Sub-Q Fluid users - question about the drip tube

[FeebysOwner]

Feeby is getting Lactated Ringers sub-Q fluids, 100 ml a day. I just started a new bag (her 2nd) and noticed the drip tube is fuller than with the previous bag - maybe 1/2 full when the original drip tube stayed pretty much at about a 1/4 full - for as much as I can remember anyway. Is this any kind of issue, or does it matter? I can call the vet, if no one knows, but not until Monday.

 

[Tobermory]

Several things I’ve read (when I was looking for info on giving Max fluids) say the chamber should be “primed” by squeezing the bag until the chamber is about 1/2 full. So I don’t think you have a problem!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Thanks! Both bags came with fluid already in the drip tube, so I have not needed to squeeze the bag to get liquids in there. I am sure I am worried about nothing, but being so new to this, every little thing/change makes me question its appropriateness.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Are you saying the bags come with the IV set up line included? That's what I am reading when you say the "drip tube". Isn't that part of the line that ends with the needle. I just looked at some old IV set ups that I still have and that's my take on what you are saying. Of course, I could be completely off base here. When we bought lactated ringers, it was simply the bag of fluids and then we had to insert the IV set up line into the bag once for the entire bag, then change the needle for each use. I can't remember how full the drip chamber was though. Think it may have differed depending on how fast we let it drip, etc.

 

[Furballsmom]

Our bag/line arrangement was similar to mrsgreenjeens, and the drip chamber level depended on the drip rate if I recall.

 

[FeebysOwner]

The line leading from the bag to the needle insertion point at the end of the line is already set up. Immediately following the line from the bag is what I am calling the drip tube - maybe more appropriately called a chamber, or drip chamber, as Tobermory and you describe it. This chamber has already had fluid in both bags when I got them, no need to squeeze the bag to prime it. The drip pace does not appear to influence the amount in the drip chamber. I am using gravity for the drip pace and as long as the placement of the needle is good and Feeby isn't impeding it by moving, it stays consistent.

I think its probably just one more new thing in the ongoing journey with Feeby that I am overthinking.

 

[Tobermory]

That sounds exactly like my bag setup, FeebysOwner . The fluid level in the drip chamber didn’t vary.

 

[silent meowlook]

It’s fine. Just how much someone squeezed when spiking the bag.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Wow, I had no idea you could purchase bags with the lines already in them. To me, that sounds so odd. (but what do I know?)

 

[FeebysOwner]

Wow, I had no idea you could purchase bags with the lines already in them. To me, that sounds so odd. (but what do I know?)

For now, I am getting them from the vet directly - that is probably the difference, and probably a difference in cost too!!

 

[catdad61]

IV setups are the same for cats as humans and I've been starting IVs on people for 43 years. As long as there is some fluid in the drip chamber and the air is purged out of the tubing, you're good to go.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

For now, I am getting them from the vet directly - that is probably the difference, and probably a difference in cost too!!

Aha! That explains that. Yes, I imagine it costs more that way, but you never know. I know our Vet charged an arm and leg for those supplies, like 10 times what we paid for them elsewhere. But each Vet is different.

 

[fionasmom]

I am with mrsgreenjeens on this; when I got the bags from my dog's vet, they were set up, but also greatly increased in cost. Once I started to order them from Chewy, unassembled, the cost decreased. The fluid levels in the drip chamber varied, but that did not seem to affect anything about the delivery of the solution.

 

[FeebysOwner]

The 1000 ml bag, already set up, was $35 and another $2 for 20 needles. I haven't looked at the cost through someone like Chewy yet. I am sure it is cheaper no doubt. But, right now, I am just trying to accept this new phase in Feeby's life. I don't see how the sub-Q fluids will ever stop but will see if they did anything to lower the sudden escalation in her kidney values which started this process to begin with. That is about as far as my brain can go at this point. After doing this for almost 2 weeks, it is not getting any easier to administer the fluids. I've had a couple of bad insertions - operator error - and one 'bum' needle too.

It might be a good sign, or not - but she was very easy to handle at first, and yesterday she gave us a run for our money to keep her from trying to get up and get away. I just hope yesterday was a fluke, but I am not going to bet on it!!

 

[Furballsmom]

I've had a couple of bad insertions - operator error -

I was the one who got poked a couple times lol

 

[fionasmom]

Chewy is something like $10 for the bag, $5 for the line, and 100 needles for about $10. My vet charged $50 for the bag alone; if you are more comfortable with what you are doing now, I would stick with it.

My experience has been that cats like this much less than dogs. I did it for my GSD regularly, but when Jamie needed it, we took him to the vet every day. They usually charge $5 around here for that service and many people do it. Bad insertions happen to all of us. The skin may get sore if you use the exact same place every day. There are smaller gauge needles, but the solution flows SO slowly that you have to restrain them for longer, so it becomes a trade-off.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

It might be a good sign, or not - but she was very easy to handle at first, and yesterday she gave us a run for our money to keep her from trying to get up and get away. I just hope yesterday was a fluke, but I am not going to bet on it!!

Are you warming the fluids? That helps. Also, I threw a big bath towel in the dryer on hot while warming the fluids, then wrapped up the cat in the towel while giving the fluids. That also helped, although you've got to figure out how to do it to leave the area for the needle. Our Vet showed us that it's actually easier to come at it from the head rather than from the backside, still going into the scruff. And doing it daily, you need to go into a slightly different place on the scruff each time or that area will become sensitive.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I use 22 gauge needles, can't bring myself to go to 20 gauge. It takes less than 10 minutes for 100 ml so not that bad really. I don't warm the fluids, they are room temp already as they said I didn't have to refrigerate them. Not warm enough? How do you repeatedly re-warm a 1000 ml bag?

And that is just what I was going to ask next - location. For those of you who had to administer fluids daily, how 'free' were you about where to place the needle? I try to keep in the general area between the shoulder blades, but that is not a whole lot of room to work with when she is being stuck daily. I am thinking there shouldn't be any reason I can't use excess skin areas below that area as well. I was probably closer to that area with the monthly B-12 injections.

No one ever suggested going into the scruff coming from her head!! Wow, I guess I will have to try that. I might have to look that up on YouTube first though!

 

[Furballsmom]

How do you repeatedly re-warm a 1000 ml bag?

Put it in a bowl of warm to hot-ish water for a bit.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Put it in a bowl of warm to hot-ish water for a bit.

10 times over?? I know, that probably sounds like a dumb question, but it would seem to me not to be a good idea to keep re-warming the same fluid. Apparently, I am wrong.