Has anyone administered fluid therapy at home to a cat with renal failure/kidney disease?We are considering hydrating our 15 year old cat Bosco with fluids by doing it ourselves at home. Just wondering how easy this is to administer and would like to get an idea of the cost. I know prices vary across the US so I am just looking for a range. Bosco is fortunately a very mellow cat and has always been an excellent patient.
Posted by Ken S
It's hard at first till you learn and it gets easier. You can buy your supplioes online and it would be cheaper then fom you vet. Not a lot of money Do it
http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/Cat-Owners-Guide-Kidney-Disease/Subcutaneous-Fluid-Therapy
Don't listen to your vet----research and talk to others going through the same thing
Treatment of Chronic Renal Failure
If your cat is not in final stages, this is not want you want to do. You do not want to put your cat on the
Vets low protein diet. There are simply so many better options out there than to hand the poor cat a low amount of poor quality protein - which often results in a poor appetite and muscle wasting since the body is now robbing its own muscle mass to feed itself a decent quality and amount of protein.
. There are new thoughts on this and the thinking is it is not the amount of protein but the quality of protein that matters.
The Merck veterinary manual [www.merckvetmanual.com] says that cats need "4 g of protein of high biologic value per kg body wt/day". That's about 7 calories from protein per pound body weight per day. If a cat isn't a good eater and consumes, say, 20 calories per pound per day, then 7/20 = 35% of calories can safely be from protein. It must be high quality protein, which means meat, fish, milk, and eggs, and not grain or soy.
I am under the assumption that you have been feeding mostly dry foods. Many use a vegetable based protein instead of animal and that is part of the problem.. Your cat needs protein as it is a carnivore and cutting down on it will lead to other health issues and may cause faster degeneration.
You want to cut down on phosphorous (no fish allowed now)
The best way to do this is with a raw diet which you can make yourself or buy. (Making yourself is better) link provided at the bottom
If you are unwilling to do that then something like the non fish flavors of Wellness or Merrick with NO grains are good alternatives. Wysong is also a good canned choice. This list gives a breakdown. Remember you want low phosphorous
http://www.geocities.com/jmpeerson/CanFoodOld.html
You should be giving sub-Q fluids as needed.
You also will want to look into phosphorous binders. Something like aluminum hydroxide
Ask your vet or look into calcitrol
You may want to talk to the vet about having injectable Pepcid AC on hand or you can buy it in pill form (ac not plain pepcid) and give 1/4 tab for stomach upset which happens a lot in crf cats due to acid in the stomach.
I hope this stuff helps, here are many links for you
Making cat food
http://www.catinfo.org/makingcatfood.htm
other links. Read, read, read!!!!
http://www.felineoutreach.org/EducationDetail.asp?cat=KidneyDisease
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/kidney_failure_where_to_begin.html
http://www.felinecrf.org/
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/FelineCRF/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=3
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Feline-Phosphorus-Management/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=5
About that vets diet. This report is for dogs but applies to cats
http://mousabilities.com/nutrition/crf/bovee_protein_RD.pdf
http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Opera/21...
Posted by naps with cats
Yes! For about 2 or 2.5 years now I've been giving my CRF/Hypercalcemic cat fluids.
I buy the fluids (w/vet's authorization) from the Fosters & Smith website - MUCH cheaper. If you buy 4 or more 1000mg bags, shipping is free (they are heavy).
I buy my drip-sets (my favorite) from UPCO.com
I buy my "Monoject" needles, either 18x1A guage or 20x1A guage from Fosters & Smith, too. Just be sure to look to the right and don't get the 18x1-1/2 'cause those are very long (I accidentally ordered those once. I used to buy from another site 'cause they were cheaper, but when I moved and lost my old e-address in the process (on wireless now) I lost that site, they were a little cheaper.
First thing is to get all the bubbles out each time - even though it's just under the skin and not in a vein, it's still uncomfortable for them to feel the bubble. The fluids, even though they feel room temperature, are pretty cold going in, if you can warm them up (I boil water and lift the bag in and out for about 5 minutes and test the water - not too warm, but not cold), your cat will appreciate it.
If your cat is very mellow, you can place Bosco on your lap, hang the fluids as Highhhhhhhhhhhh as you possible can, lift a good piece of skin on the back or loose neck area, point the needle "scoop" up, pat your finger to where you're going to stick it in, then just do it - all the way in. (You can practice on an orange if you've never done this before - a hospice worker taught me that before I started giving IM Morphine injections to my boyfriend who had cancer years ago).
During the whole time, be talking to Bosco in nice low and happy tones. Once the needle is in, turn it all the way on with the blue thingy by rolling it all the way to the other end. Hold and pet Bosco with your one hand on the front of his chest and face, but always having a hold on the chest area in case he tries to bolt and just talk to him through the whole thing about what a good boy he is, how much you love him, things you are going to do that day, etc.
Make sure he is dehydrated before administering, though. Too many fluids can be toxic as well. To find out if he's dehydrated, lift some of the skin on the back and let it fall. If it goes right down, he's not dehydrated; if it goes down slow or not at all, he desperately needs fluids.
I know I'm forgetting something, so if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Oh, use a new needle every time, and make yourself a "Hazardous Waste" container. I use an empty Pringles can that I've taped the top down and made a tiny hole at the top for the needles to go in.
I'm sorry, Ken, I gave you a thumb's down because you did not answer her question in any aspect and you, again, simply pasted what you paste on everyone's questions asking about CRF. This is nothing personal. - Okay, so now you added a sentence at the beginnning to sort of answer her question.
Windi, you don't just "squeeze the bag until the right amount comes out". This is very bad advice and could cause harm to the cat. In fact, you don't even squeeze the bag at all except the very first time before sticking the needle in to fill the chamber about 1/2 full with fluids so you can keep better track.
Posted by Windi Lea
I just observed the procedure at the vet's office earlier this week. It is very simple. If you have any issues with needles, it might take a bit of getting over, which would be a bit of a challenge for me, but I know if my cat needed it on a regular basis I could deal with it. Basically, you just stick the needle in, and squeeze the bag of fluid until the right amount of water goes in. You can do this. And just think how it will save your Bosco the stress of having to go to the veterinarian's office so often.
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