Giving a cat saline injections without assistance.
December 31, 2016 11:11 AM   Subscribe

I'm looking for tips to single-handedly inject saline solution into a cat without another human helper. Details inside, so people can skip the ugly, stabby bits.

For the last several months, I've been injecting saline solution under the skin of our cat, who's very old, blind, and nearing kidney failure. Typically, my spouse positions and scruffs the cat, and I tent the skin above her shoulders and inject the fluid. My spouse is going to be out of the country for many weeks this winter, and I'm planning to deliver the injection solo. I'd love to hear any tips or tricks others have come up with to facilitate the process. (This is a mighty specific askme, I realize.)

The cat is incredibly gentle and never thinks of biting or scratching, but she does crouch and attempt to back away when held. She's less responsive to scruffing than most cats and usualy tries to shake off a scruff rather than submitting to it. So far, I've had pretty good luck wrapping my elbow around her neck, bringing my hand up the other side, and making a skin tent high on her shoulders that also works well enough as a scruff to keep her in place. Once the needle is in, I move my hand to her throat and hold her head in a very steady grip. But, she still squirms and tries to back away; I have to grab her neck pretty hard to keep her in place and it takes a lot of effort to keep the needle from hitting either muscle or skin. If anyone has a better approach to solo cat injections, I'd love to hear it.
posted by eotvos to Pets & Animals (16 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Kitty burrito! Get a beach towel and wrap the pointy bits of the kitty in it while you're getting the injection ready. Doesn't necessarily help with the actual injection, but definitely gives you fewer pointy bits to worry about.
posted by jferg at 11:28 AM on December 31, 2016 [5 favorites]


One thing that has worked for us when we've had to administer medicine solo is to do a wrap in a towel, like swaddling a baby — not too tight as to hurt, but snug as to inhibit movement — before administering the medicine. This is a method we learned from the vet. Our two kitties are young and persistent, and we find that a towel wrap feels to them a bit like a full-body hug, so it helps minimize the instinct to move. It can't be a loose wrap though, or they try to pull their legs out and jump. I found that if I could do a gentle wrap, and then gently hold the neck/scruff with my left hand, I could do the administration with my right hand without a whole lot of resistance. This was oral medicine, though, but I imagine I would do something similar for administering a shot.
posted by SpacemanStix at 11:29 AM on December 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


Would it work to do basically the same thing you're doing, but on the couch? Put her in the corner of the couch right next to the arm of the couch, and sit very close next to her to pin her gently against the arm with your body as you do the elbow-wrap maneuver? This has reduced the squirming/backing away when I've done other kinds of cat maintenance on uncooperative cats.
posted by fussbudget at 11:32 AM on December 31, 2016 [2 favorites]


If your cat shakes off a scruff maybe try scruffing a bigger area of skin- a huge handful- and hold it hard (try for even pressure applied by your entire finger, rather than pointy fingertip pressure though). The cat won't necessarily like it but it doesn't actually hurt them.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 11:33 AM on December 31, 2016 [2 favorites]


I have a fool proof method! Grab the cat and get down on the floor on your knees (or if your cat is unsuspecting, get down next to it on the floor on your knees.

Position kitty so that its head is between your knees, grab it by its scruff to hold it steady. Then sit back on your calves so that kitty is firmly tucked safely underneath you, and can't run backwards. You can lean forward as if in child's pose and give kitty some scritches and hugs if it is willing, but if struggling, just holding it firm at the scruff of its neck.

Then, apply saline as needed. This works great for pill and medicine administration, too. If you need to do that, tilt back the head, scritch the chin a bit and then squeeze their jaw gently at the joint until their mouth opens. Drop the meds in and let 'em go!

I learned this from my cat whisperer boyfriend. Works a charm every time.
posted by pazazygeek at 11:34 AM on December 31, 2016 [13 favorites]


As a singleton, I got a lot of experience doing this with my (now late) elder cats, neither of whom ever responded to scruffing.

For the male cat, I wound up using pazazygeek's technique. He wasn't, er, pleased, but the solution did get where it needed to go. For his sister, who was way more cooperative, I found that administering the solution in one of her regular "spots" was sufficient to get her to relax and go along with the (literal) flow. In her case, I would get her into position, quickly tent the skin and insert the needle, and then gently rest one hand on her chest while holding the needle with the other.
posted by thomas j wise at 11:58 AM on December 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


Sit on the floor with your legs out in front of you and slightly spread. Position the cat between your legs facing away from you. Tent the skin and go. If she tries to back up over top of your legs, bend them slightly and trap her head between your knees like pazazygeek's boyfriend does.

Most cats find the sensation of laying between your legs to be comforting and will hunker down into it.
posted by irisclara at 12:01 PM on December 31, 2016 [3 favorites]


I did this by myself for over a year with one of my cats, and it's definitely doable. I did the pretty much the same as irisclara. Also, if you're able to hang the bag of saline above you somehow it speeds up the flow and you're done quicker. My cat definitely took his cues from me--the more calm and matter-of-fact you are, the calmer your cat will be. You can do this!!
posted by bookmammal at 1:18 PM on December 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


We did this for a very short time for a very ill cat. We'd lock ourselves in the bathroom so they couldn't really run off. We held the cat like irisclara suggests and hung the saline off the towel rack.
posted by oneear at 2:24 PM on December 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


Just in case it hadn't been mentioned to you (tho' maybe it has) - make sure the fluids are at least warm-ish before administering, and try not to poke the needle into the exact same place every time- both of these can minimize pain and hopefully make Kitty at least a little more receptive.
The between-the-knees approach worked for me in the past, too.
posted by JulesER at 5:11 PM on December 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


We do this every day, and some days I've done it solo. Tips that make it work better:
- in general
Our cat is very routine-oriented. If we do something the same every day, then that's the way it is. So, 9pm, same towel to sit on, same location, treats after (in two batches - a couple, then a couple more or it isn't right.) We've been doing it for a while now and if we let it get past 9pm he starts to come around asking, even though he still doesn't love it.

Warm up the bag of solution in a bowl of water first. The vet says it can't really be too hot because cats have a higher body temp, but we find just above room temp is most comfortable for ours.

He likes to have his feet on something substantial, not held in the air or on his back or lying down. I guess it makes him feel more in control.

He can definitely sense apprehension. If we're worried or tense, he's less willing to play along.

- for solo
We alternate sides (he doesn't like it near his backbone), so I have two different methods. For his right side, I hold him in my lap with his head to my left, then reach around in front of his chest with my left arm and pinch his right side, stick with my right. For his left side, I have him sit on the towel on the floor while I'm kneeling on either side, my body behind him. Put my right arm around front, pinch with my left, stick with my right. That one's a little harder.

I'm mostly relying on his cooperation, though. If he truly didn't want to put up with it, I don't think I could do it myself. But his love of routine, experience that it won't take long or hurt that much, and knowing he's getting treats afterwards seems to give him just enough patience. Plus, I swear he knows it makes him feel better afterwards.
posted by ctmf at 6:02 PM on December 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


Oh, and it could also be that he's known the human a long time. He knows the human is not fast, but also the human will not ever give up and quit bothering him until the human gets what it wants. So he might as well do it and get it over with.
posted by ctmf at 6:09 PM on December 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


Make sure you always follow up with high quality treats to build the connection of shot=something yummy.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 4:58 AM on January 1, 2017 [2 favorites]


I did this for a while for my diabetic cat. He had the whole blood sugar test-extra tasty treat-dinnertime-insulin routine down pat, like, he knew that a certain beep from the glucose meter meant error and a certain other beep meant Alright we're done now where's my duck liver treat? and since he was fed on a schedule, I could always count on him to be completely entranced by his food bowl for several minutes.

When I had to add saline to the routine, I hung the bag near his food bowl and did it while he ate. It took some practice to get the needle in efficiently but I didn't have to worry about holding him still and I really don't think he noticed the pokes. If he finished eating before the fluids were done then I would hold the needle in with one hand and put him in my lap and pet him with the other, which usually bought me enough time to finish up.
posted by yeahlikethat at 5:36 AM on January 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


I came in to suggest what pazazygeek described. Works beautifully.
posted by moira at 7:59 PM on January 1, 2017


Response by poster: Thanks, all, for the advice. It's hard to pick few enough best answers to be meaningful.

I've not resorted to the kitty burrito yet. (Saving that until it's really needed, since I doubt she'll enjoy it.) But, we're 9 shots in using a combination of better scruffing, deployment of all available human body parts to prevent escape, and an amplified and ritualized food reward. So far, everything is going well. (Only once have I managed to drop the needle directly into the top of my bare foot after the procedure. My cat and I are blood-siblings now. And it's pretty clear I'm not cut out for the nursing profession.)

Most of all, I'm grateful to everyone for convincing me that I wasn't crazy to try doing this alone. Our vet is fantastic in every other respect, but her skepticism that it could be done by one person left me worried about my own judgment.
posted by eotvos at 11:50 PM on January 14, 2017


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