rehydrating cats

[eric100]

My cat has been very lethargic and had diarrhea, I took her to the vet and he 'rehydrated' her by injecting fluids between her shoulder blades! I wasn't there but that is what he said he would do. Has anyone heard about this before, I only know about I.V. fluids not this injection - bizarre? Can anyone explian this one?

[Rabelais]

Your vet was giving a subcutaneous injection into the scruff of your cat. Cats skin is very loose and a large volume of liquid can be injected here and once the fluid is beneath the skin it will quickly partition out into the general circulation dehydrating the animal. A cat can obviously have an intravenous drip installed but it would require shaving and sedation as trying to get a line in a conscious cat would be like trying to juggle with razor blades. For even smaller animals that you want to hydrate quickly, you can do an intraperitoneal injection, where you inject straight through the abdomen where the fluids are injected around the intestines. The only way these methods differ really, is the speed with which the fluids enter the circulatory system, IV is fastest.