

[dctexan]

Re: Boarding a diabetic dog

Hints for making the boarding/medication process smoother...

We label EVERYTHING with name and instructions (so food is label with name and amount to be given per feeding and # of times per day that is to be done)

We label each syringe with the date and AM or PM so that workers can easy tell whether a shot has been given or not. We also give 4 extra syringes in case a need gets bent or dropped or lost or whatever.

We provide a sharps container

We give them out BGL monitor and test strips and ask them to test 2 x day (before giving food and injection). This isn't always done (which is what makes me think that sometimes they skip an injection), but we at least have some data that can be reported to us while we are gone. Also if the dog is acting "weird" the workers can test and see if he needs a snack or if BGLS are sky high.

We provide a sheet for BGL data to be written.

I tried to give them a check sheet for each day with the following...

AM
Check BGL
Feed breakfast (dry food, green beans, cottage cheese)
Insulin injection

PM
Check BGL
Feed dinner (dry food, green beans, cottage cheese)
Insulin injection

But they told me they had their own system

I also write out detailed instructions about how to do everything (test BGL, give injection, feed) as well as behaviors to look out for.

[Patty]

Re: Boarding a diabetic dog

Emily,
That's great information. So do you pre-fill syringes for them or just label the syringes for when they are to be used and give them the vial?

I know BD is one company that doesn't recommend prefilling syringes but people have to do it sometimes and get by ok with storing them needle upward so the crystals don't clog the tip. And making sure to roll them to remix the insulin.

But I'd worry about doing it for more than a weekend.

Just curious,
Patty

[eyelostit]

Re: Boarding a diabetic dog

I showed the kennel owner how to do shots, we were the first diabetic dog to be boarded there, I called the kennel every day, Niki ran out of food and he went to the vet and bought more for her, this was way back when she was first dx.

Dolly & Niki

[Tori]

Re: Boarding a diabetic dog

I called the kennel near my job and the owner said since they weren't trained in giving the shots, she wouldn't be comfortable giving Tori the insulin. I appreciated her honesty. I did manage to find a medical boarding facility, which is a vet who owns a large farm and lives on the premises. It's a little pricier than a regular kennel but it will allow me to keep my sanity while on my vacation. It's funny because I joke how it'll probably be more to board her than me...lol Thanks to everybody for their input and suggestions.

[Cornspot]

Re: Boarding a diabetic dog

It all depends on the place...

I work in the kennel at a vet hospital. We used to train all of the more experienced staff how to do injections but had a couple of mistakes (using the wrong kind of syringe). Now only techs, myself or the assistant kennel manager are allowed to give injections. This new policy has resulted in a higher fee for giving injections, but we have had no problems with any of our diabetic boarders since.

Where I worked before, the owner lived on the property & did all the injections herself.

I recommend bringing extra syringes and even an extra bottle of insulin if you have it (in case it gets dropped on the concrete floor). Ask to look at the dog's cage card to make sure it is written correctly (or where ever they write medications down).

If you are bringing your own food, you should pack each meal into a separate ziplock baggie so that there are no measuring errors. Be sure to pack extra food in case your return is delayed for any reason.

Ask what kind of schedule they will be able to keep. We are not always at the facilty for a full 12 hours per day. We feed and inject our diabetics by 8am and after 6pm (as late as possible). Make sure they know that the food needs to be fed at injection time. We feed most of our guests around 9am and again around 3pm but make exceptions for the diabetics.

If they don't have their own check-off list for meds, you can provide one for them & ask that it be marked (preferably with initials).

[Madisonh]

Re: Boarding a diabetic dog

My dog is 13 years old and is a diabetic and we are going on vacation. We are nervous about leaving her with someone in case her sugar get low at night , forget to give her insulin ect. But we aren't sure about boarding her because she is old and she would like to be at home and most are not open all through the night it's just dogs at the place. What did you end up doing with your dog and how did it go? Thx I would really appreciate it if you could help thx again!