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Hi, How much can one hydrate a severely dehydrated cat at one go? Does one just keep giving saline sub qs until the pet is no longer dehydrated? I read where some say to give "large volumes" in cases of kidney failure to flush out the toxins. How much is deemed "large volumes" say for a 12 lb cat? Wouldn't large volumes be too much for the pet to absorb? Would it just be given not to be absorbed by to encourage a flushing action? So can different amounts be given depending on the reason why the sub qs are given, ie, large volumes if it's kidney failure?One vet said there's no problem if too much is given because it will just collect under the skin in the lower extremities, ie, the legs and a stomach pouch, until it is eventually absorbed, there's no way it can enter the body structure itself except by being absorbed, yet another will say that it can collected in spaces between the chest cavity and the chest wall and cause breathing problems.

What happens if a cat is severely dehydrated, large volumes of lactated ringers are given to offset the dehydration( ie, 700 cc at one time which just brought the cat to a hydrated state, and two hours later the pet is 30 percent dehydrated so 180 cc more is given),and the pet doesn't absorb the amount given, even after 24 hours and further develops moderate shortness of breath? Yet another cat who is 1/3 less in size and weight and not severely dehydrated is given 600cc at one time because the owner fell asleep while the drip was on and it took three days to absorb. No negative after effect.

It seems the rule of just pinching the back of the neck to determine the amount of dehydration and hydrating to the point that the skin doesn't stay in a fold, depends on the cat not what the hydrating is for- flushing or because of dehydration. Your opinion would be appreciated on this. Thanks.

The reason why I'm asking is because I've hydrated cats using sub qs in the past for various reasons and always judged the amount to give by seeing how long it took for the fold at the back of the neck to fall into place when pinched.

My cat was not dehydrated and maybe during the extreme heat we've been having I may have hydrated him with a couple of 60ccs once or twice. My cat stayed at the vet's for a half day of observation and I did not realize when I picked him up that he was severely dehydrated because he was in a carrier. The skin on the back was so tight it was like wallpaper on a wall. I immediately gave 60cc of lactated ringers and kept giving it until the skin fell back into place. I gave 7-60cc syringes in total.Two hours later I checked the fold and he was 30 percent
dehydrated so I gave 3-60cc more, not randomly but because that's what it took for the skin to just start falling back into place. It didn't look like overhydration at all. However 15 hours later, after urinating twice about 1/4 of a cup each, my cat started to develop shortness of breath at 60 breaths a minute.No other symptoms. I waited for his body to absorb the excess or excrete it because he wasn't in any distress or struggling for breath, etc, if there was excess fluid and I wondered if it was his respiratory problem I was hearing because I had put the vaporizer on his to clear up phlegm and it seemed to, for the most part, so I wondered if it was because of that because the steam was very warm, he was in an enclosed space and a long-haired cat.Well, my cat passed onand I'm wondering what I did wrong.

Did I overhydrate him when I judged the amount to give by fold at the back of his neck? Why did the symptoms come 15 hours later? That's why I had trouble relating it to the hydration. As I said, some cats drink more than that and one cat 1/3 less in weight was given 600ccs at one time and it took three days for the body to absorb it or excrete it but it did with no endangerment of life.Why didn't it happen that way with my cat? I've given, because of dehydration, a seven pound cat 240ccs, two hours later 240ccs,
four hours later 180ccs, and every three to four hours repeating that and the body just kept excreting it. Why didn't it do that with my cat?

The reason also why I didn't suspect overhydration, even with the amount given, was, as I said, the symptoms didn't appear until 15 hours later and just one, moderate shortness of breath, no discharge for the nose,etc. The other thing is that when my cat because severely dehydrated the mucus, phlegm, that had abated because the vet had given a Dexamethasone shot, came back in a matter of hours. Although I didn't hydrate my cat to the extent I did for this reason, the overhydration cleared up the phlegm and mucus completely in a matter of hours. His breathing was clear for the first time in four months because the increased fluid level thinned the mucus and although he had been hydrated off and on before not to that extent. When I looked up info concerning that it said that people who have a problem with excess mucus and phlegm should drink large volumes of water.

Fluid given under the skin is not immediately put into circulation but is held there until it can be absorbed by the body, and urinated out if need be. Excess follows the course of gravity and settles in the feet and underbelly until it can be absorbed into the circulation. Usually a cat is given 50-100ml at a time, but as you have seen, a great excess is not detrimental. If it is given directly into the circulatory system, as in an IV, it can cause a fluid accumulation in the lungs, but not when given subQ. The worst that would happen is that the cat would have to carry around all this extra weight.