Sub-q Fluids - help

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nepenthe

nepenthe

Member Since 2010
I am having a hard time today giving him sub-q's. I did this before so far a few times, but today he shrieked when he felt the poke and I pulled the needle out a couple of times.

Then when I got it in, it went through the skin...and water all over the place.

Then, changed the needle and tried it again. Poked him, he yelped, and the went in, and turned it on. 30 seconds later, water all over.

I decided to forego it for today b/c I didn't want to stress him out more. I'm dealing with a pancreatitis flare and am on day 3 of giving him 100ml/day for a week. After that, if his appetite and wellness and BG numbers get better, I am going to scale it back to just once a week.

Are there any tricks to prevent the needle from coming out the other side?

(am using an 18 g. The thing is so fat I can see out the other side... could I use a 21g 1" too?)
 
Hi,
I understand the stress of giving fluids, as I had to give them to Bob dozens of times. It almost sounds like you haven't got enough of a "tent" pulled up and then the needle pokes through the other side of the tent.

Yes, you can use 21g needles, and that will feel "better" to him.

I don't know if you've ever watched Marje's video of her kitty Gus getting fluids, but I thought it would be a great help to you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtSzMuDgx78

Carl
 
Thanks for this, this is a good video!

I think what I did was to tent the skin laterally across his spine instead of creating one which runs along the spine (if this makes any sense; rather than a vertically running one, I pinched a horizontal one)

This postgives me something to think about too. The vet said to give him 100ml a day, even though he didn't have an acute flare-up. I am wondering if "less is more" here and giving 100ml EOD?

In that post, she also thinks its better to use a smaller gauge needle. I have some 21's.. Either way its likely a whole lot better for him than an 18"
 
Unless you have 19 gauge UTW (Ultra Thin Wall ) or TW (Thin Wall) needles the time to give the fluids will significantly longer. I use the 20 gauge UTW needles.
 
Hi Carl,

That video you posted was fantastic! I am in the process of learning how to do fluids with my Ketchie here at home, and that really gave some good information and especially the info about the needles and not 'poking' yourself, which I have now done twice. ugh....

I used a 22 gauge needle last evening, but it did take quite some time to get only 40 mls of fluid into Ketchie, so I may go back to the 20 gauge. It sure is easy though, getting the 22 gauge needle into her.

Tonight I am going to wait to do the fluids until the morning, when it is light in my bathroom. I feel better when I have Ketchie on a towel sitting in my bathroom window, and can hang the bag of fluids up higher.

Thanks for posting that again, Carl!

Jean and Charcoal (GA)
 
You're welcome Jean!

I've linked to that video at least a dozen times since Marje made it. I wish it had been there back in the days I was having to give Bob fluids every day. Bob was nowhere near as mellow as Gus is about it, but I wasn't quite as good as giving the fluids as Marje and Mike are either :lol:
I think it was Larry that mentioned the "thin-walled" needles. If that is what you are using, great. If not, see if you can find one. They go in easier, and I think the fluid has a bigger diameter to flow through, which would speed up the process. I used the 18 gauge needles, that are usually referred to here as "harpoons", and for good reason.

Carl
 
I am going to see if I can get any thin-walled spikes at the pharmacy. Today I am going to try again with a 21g. He is getting thin and doesn't have a great deal of scruff, but anything is better than the generic BD 18g the vet gave me.

That 18g spike looks like the thing they used on Moby Dick.
 
I saw a vet tech put the bag under her armpit and squeeze it like a bagpipe to hasten the flow.
 
I like the terumo needles the best. I just ordered a box of 19 g TW and 20 g UTW. Vandow get fluids for his pancreatitis flare ups and Brie my sugar cat gets fluids for CRF. It sounds like you got some good links for videos. My boys are good with the fluids most of the time. I've had those nights too when the needle just pokes through on the other side. Vandows skin is so loose that it can be hard to get a good tent some days. Sometimes you just have to let it go and come back later or the next day. I totally understand about not wanting to stress your kitty out anymore tonight. Fluids have really helped Vandow with his pancreatitis management.

Sandy
 
traubboo said:
I like the terumo needles the best. I just ordered a box of 19 g TW and 20 g UTW. Vandow get fluids for his pancreatitis flare ups and Brie my sugar cat gets fluids for CRF. It sounds like you got some good links for videos. My boys are good with the fluids most of the time. I've had those nights too when the needle just pokes through on the other side. Vandows skin is so loose that it can be hard to get a good tent some days. Sometimes you just have to let it go and come back later or the next day. I totally understand about not wanting to stress your kitty out anymore tonight. Fluids have really helped Vandow with his pancreatitis management.

Sandy
Click to expand...

This was the 2nd day of giving him fluids with a 21g. That and warming the fluids to approx body temp was the best thing I could have done. I cut the amount back to 50-75ml a day to not overdo it.

I want to do this - manage the flare-up as a flare for the next 10 days or so, while giving a consistent dose so I can see if the erratic #'s I've been getting is due to the pancreatitis or something like he just isn't responding to the insulin anymore as consistently. (he was on prednisolone low dose until getting his last dose 2 weeks ago, so I doubt the instability I've been seeing is due to that. There've been some dose fiddling the past week, and thats no doubt effect the shed)
 
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