Hello My Dear,
My you have your hands full with this learning curve! You and Pookie,
(congratulations btw!), will figure all this out in no time and you'll
be feeling like an old pro. I haven't had to administer subq fluids
that often, so I don't know how much help I can be to you. I don't see
how letting air into the bag should pose any contamination problems.
With the fluid not flowing in the second bag, it could be that the hose
is crimped, (maybe where the little roller thing is used to stop the
flow), or you may not have vented the bag. The ones I've used have a
stopper at the top of the bag (with a finger ring to pull it out), to
allow air to flow into the bag while the fluid comes out. The medicine
port should be attached to the hose, it sort of looks like a Y, you can
inject vita, or subq meds into it so that you don't have to give your
cat more than one injection. The "orange cap" that you describe sounds
like the place on the bag itself where you can insert a needle to
extract fluid into a large syringe to hydrate smaller animals and
kittens that don't need as much fluid as a grown cat. One other thing
that I've been warned about, when you insert the needle, don't do it
directly over Pookie's spine, do it off to the side a little bit, that
way if he rears up, there's no chance you'll insert it into his spine,
and don't use the same spot on him over and over, vary it. Lastly, calm
down when you go to give him his fluids. Put some calming music on,
light a scented candle and go at it from a place of calm and certainty
that this is going to make him feel better! Are you warming the bag of
fluids beforehand? Run it under warm water and then test the fluids to
make sure they're just right. I love you sweetie, you're stronger than
you think!
Someone else with more experience help us out here. Am I on the right
track? Honestly, Kerry, if you have any doubts you should call one of
your vets and have them go over all this with you, at least over the
phone. You'll feel so much better if you know for a fact that you're
doing everything right!
Nina
MacKenzie, Kerry N. wrote:
Ok guys, re my 1am Pookie problem (fluid level was not discernible in my
new Ringer's bag so I cdn't proceed), a rescue/shelter volunteer I
called this morning said I should unscrew the "hose", open the bag up
and let air in (don't feel dumb Wendy!). I did that and the fluid level
magically appeared.
(Q 1) BUT will this have caused any possible contamination problem???
(Q 2) I found another bag still ok date-wise to use, and attached a
"hose" to it. Level IS visible....but the fluid won't flow. Any idea
what I'm doing wrong and how to fix? I know it must be simple but
science was never my strong point.
(Q3) Where is the "medicine port" on these bags? Is it where the orange
cap sits? Or is it the bottom where the water flows out?
Thanks for any info! Kerry
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of wendy
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 12:53 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Sub Q fluids
I feel a little dumb here. I thought sub-q meant you
would inject fluid in a needle under the cat's skin.
I didn't know you were hooking up a whole IV bag to
the cat! I assume this is done to rehydrate an
animal. I don't think Cricket would go for this. Can
anyone give me the simple explanation of sub q? Thanks!
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