I’ve done that. It went a lot more easily than I’d expected.
I was able to hang the bag from a clotheslline that came partly over a bed in a spare room – that bed being one of the cat’s favorite midday napping spots. I’d sneak up on him while he was pretty much asleep and slide the subcutaneous needle in (it wasn’t an IV) while patting. He usually didn’t start getting antsy before enough fluid was in. (And once that particular cat got antsy, you were done.)
When I’ve had to give subcu fluids to a cat who resents it, I’ve used a top-opening carrier to hold the critter.
She handled it well at the vet’s office. The needle slipped out when the vet tech gave the antibiotic shot, and she jumped a little. At that time, she’d had about 100ml so we decided that was good enough.
I just gave her first home sub-Q fluids. I did warm the bag first with a heating pad, but not surprisingly, she wasn’t happy about it. This time, she did get about 150ml, and I marked the bag so I know when we’re finished with subsequent treatments.
I forgot to mention that the office gave (sold) me some potassium supplement tablets designed for cats, and I have been crushing the tablets and mixing them with a little baby food. She doesn’t seem to mind that this treat now tastes a bit salty.
Sending you warm wishes for good luck, a steady hand, amazing coolness and grace under pressure, and a lot of wonderful time with your sweet kitty.
Speaking from experience, giving subcu fluid gets easier with experience. I’ll repeat that putting the cat into a top-opening carrier (which I’ve found is easier in general to get protesting cats into) helps as you can control the cat with one hand while dealing with the IV line with the other.
I still like the sneak-up-on-them-while-they’re-asleep technique. By the time you get a cat into a carrier, they’re generally both wide awake and already pissed off.
(Give a couple of pats first; you don’t actually want to wake them up with a needle, especially when you’re not yet experienced at getting it in. But mine often didn’t seem to really realize there was a needle in him until the fluid was mostly in.)
That’s good if you have an adjacent place to hang the bag high enough to get a good flow going. The only suitable place I had was from a curtain rod in my bedroom, or a storage rack in the basement room, neither one of which places were considered snoozing spots, so capture and carrier-stuffing it was.
Oh yeah, if there’s no plausible way to hang the bag over someplace the cat likes to sleep, then that technique doesn’t work.
I had a clothesline hung over a bed in a spare room – that is, not all of the clothesline was over the bed, but there was a hook screwed into the windowframe on one side of the room and into a doorframe on the other side and the clothesline strung inbetween, part of it came over the bed. I don’t know whether it’s possible for @nearwildheaven to set up something of the sort; or to set up some sort of frame straddling over a favorite sleeping spot, or even to put a hook in the ceiling.
You can clamp a telescoping IV pole to a shelf or rail. I suppose you could also buy one of those multi-wheeled stands.
For what it’s worth, our older cat is about the same age, and we took her in for a checkup about two months ago.
Bloodwork and scans did not show any obvious problems. But the vet prescribed a painkiller medication called gabapentin, and it seems to help quite a lot. Her appetite has improved a lot since she has been taking it. It is often used for arthritis, I think, and maybe she was was suffering from that without us realizing it?
I think that’s quite possible. Cats can get arthritis, and they often don’t show obvious pain. A cat who goes around the woods or fields obviously limping makes itself look like easy prey; and cats who spend all their lives shut in houses or apartments may still have the instinct to conceal weakness.
Oh, yes, animals do tend to hide infirmity as a survival instinct. I adopted an elderly cat with gastrointestinal illness (won’t gross you all out with the consequences), but a delightful little guy who clearly was uncomfortable. We (vet and I) decided to try gabapentin, but the first dose turned him into a wobbling feeble zombie so we immediately discontinued it.
xtenkfarpl, I’m happy to hear that it’s working for your cat! I wish I could have found something that helped little Greybeard for the not quite year I had him before his multiple medical issues led to the last decision. There are joint supplements for cats, a powder one can sprinkle on their wet food, but it’s in my experience not as effective as a med.
ETA: I should amend the comment about joint supplements to admit that another cat I had who was arthritic did show some improvement on the stuff. She lived to be 19 (I adopted her about three years before that).
In the last few years when I’ve adopted another cat (or a pair) I take the elderly ones at the shelter, medical issues no problem. Hey, somebody needs to give them a soft landing for the end of their lives.
It looks as if this is a drug where you have to be pretty careful about the dose.
We started on a minimum dose (40mg once a day), and that seems to be working fine with no obvious side effects.
The vet suggested moving to 2 or 3 times a day going forward, but we haven’t seen a need for that so far.
Yes, if the gabapentin does the job at the first dose, I see no reason to up it and risk side effects. Also, I’m told its effects can be gradually increasing, so be alert for that.
I got my Atilla back from the vet and I am relieved. His is very old, but I’m told he’s in fairly good shape, although he may be nearing some kidney issues. The vet says he’s kind of dehydrated, although he always has water available. Doctor said to try using distilled water, not tap water, as tap water has chlorine and stuff, and he may not like the flavor. So I’ll have to feed both the dog and cat this water, as the main bowl is available to both. Where the cat’s dish is though I’ll put a small bowl of the distilled.
Another way to hydrate a cat is to make a thin tuna slurry – put the liquid and some of the tuna from a can into a blender, add water to the fill line, and whrrrrrrrrrrrr. You’ll want to dedicate one container strictly to the tuna slurry (stink lingers), and shake the container before decanting, as the tuna shreds do sink to the bottom, but most cats I’ve had think the stuff is wonderful. You can also mix it into canned food to up the water content and make the food itself more enticing.
ETA: You can also use low-sodium broth instead of water for some added nutritional value.
I’ll try that. But I’ll have to put it where the cat eats, as if I put it on the floor the dog would get it.
Of course! At times I’ve had to establish separate eating areas for different cats to make sure the right meal went to the right cat. With patience (and a handy small room to shut the greedy one in till he learned that was where he’d get fed, then he ran in there at feeding time) it can be done.
Even adding just water to canned food may help. I fed a very ill cat “cat food soup” for a while; just mixed some water into the canned food.