Where does the IV needle go?

I came home today to find a note taped to my door from one of my neighbors. Her cat has kidney failure and is supposed to get an IV and she was wondering where the needle goes. I am not sure why she didn't ask her vet, I assume she forgot about it and when the time came she realized she wasnt sure how to do it and the vet is closed now.

She usually comes to me with questions like that so I don't mind. I will be sure she went to the vet and everything and is not just self-diagnosing or something. But does anyone know where the needle goes for an IV?

Thanks.

The vet sent her home expecting her to inject her cat????
That just doesn't seem right, and I would say it is extremely unsafe if you haven't had appropriate training!!

In general, an IV (intravenous) goes into a vein -- directly into the bloodstream. This is extrememly tricky to do, and requires a lot of training to be proficient and not always miss the vein (in humans)... in animals, I don't know if they actually inject directly into a vein or not... sometimes I think they just inject fluids into the tissues. This is because animals are so much smaller then humans.

Either way, your friend MUST speak with her vet!! What is to be injected?? Is it fluid, is it medicine?? And if she is supposed to do it herself, she needs to be shown how!!

Ya it does seem a little weird and like I said I will make sure she saw a vet and everything and be sure she does if she hasn't yet. She used to work in a vet office or similar place and has done it before. But it has been awhile and wants to be sure she is getting it in the right place. That still doesn't explain what is going on but I will find out.

I am not going to tell her much of anything until I find out the details, not that I even know which is why I am asking here. I don't want to go over tonite because it is already 10:30 and I have no idea what time is too late for her. I just got home.

PS-I do know how to draw blood in a cat for testing. Is it similar to that? Is that where the needle goes? Because if it is the same then I can do that.

Does seem a tad strange. I gave my cats fluides once, had to stick the needed into her back skin - her "scruff", the fluid went in there - made her look like the hunch back of notre dame for a bit! Then it went down. Would there be an emergency vet in the area that you could call and ask advice over the phone?

Originally Posted by Talon

Does seem a tad strange. I gave my cats fluides once, had to stick the needed into her back skin - her "scruff", the fluid went in there - made her look like the hunch back of notre dame for a bit! Then it went down. Would there be an emergency vet in the area that you could call and ask advice over the phone?

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That's for hydration fluids under the skin, I am not to sure about a regular injection

For kidney failure the fluids are usually given Sub-Q, if the fluids are sent home to give to the cat. It would be very irresponsible to have a client give an IV injection at home (also you would need 2 people to do it).

That does seem really irresponsible for the vet to have sent her home with the IV stuff, but like I said, I don't know the details. I can do Sub-Q but that goes in the back of the neck; I would think an IV goes into the leg, similar to drawing for blood.

It must not be a complete emergency because she can clearly see that I am still up. I have all my lights on and doors wide open. Her house is dark so I assume she went to bed.

There is no way I would expect a vet to clear a client for doing an iv at home. Initiating an iv is not a casual thing, and it does require both sterile technique and understanding what the risks are (i.e. must be exquisitely careful not to have any air in the line!).

I think it sounds like a communication error, and he meant sub-q fluids. If it were me, I'd call his number and get the emergency contact number and clarify this...at the least, I would do sub-q versus leaving the cat w/no fluids until she can reach him...but that is just a personal, non-professional opinion as to what I'd do with my cat (well, professional when it comes to initiating iv's in humans, which I did do for years )

A lot of times vets will send people home to administer sub q fluids to a cat in kidney failure. I'm wondering if this is what she is really trying to do.

I wouldn't judge the vet guys. Maybe this person told the vet she knew how to administer the fluids and that she had worked in a vet office before. Then when she got home she may have been in a panic and realized she doesn't really remember.

I'm not judging the vet I'm just saying that it is highly unlikely that the vet would send a client home to do an IV injection or IV fluids. I do think there was a miscomunication about the fluids, I do believe they are supposed to be Sub-Q. We send alot of clients home with a bag of fluids, and the needles for sub-Q, but we alway use the owners animal or if that is not available one of the clinic cats as a demonstration first. So I do think that the vet may have been told that she had previous experience and skipped the demostration.

It sounds like sub cu fluids to me. I can do this with our cats if need be. I had my vet show me a few times before I felt comfortable doing it myself.

The vet had to have meant for her to administer subQ fluids - the apparatus used for this looks like what is used for IV administration.

Giving subQ definitely requires a demonstration and letting the client practice a few times to get the hang of it. There are important things to know about giving fluids, including places the needle SHOULDN'T go, placing the needle bevel side up, the correct angle to use when inserting it, what to do if the needle goes through the other side, etc., as well as making sure the fluids are warmed up before administering them.

Sounds like your neighbor needs a refresher course and someone to call if she runs into any problems (which all first-timers do).

Hey, it is Sub-Q fluids guys. I talked to her finally today about it and she was still just calling it an IV (thats why I was confused) but it is just normal Sub-Q. The cat is a bit dehydrated and getting thin. She took him (his name is Lucky) to the vet for all the bloodwork and tests and everything to determine what was wrong with him. It was kidney failure so she got the fluids to bring home.

She used to give fluids all the time but it has been a few years and just wanted reassurance and someone who knows what they are doing to be there when she did it the first time again. She had her daughter help her before I could get over there. But I told her if she needs more help to call me.

So thanks for all your help everyone!