My cat is in early stages of CRF - Page 2

Hmmm, interesting. I think there are many people here who do it alone. It's helpful, however, to have an IV pole, or some place to hang the bag above the cat. We (I should say my DH), always just used our dining room chandelier to hang the bag from...worked like a charm!

I hang the bag in my closet, from a wire shelf. I just attach a clasp to the fluid bag & hang it from the shelf... I leave the bag hanging. I have a stool that I sit in the closet doorway, I sit on the stool & hold Bear in my lap while he is getting fluids. I do them by myself too.

Some people warm the fluids up, I do not. On the back of mine (the bag that the fluids come in, not the IV bag - the packaging bag) it says "aviod excessive heat." I don't want to make the fluids ineffecitive & Bear is fine with them at room temp.

Sharky, why do you suggest having 2 people? For difficult cats? Not picking on you at all, I am just curious.

My vet even recommends it for placid ones... She will Not give fluids alone to a cat...

i just want to chime in on the advice on sub qs that has been given. it is totally normal to think of it as something scary or difficult, or that the cat will hate you for but i have not found that to be true. I've given them to several cats including a cat who had been abused and was always a kind of jumpy cat and when i got him was very distrustful of people . So I really thought he would not tolerate it but he was SO good about it. he let other family members give it too.
It seems like (and i have heard others say this too) cats seem to learn that they feel SO much better shortly after they get the fluids.

I am able to give them by myself, I hang the bag from a wall light fixture. Right now i don't have a CRF cat (touch wood) but my 13 yr old cat Louis has some other health problems that occasionally requires fluids. For him i can easily use an 18 gauge as he was an ex stud and has quite thick skin on his neck, and he does not like being restrained for long so for him it is better to have a bigger needle and get it done faster.
I have found that just varies with the cats, some do better with higher gauge (smaller) and some better with lower.. the 22s take longer than I have found that most cats like. The 20s are ideal for most especially the Terumo ultra thin wall

Hi Keith,

I'm relatively new to this too, so not a lot to offer you experience-wise, but I wanted to chime in on the SubQs as another person that does them at home. I was a smidge nervous at first, but it really is no big deal once you get used to it! I can' find the link right now, but on one of these sites I read a really nice story about someone with a needle phobia who passed out the first time she saw it done at the vets, but eventually was a pro at doing them at home too.

About equipment: It really is not a lot, and is easy to get ahold of yourself. When/if you get to a point that you're comfortable doing them at home, ask your vet if s/he will write an outside prescription for fluids and needles (if your state requires it), and then check out this site: http://members.verizon.net/~vze2r6qt...es/compare.htm. Basically, you can get several months worth of supplies (1 box needles + 12 admin sets + 1 case i.e. 12 bags of fluid) all at one time for $60-$70 dollars, and you're set. That's really all you need, and if you do it that way it's WAY cheaper than getting supplies from the vet and you don't have to keep making trips.

Re: the discussion about administering them solo: I'm another person who does this totally by myself, w/o problems w/ either getting everything set up or the cat. Honestly, even if I had a second person around to help I don't think I'd use them. Spike's a really cooperative cat in general though.

Best of luck and good vibes for you and Jasmine.

I should note that the one I would likely need to sub Q is in fact one of the semi ferals.....