Sub-Q Fluids

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Tuesday getting her sub-q fluids at home.
The extra fluid helps flush the toxins out of her kidneys and keeps her hydrated and happy.
She is a much better patient than she was when we first started this journey April 2008.

My baby Tuesday has chronic asthma. She started out with an inhaler using a chamber. Then she had to go to a nebulizer. Now we are back to her inhalers (albuterol & flovent) & only use the nebulizer when it's real bad. She was also diagnosed with early stages of kidney failure on 3/13/07. Sub-q fluids was not necessary till 4/23/08. Tuesday is aprox 17-18 yrs old. She is the love of my life...

Here are some links for more information on CRF (chronic renal failure)
http://www.felinecrf.com/managb.htm
http://www.felinecrf.org/what_is_crf.htm
Also very helpful is this support group for CRF.
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Feline-CRF-Support/

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• chronic
• renal
• failure
• sub-q-fluids
• feline
• cat
• pet
• tortishell
• tortie
• tuesday
• baby

[jorgerod1975]

Probably I got to start givin fluids to my 6 yo. cat very soon. I'm very scared and this kind of videos helps a lot. Isn't the skin of your cat damaged with the needles, day after day after day? I will appreciate any answer and advices that you can give to me. Thank you very much.

[nyissa64]

Hi,

I am sorry to hear you may have to start giving fluids to your 6 yr old kitty. It is pretty scary at first but you can do it. I felt the exact same way in the beginning, but it does get easier.

As far as doing any damage to the skin with the needle day after day. I searched online & didn't find anything about it. I looked at her skin where the needle is inserted & didn't see any scaring or anything. I try to get it in a different spot each time so I am alternating.

[smorten50]

We've been giving our kitty Sub Q injections for 2 months. Our vet suggested warming the water bag first, which has made a HUGE difference!. Put the bag into a pitcher full of hot water (I also put most of the tubing in). Before injecting, open the flow and run the fluid until warm water comes out, which can be somewhat hotter than human body temp (not just lukewarm). Since loss of appetite can be part of the disease, the vet prescribed an appetite stimulant for every 3rd day, which has helped.

[smorten50]

We've been giving our kitty Sub Q injections for 2 months. Our vet suggested warming the water bag first, which has made a HUGE difference!. Put the bag into a pitcher full of hot water (I also put most of the tubing in). Before injecting, open the flow and run the fluid until warm water comes out, which can be somewhat hotter than human body temp (not just lukewarm). Since loss of appetite can be part of the disease, the vet prescribed an appetite stimulant for every 3rd day, which has helped.

[ecotts]

Poor little thing :(

[nwbowen73]

I wish my kitty was as cooperative as yours! Rudy (8 y.o. ginger tabby, CRF diagnosed end of June '10) also used to require two people. I can manage it by myself now, but he stands for the whole thing - which is making the stab a challenge. Maybe I'll try your treat maneuver, see if that gets him to park for it. Thank you for posting this video!

[ChristIsMyStrength]

I just found out last week that my kitty has CRF, I am very devastated. I have been giving Romeo 100ml of fluid for the past 4 days and it really seems to help. He is 10 years old and still full of life and not ready to go. With Gods blessings our family will have him around a while longer :O). This video is very clear about how to administer the much needed fluids, THANK YOU!!

[xAnukisx]

What a sweet kitty :) my cat midnight is very active while the needle is in and it takes all three members of my family to make sure she doesn't pull out the needle or jump off the counter we put her up on... it's really frustrating for everyone but the poor old girl needs them. Thanks for sharing, it makes it easier to know that my family isn't the only one having to do a truly scary task for people who aren't used to it!

[Lamdennison]

Tuesday appears to be a very good patient. Our baby Marble (age 17-1/2) has just started the sub-q treatment. We tried our first at home treatment tonight and didn't do so well. She squirmed and pulled the needle out once, and then became so agitated we decided to stop pretty early to prevent further problems. I came looking for videos to reassure me that we were doing everything correctly. It sounds like it will just take her (and us) time to adjust. Thank you so much for sharing.

[rob052067]

In my earlier comment, I said "She's a cutee." From the location of the sentence, it looks like I was referring to my kitty, but I intended to complement Tuesday. :-)

[rob052067]

WOW! My little girl would never just sit there like that. She's a cutee! I've been giving her SubQ since she was diagnosed with CRF in 9/08. She's a very sweet 15 year old Torti and is doing well. I live alone, so I needed to be able to do the SubQ on my own, but she tries very hard to hide when she senses that it's treatment time and she does her best to squirm away during the treatment. I can hold on to her best on a towel on top of the washing machine with the bag hanging on the wall.