Little Girl is leaky

[cjsmith]

We're doing subcutaneous fluids for Little Girl twice a week, to help out her ailing kidneys. I've now administered the fluids on my own twice.

She leaks.

[LJ-CUT TEXT="Sometimes it's my fault. Warning, needle talk."]
The most recent time was totally my fault. I was staring at the fluid level in the bag to see if it was alllll the way down to the line yet, and the needle fell out of the cat, and the last tablespoon of Ringer's poured onto my carpet. Oops. :-)

But the previous time I'm not sure what I could have done differently. It was all in there, and then, gradually throughout the evening, an awful lot of it dripped out down her back. She showed no discomfort at all, but I was a bit unhappy about it. My cat leaks.

Comments

[simplykimberly.livejournal.com]

If she's amenable to it, when you pull the needle out, pinch the skin together for a minute or so to help it close up.

The worst (for me) is when you poke all the way back through, and it leaks right out the other side - yuck and ow ow ow! I'm lucky my cats are always so forgiving!

[nosrednayduj]

Then there's the time I not only stabbed the needle all the way through, I got my finger too. Had to answer "yes" to "have you ever had an accidental needle stick" next time I gave blood. They let me anyway when I explained the circumstances.

Good luck with hydrating kitty. It kept Mottle alive another couple years, I think. She didn't mind.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've gotten myself a couple times with insulin needles I had just used on Duchess. It doesn't help that the small needles can catch on the inside of the cap and poke all the way through into your finger with very little pressure!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the time I let the needle fall out, I did at least pinch the skin a bunch, and that time she didn't ooze all evening. I may be able to get better with that.

Haven't yet had the poke-through goof, but I know it happens. Saw it with a vaccine at the clinic once (naturally the injection was given again properly). It's apparently very easy to do.

[racerxmachina.livejournal.com]

The last time we brought Dorothy in for UTI stuff, they hydrated her, and yes, her back leaked. Poor baby! Some of it gets in, at least!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Some times it doesn't leak, so I think I could get better at it. Little Girl doesn't seem to mind a bit; it's me (with her on my lap) who's going "Oh no, oh yuck, that must hurt!"

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

Because I have been doing this same thing since February, we have found the scruff is the best place to do this. Also, we vary the needle size because Spike hates it. The vet gave us an 18, but we try to use a 21. The butterfly needles work well if you are having a hard time keeping a hold of it.

Oh, and I got my bottle of Ringer's at the people pharmacy for $3.00. It's $13 at the vet's.

And is she getting a bleb (pocket of fluid) when you do this? You may have to stop before the bleb gets too big because that will leak.


Oh, and if you respond to this I might not check back because I have to take my Spike to the vet.:/ So I am not ignoring you.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I'm doing it in the loose skin around her shoulders, just a little bit back from where the scruff itself is. Thanks for the tip on price! I should look at what my vet charges for fluids. (I do know that my vet clinic is cost-conscious; when they have emergency patients who will need to be transferred to the overnight clinic, they send fluids and all along with the animal because they know those things are a lot costlier at the emergency place.)

Yes, she's getting a camel hump. She's taking 100ml, which isn't bad for a cat, but yeah, there's a lump. It migrates down one side, sometimes. :-)

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm not the only crazy cat lady out there.

When we do it tonight I will ask my sister what she does do it doesn't leak. I'm lucky my sister does IVs on people all day so she does the needle part and I do the hold the cat part.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I'm in the crazy cat lady camp too. That sounds to me like an excellent division of labor!

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

Ok, so we got 50cc in before there was a big enough bleb it pissed her off. I was watching my sister and she was kind of massaging the skin where the needle was to encourage the liquid to move around. Then I caught Spikey and we put more in on the other side. She got probably just under 100cc.

Are you doing this everyday? We're doing it every 3-4 days. We switch up the places we give it to her. Thighs work pretty good, but it is much slower there.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info!

I'm doing it twice a week for now, but it may go to daily pretty soon. I, too, massage the skin to encourage the liquid to move around.

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

Be careful about going daily too soon. My vet warned me about that because once you do that it gets to the point where you can't go back from it. So you can't ever miss a day.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh odd: my vet recommended going to daily "temporarily" during the first bout of this UTI. I wonder if that's a special case.

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

I don't know, but my kitty is completely different than yours and mine isn't being done because of a UTI. Spike has advanced kidney disease, and that's what I was thinking about. You won't be doing subq forever, will you? I will be doing this, well, until... So if I go to everyday I can't back off from it because her disease is so advanced.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

My kitty has (so far) mild kidney disease. The twice-a-week is because of that; the idea of temporarily going daily was just for the UTI.

My sympathies. Advanced kidney disease is no fun.

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

It's not too bad, but she's 19 and I know I am on limited time. I get really freaking emotional about it though, and that's completely nuts. But she's my kid.

[moriamerri.livejournal.com]

Should you wish comments about herbal/homeopathic/etc ideas for kidney disease (in kitties) I know much more about it than I did a couple of months ago. (This helps me not at all, since the beloved feline for whom I learned this is no longer alive. But doesn't mean it shouldn't benefit someone.) Ask if interested, it is not anything I've tried to boil down or anything.....and obviously I can't tell you a story of miraculous recovery (though I did hear a couple.)

[re: leaking: I was "shown how" including the bit that simplykimberly mentions, about pinching skin while removing needle.... but maybe not for as long a time?]

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Maybe not for as long a time, yeah, and I bet that's where I went wrong the first night. When saline is constantly flowing (not just dripping but really moving) through the hole, it won't clot up...

My condolences on the passing of your kitty. :-( They leave holes in our hearts when they go.

[moriamerri.livejournal.com]

yes -- as someone said to me there's a "cat shaped hole". awwwww.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

And it's a specific cat shaped hole, too. Another cat may ease the grief and lighten the days, but the new one won't ever be the old one. (Of course, the new one is building a new-cat-shaped hole, too...)

[allanh.livejournal.com]

If the needle is pulled out too fast or inserted into the wrong place, tortoises leak, too. I've gotten pretty good at injecting into the right area.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh interesting. This one isn't supposed to be finely location-dependent, but it's intriguing to hear that some are!

Clearly I need to learn the "pinch the skin when pulling out" trick better. :-)

[allanh.livejournal.com]

My mother leaks after her allergy shots, if the nurse isn't careful where she injects. Enough scar tissue has been built up over fifty years' worth of allergy shots that every so often, her arm spits out an injection.

It's rather amusing to watch the nurse's face when this happens. I've observed it twice.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. That must be... well, amusing if it's not you it's happening to. I bet your mom probably laughs too, and the nurse is probably appalled!

[recordersmith.livejournal.com]

When I was doing this for Rocket when Bill was on business trips, it would leak a bit but not huge amounts that I recall. That was in the scruff.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, a little bit of leakage I'd expect. I bet I didn't pinch it well enough or for long enough, that first time. I'll learn...

[hnybny.livejournal.com]

OMG, how many time did Cato leak a bit after his subq's?! Its totally normal. Heck, I can remember times it would all pool behind his shoulder and he walk around with a hump for an hour.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the hump is good 'cause it's staying in. Leaking a little is normal. That first time I ever did it, though, she leaked all night. That is definitely not what I was supposed to see! Clearly I have to pinch better during needle removal. *sigh* I'll learn! Someday, I'll learn!

[idunno3.livejournal.com]

I had to do that for M's dog, shortly before we had to put her to sleep. It helped her a lot as far as comfort level, but boy did she hate getting hydrated. I probably did a lousy job of it. Plus, I don't know about cats, but damn if the needle isn't large (diameter, that is).

Never noticed any serious leakage, though there was always a little around the puncture.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

It sure is big. And unlike those tiny insulin needles, they feel it. If I try to put that needle in slowly and carefully, Little Girl bites me. If it's quick, she doesn't have time!