Did I give sub-Q's "too far back" on my bun?

[Jenk]

My 3-year-old Mini Rex, Zoe, is going through another CPS (Cow-pile Syndrome) bout; so her gut action is slowing down/"drying out."

This morning, I gave her sub-Q's but didn't realize how far back I'd grabbed her skin (about 2" farther back from the usual point). She wound up bleeding for a bit, so I applied pressure and frequentlywiped the area with rubbing alcohol.

The bleeding has stopped, but the sub-Q's have settled off to her lefthand side, between her shoulder and ribcage region. (I did insert the needleoff-center,a bit to the left.

Could my goof (giving the sub-Q's farther back than normal) cause Zoe any problems that I should be aware of?

Thank you,

Jenk

 

[Maureen Las]

If you would have hit a blood vesel you would have a gotten a blood return in the butterfly tubing / or syringe and probably would not have given the fluids.
It may be that you gave the solution in a particularly bony area on the rabbit and hit a muscle.
I would not use alcohol directly on a rabbit but otherwiseI think that she will be fine.

 

[dazsgeo]

You should be fine. When we had pets at the vet clinic who needed SQ fluids, we would give them anywhere from the neck back and frequently alternated sites for pets who were getting them regularly.

 

[Jenk]

angieluv wrote:

I would not use alcoholdirectly on a rabbit but otherwiseI think that she will be fine.

Do you mean that it's always unsafe to swab a bun's skin with rubbing alcohol, or that it's justnot good to do if a bun has minor bleeding (e.g., at a needle-insertion site)? My rabbits have had blood drawn from two different vet clinics, both of which use rubbing alcoholbefore the procedure. (So I hope it's safe!)

BTW, Zoe's "hump" of fluids, which was entirely shifted to her left side, was undetectable two hours after it was given; so at least the fluids were absorbed as they're meant to be. Whew!

 

[Jenk]

dazsgeo wrote:

You should be fine. When we had pets at the vet clinic who needed SQ fluids, we would give them anywhere from the neck back and frequently alternated sites for pets who were getting them regularly.

I'm glad to know that much; I'd thought I'd inserted the needletoo far back this time.

I've never given them very far from the collarbone area, andthat region has never caused bleeding quite like Zoe had today. :shock:But the bleeding did stop after a minute, or two; and she seems none the worse for wear.

 

[tonyshuman]

I would not worry much about rubbing alcohol. It isn't safe to ingest, but so little is used and most evaporates before the bunny gets a chance to lick at it.

 

[Maureen Las]

tonyshuman wrote:

I would not worry much about rubbing alcohol. It isn't safe to ingest, but so little is used and most evaporates before the bunny gets a chance to lick at it.

Ingesting it while grooming is what I was concerned about Jen

 

[tonyshuman]

Yeah, it could be bad to ingest but a small amount of ethyl alcohol (as opposed to methyl or isopropyl) probably wouldn't be too bad. They do evaporate really quickly.