I am getting real tired of giving our Tabby the Ringer’s IV after two weeks. He does seem to be doing better but I need to get another blood/urine test to be sure.
Maybe some good will eventually come out of the recall. It is almost amusing (in a really sick and sad way) watching this whole train wreck play out.
I hope it doesn’t get to the supermarkets, really. Just in case I am reading labels and buying no pet or human food with wheat gluten in it.
Monday is going to be very interesting.....
Thank you m_guy,
Glad to hear your Tabby doing better.
What I find is so odd is that besides my dog dying and then my son’s dog and have talked to 2 other people who lost dogs in the last few weeks.
And that is just in my circle.
Better learn to like it. Most cats eventually come down with renal failure, if something else doesn't kill them first, so if Tabby recovers from this and lives a good long life, you're likely to be doing this again down the road. Daily subQ fluids can extend their lives for years. I have a 21 year old whose been getting fluids every night for almost 2 years now. He lies on my bed and gets combed while they drip in, and he just loves the whole thing. Doesn't really seem to notice the fluids and barely notices getting poked, but lying on mommy's bed getting combed is clearly a great treat in his mind. It's become a nice bedtime routine for me too.
BTW, if you need to continue this for a while, you'll probably save a bundle by buying fluids/needles/lines from someplace other than your vet (unless your vet is selling these items for way less than most vets). Some people are able to get them locally through a Costco or Walgreen's. Best online source I know of is http://www.bricomedicalsupplies.com Depending on where you live (due to shipping costs), buying lactated ringers by the 12-bag case will run between $3.13 and $4.08 per bag, shipping including (and no extra shipping charge for needles and lines purchased at the same time as fluids). Also, I highly recommend Terumo ultra thin-wall (UTW) needles -- for a given gauge, the hole in the middle is bigger, so you can use a smaller gauge and make a smaller hole in kitty, which is generally more comfortable for the cat, ans also results in less trouble with leakage after the needle comes out. Many cat renal failure veterans refer to the needles most vets provide as "kitty harpoons". I use the tiny 22 gauge, 3/4" Terumos, and 200mL takes about 10 minutes to drip in.
One of my grandchildren had to be on a gluten-free diet for a year when he was about 6. It wasvery difficult because he was denied so many foods that the rest of the family could eat. In the end, it did not solve his problem.