SubQ issues - Did I give the cat too much?

[Vulky]

Hello again wonderful people. I am hoping someone can give me a few thoughts on my current woes. My 10-12yo neutered male,Tippy is quite poorly - what started as a sneezing fit a week ago has turned into nausea, fever, dehydration, etc. All the trappings of a nasty flu only cat style. Took him to an emergency vet two days ago. Rather bossy young vet there insisted that a cat with runny nose, eye junk, a high fever and two days of vomiting did not have an infection because there wasn't a high enough white blood cell count. Diagnosed a heart murmur, fluid in the left lung, and idiopathic inflammation. Wanted $600+ on top of the first $250 in blood panels to do x-rays to check for cancer and fluid around the heart and in the lungs or they "couldn't do more than a NSAID shot and SubQ fluids." We took the shot and fluids, went home and called our vet for an appointment in the morning.

Our vet was shocked at the tale when we got in there around 3pm. Checked Tippy over and said no heart murmur, no lung fluid, but could be hard to tell as poor old Tippy purrs nonstop at any attention, even when feeling rotten. He said there was definitely infection lurking somewhere, mild URI and he suspected urinary issues but couldn't get a pee sample out of him. So he did 100ml of SubQs, an antibiotic shot, and an anti nausea shot, with more SubQs, antibiotic shots and anti-nausea pills prescribed to be used at home. After the palpitations (but before the anti-nausea shot), poor Tippy did a nice stinky barf for him, so he suggested a fast until tomorrow (now today) and another 100ml of SubQs late at night before bed (he knows we are night owls and figured that to be about midnight).

This is where my stress fest starts. I have done SubQ fluids and shots before but was it was awhile ago so I had the vet give me a refresher course, seemed simple, still worked the way I remember, so no worries. BUT - Having a husband watching the lactate bag while I dealt with a uncomfortable and scooting away cat resulted in a little more than the 100ml recommended, closer to 150ml and after the procedure, the poor cat was and still is squishy with fluid over both shoulders to the point it rolled over his elbows a little.

Tippy has pretty baggy, hard-to-judge-how-much-fluid-is-in-there skin, so I'm now wondering if he really even needed the second round of fluids and I'm terrified that I've overhydrated him.

And our vet is out of town all weekend and I really don't want to go back to the emergency vet unless I absolutely have to. He acts no worse than he was before, but looks like a loaded elephant walking around.

He begged for some food so I gave him a teaspoon of baby food and a few of his favorite dry kibbles which he nibbled at but didn't finish and then snuggled up to his hot water bottle and is currently napping some more. No vomiting even though his shot has mostly worn off. Breathing seems fine, he's peed a little in his box but not a huge amount...

Am I panicking over nothing? I haven't had a cat in need of fluids in more than 20 years and I'm so concerned I've borked this up and Tippy's going to suffer and die. My husband says that two days and nights of watching over a sick cat instead of sleeping has set off my anxiety brain and to leave him to it and skip fluids tomorrow night if he acts o.k.

So please can anyone here tell me if they have experience with this, is 100ml of ringer's followed by 150ml about 8-9 hours later too much in anyone's opinion? I'm not sure the emergency vet would do anything right if I took him there and I know it would put me in so much debt. Please share some experiences if you have them! I'll be listening while I watch over my poor cat for any signs of trouble.

 

[betsygee]

I've had instances where a cat had a huge lump of fluid under the skin, even to the point of looking like their leg was swollen but it went down again. How is Tippy doing by now?

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. Yes, that is allot of fluids. I would keep an eye on him and watch for any signs of fluid volume overload which would be increased respirations, watery eyes, lethargy, hiding, not eating. I would not give any more until you know that all the previous fluids have been absorbed.

Often times it won’t be the same vet at an emergency hospital.

 

[Vulky]

I've had instances where a cat had a huge lump of fluid under the skin, even to the point of looking like their leg was swollen but it went down again. How is Tippy doing by now?

Thanks for the reply, Tippy is doing o.k. we held off on more fluids for a day and watched more carefully when we did them today. She is eating, though not as much as usual, and seems to be getting a little better each day. I hate having to do all this myself, but we live in a small town in the middle of the country and our only other choice is hospitalization which is very expensive. I used to do the shots and fluids a lot 20 years ago when I did foster care but I am out of practice and don't have the heart for it these days!

 

[Vulky]

Hi. Yes, that is allot of fluids. I would keep an eye on him and watch for any signs of fluid volume overload which would be increased respirations, watery eyes, lethargy, hiding, not eating. I would not give any more until you know that all the previous fluids have been absorbed.

Often times it won’t be the same vet at an emergency hospital.

He is doing o.k, thanks for the information. Unfortunately, he already had a lot of those symptoms to start with, so I had a long and worried night! But he slept it off and we waited before doing more fluids. I think come tomorrow he won't need them. Also unfortuniately, we live in a small town and the emergency vet would have been the same vet I was not impressed with, there are only three at that clinic and they take turns doing the overnights by the week.