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01-01-2016, 10:47 AM | #1 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Walnut Creek
Posts: 3
| Kidney Failure and Sub Q Fluids Hello Everyone - My guy "Duke" was diagnosed 3 weeks ago with kidney failure. I have been a complete mess ever since. We have been doing Sub Q fluids at home and honestly it is not getting better. Some days we manage and other days I have to take him into the vet. Today is a bad day. He absolutely will not be still and he is very very strong. I don't want to hurt him but I know that this is necessary if we are going to keep him as healthy and comfortable as possible. I read a bunch of the threads and it seems like no one is having the squirming issue like I am. I honestly cannot afford to take him to the vet every day ($40 a day) for the fluids but I can't seem to find a method that keeps him calm enough to do it at home. Does anyone have any advice? I've tried the blanket wrap, letting him lay in my lap, laying on my shoulder, and having my mom try to help hold him. I know for sure that the anxiety is being restrained and not the actual needle because he goes crazy before the needle. Please help me! |
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01-01-2016, 12:06 PM | #2 |
Rosehill Yorkies Donating YT Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Houston Texas
Posts: 9,462
| Can you keep him busy eating a favorite something while you are inserting the needle? If you can keep him preoccupied with food before you start his fluids, maybe he will do better during the infusion? NONE of mine respond well when I start "binding" them up....they know something unpleasant is about to transpire.... Be sure the needle you use is positioned correctly for ease and almost painless insertion under his skin.....I would try putting him up on the kitchen cabinet so he is at a comfortable height for you to work with him. Someone standing at his head to ply him with treats he adores....you standing on his side to insert the needle....how are you holding the IV bag? Do you have a pole or can you hang the bag on the kitchen cabinet handle/knob above where you have him laying on your cabinet? If I had a better idea of your set up, I maybe could help you get this task done where he feels secure and steady..... Whoever he responds to best/more calmly, should be at his head, feeding him tiny bits of his most favorite snack..... Last edited by Yorkiemom1; 01-01-2016 at 12:08 PM. |
01-01-2016, 02:23 PM | #3 |
YT Addict Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Fountain Hills, AZ USA
Posts: 385
| I did fluids with my yorkie for almost a couple of years. In time, he adjusted to it and I got pretty good at it, so that many mornings I got the fluids in before he even woke up. Starting out it was a little more difficult. I used a laundry basket lined with pillows and fluffy towels warm from the dryer. Popped him in the middle of all the warm towels, covered him up to the neck so he couldn't move around much, and then my daughter held a bully stick through one of the holes in the basket for him to gnaw on. Nope, a bully stick isn't ideal for a dog with kidney disease, but he only did a little bit of damage to it in the few minutes it took me to administer the fluids. With warm fluids, a good stick and the bag positioned right, I could get 100 ml of fluid into him in between 3 and 4 minutes so he didn't have to sit still for long. The learning curve is frustrating, but stick with it. It does get easier. You'll learn to be more proficient at administering them, and if you find a high enough value reward for afterwards, your dog will train to sit still for the treat. Diana |
01-01-2016, 04:58 PM | #4 |
YT 500 Club Member | A long time ago I had to give my peekapoo IVs for kidney failure. He laid on our bar w/ blankets. I hung the IV bag on the cabinet door. He did real good. It was over real quick. Had to give it 3x a day. Unfortunately we only had to do it for 3 weeks. Good luck it will get better w/practice
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01-01-2016, 10:02 PM | #5 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: prescott valley az usa
Posts: 1,232
| No experience with this, just wanted to say how sorry I am for you both to have to go through this.
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01-02-2016, 10:28 AM | #6 | |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Walnut Creek
Posts: 3
| Quote:
I do have the bag hanging from a pole where I can comfortably squeeze it but because I am usually alone its tough to manage him, keep the needle in place and squeeze the bag. It took 3 people at the vet the other day and there were all amazed at how strong he is. I'm beginning to wonder what quality of life this is for him if he is having to go through this daily. I am so heartbroken that I just cry all day but not in front of him because I dont want him to feel my pain. | |
01-02-2016, 10:29 AM | #7 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Walnut Creek
Posts: 3
| That is very sweet and I thank you for the kind words. |
01-04-2016, 09:14 AM | #8 |
YT 500 Club Member | How's your baby doing? Any better with administrating the IV. It's been years since I had to do this. The IV bag I used had a controll thumb wheel on it. It would allow me to controll the amount of fluid. Just like they use in hospitals. I read your post that said you had to squeeze the bag. That's too hard. Ask your vet for the controlled one. Praying he gets better.
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01-05-2016, 04:08 PM | #9 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Kennesaw, GA
Posts: 4
| Sorry you're going through this terrible illness. Unfortunately we didn't realize what was going on with our Yorkie until it was too late and not much could be done. Good luck with your baby. |
01-08-2016, 04:55 PM | #10 |
YT Addict Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: VA USA
Posts: 407
| I'm so sorry you and your baby are going through this. I once had a pup with kidney failure and the diagnosis is devastating. I, too, was trying to give the fluids with an uncooperative dog. To make matters worse, he would bite when he got scared. A friend of mine made something that enabled me to give him the fluids. It was essentially a board wide enough for my dog to lie on with low sides to prevent his sliding off the sides. It looked like a sled. At the head of the board was an embedded hook that attached to his collar with a strap so short he could only lie down. (My friend used hooks from an old briefcase.) My dog of course would resist but once he was attached to the short strap, which in this case also had to keep him from biting, he was unable to move his head other than to lie down, and his body could not move off the sides. So he calmed down and I was able to give him the necessary fluids. (I put the "sled" on the bed and sat behind him with the IV bag suspended from a pole which also had a hook.) After a while of doing this every day, he became resigned to the fluids routine and I was able to dispense with the "sled." He seemed to understand that this was how it had to be and from then on it was not a problem. We did this for about a year and a half when the vet discovered a mass in his abdomen and after getting an ultrasound to confirm it was cancer I decided it was time to let him go. The vet called the fluids "the poor man's dialysis." The hardest part in these situations is knowing when to let go. As long as he seemed to enjoy his life and still be himself, ornery as that was, I was comfortable giving him his fluids. But one day he seemed sick again and I took him to the vet; that's when we discovered the cancer. Then I knew . . . My heart goes out to you. People stay on dialysis for years; I don't know about dogs, but I wish you and your baby the best possible outcome. |
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