Fluid help

S

SqueeM3

Member Since 2026
Sometimes the fluid flows quickly out of the bag and other times it barely drips out of the bag
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The tubing isn't kinked. The wheel is fully opened. I don't want to shift the needle too much under the skin because it has a tendency to pop out the tent and leak fluid everywhere. On a bad day, I might get 5o mls or less into Leroy before he starts moving which makes the needle pop out or fluids leak everywhere :blackeye: Any tips on how to get the fluids to flow out every time?
 
Hey Squeem, hope you get some tips from the others. I'll do some research for you later.

In my engineer brain I can imagine that if the needle goes in even a little weird or is like being blocked by some tissue that the pressure of the fluids in the bag/line isn’t enough to flow. Maybe a slight reposition? What gauge needle? Bag high enough?
 
I read some discussions online and it seems like a lot of folks are talking about needle positioning and adjusting the position slightly can make a big difference. Even just a little rotation. They also talk about avoiding scar tissue. There was one discussion about the larger gauge needles potentially being uncomfortable, even though they have a higher flow rate, maybe you net more fluids with a smaller needle (he sits longer).
 
It went better today although I still had to poke him 5 times because the needle kept going through the tent :facepalm: And he was meatloafing so I couldn't get a good tent anyways.
 
I’m definitely not an expert, but what helped me with Kai was making a larger skin tent and inserting the needle more parallel to the body instead of straight downward. When I used too steep of an angle, I’d sometimes poke through the other side. But i'm not sure how much skin you have to work with. Kai has a good amount to pull at lol every cat is different.
 
Leroy is a skeleton with little skin☹️ There's not much skin to tent up. I try to point down because going parallel means going straight through the tent. I've seen videos where people insert parallel right over the spine but Leroy's boney spine isn't covered with such skin. Poking bone might be 🫣
 
Fluids today was difficult. The needle kept popping out of the tent no matter which way I poked it in or where on his body. Leroy wouldn't eat his snack so he kept moving and the tubing is only so long. I ended up poking him more times that he liked to get less than 100 ml in. He was growling and cranky :(
 
I've found that when I'm having trouble with the stream not flowing enough giving the bag a little squeeze and/or tapping on the plastic drip reservoir (like flick it with your nail) helps get it going. Make sure you have it up high. You can move the valve further down the line to make it easier to reach quickly when you're ready to close it.
It does really help if you have an extra hand/set of eyes to open and close the valve for you (and keep kitty facing them with pets, if that helps them feel more settled.) Baxter is very good about sitting still for his fluids but he does lift and turn his head around a little.. I guess some people can just leave the needle in and not have to hold it in place, but it pops out if I don't keep my hand there ever so lightly holding it from sliding out.

Hope any of this helps.. we just started fluids at home a couple weeks ago and it's a learning curve. You'll get there ♡
The first couple tries Baxter walked away a very wet kitty. It's largely a matter of configuring the setup how it works for you and positioning in a way kitty is most comfy/settled in.
 
SqueeM3 said:
Leroy is a skeleton with little skin☹️ There's not much skin to tent up. I try to point down because going parallel means going straight through the tent. I've seen videos where people insert parallel right over the spine but Leroy's boney spine isn't covered with such skin. Poking bone might be 🫣
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I know what you mean.. I had this trouble with Baxter when he first started insulin, that was with those tiny little short needles, his skin was so thin it was really easy to go out the other side. If you can hold his skin up so that your tent is "long ways" that might give you more room to go forward with the needle. Does that make sense?
 
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