IV for Djuna

Djuna had to go to the vet’s once again this weekend, this time to teach me how to give her subcutaneous fluids. I had been thinking this would mean simply giving her a shot once a week, but is actually a bit more involved than that. It’s an actual IV bag with a drip line and everything. Thankfully I don’t have to worry about hitting a vein or anything like that. I just poke it in her skin and that’s pretty much it.

The vet tech showing me how to do it all was very nice and understanding, particularly when I (rather surprisingly) almost passed out after seeing the size of the needle involved. That sucker is HUGE! My poor little girl…

Thankfully, since the needle is huge, the whole procedure only takes a few minutes. I’m to take a good-sized pinch of skin from Djuna’s shoulders, poke the needle in just under the skin, get it to sit comfortably on her back, then open the drip and let 100-150 cc’s of fluid flow into her. She gets quite a bubble of fluids on her back, which falls down either side of her shoulders (it looks like she has shoulder-pads) – but that gets absorbed into her body soon enough.

I am to do this once or twice a week for the next two to three months. Then she goes back in to get another blood/urine test done to see how the kidneys are doing. If all is well, we’ll continue with the IV, testing every once in a while to make sure it’s all good.

Another way to get fluids into her is to provide her with numerous water bowls all over the house. I even got my niece Lauren to track down a good deal on one of those perpetual water fountains for her (Thank You, Lauren!) so she can have fresh running water any time she wants.

I think she’ll enjoy that.