Administering the fluids

I'm going to take you through what I did step by step, including which hand did what, so I can be sure to cover everything. If you're not right handed then of course make the necessary adjustments.

• The first thing I did was find Whitney and tell her over and over again that it was "Time for fluids!" I think this was a good thing to do so it didn't become a "sneaking up on her" kind of thing.
  
  
• Then I'd pick her up and put her on my lap. I preferred using my lap to a table. There was less room for her to move around on my lap, which made things easier for me to control, and I also think made her feel more secure.
  
  
• Next, I put a few drops of oil (her treat) onto a clean surface (Ok… Honestly, I usually put it on my knee because that gave me one less thing to balance, but obviously you can use a plate if you'd prefer!) Once I put the few drops in place, I'd smear them around. The smearing around part is important. It'll take longer to lick up this way. If you leave it in drop form, then one lick and it'll be gone!
  
  
• The next thing that would happen is she'd start licking.

• Once she'd started licking, I'd lay the syringe on my lap behind her.
  
  
• I'd pinch the butterfly grip with my right hand and remove the sheath (plastic cover) from the needle with my left hand and put the sheath aside.
  
  
• Then, still holding the butterfly grip with my right hand, and with the syringe laying in my lap (and the ferret still licking away!) I'd use my then empty left hand to pinch a little bit of scruff. I didn't have to do a complete "death grip" immobilizing scruff! I'd just pinch up a small section of loose skin about a quarter inch below the shoulder area. I found she tolerated that better than higher up. You should just be pinching skin here, not muscles or anything else, only loose skin.

• Then, while continuing to pinch the skin with my left hand, I'd use my right hand to stick the needle (horizontally and parallel to the body -not straight down) into the empty space created between the loose pinched skin and her body. (I know... this is the scary part for you!) My ferret would do a little flinch sometimes when the needle was inserted but kept on licking. So far no hand was holding her steady and she'd be ok because she'd still be much more interested in licking the treat than she was in me! Now in all honesty your ferret might whip around at this point thinking "-What the heck??!!!!!! You just stuck me with something!!!" but just talk calmly, try to give it more treats and distract it away from the needle. Once the needle is in you can use both of your hands to steady your ferret if necessary and direct it back to the treat. If you're persistent enough with the treats, and you stay calm, your ferret will probably go back to its licking. Once it's gone back to that, you can continue. Hopefully the needle is still in!

• The next thing I'd do was fumble around for the syringe with my right hand while trying not to twist or move the tubing and the needle. Then I'd put my left hand under her body to steady her.
  
  
• While steadying her with my left hand, and she was still licking away, I'd start to push the fluids through the syringe (I know... scary part number two!)

She's fine... She's licking!

Sometimes when I'd start pushing the fluids, she'd flinch again so I'd go more slowly. If she really fussed and made a huge deal out of it and I couldn't keep her interested in the treats, I'd sometimes remove the needle and "re-stick" since I'd figure I may have hit a sensitive spot, but honestly, this was rare. Generally a little calm talking and pushing slower (and more treats) solved the problem, but if it doesn't always work, the world won't come to an end if you need to stick the needle into a second spot! Most of the time, however, there was just a small flinch and she'd keep right on licking as I continued to push the fluids. (* I should warn you though, that if you do a second stick, sometimes the fluids start to seep out of the hole from the first stick before you've even finished pushing! If that happens, just put some pressure on that first hole to try to keep the fluids in and do the best you can. It's not a big problem.)

• Once you get going, push the fluids in as quickly and as comfortably as possible. Don't shoot the ferret across the room! It usually took me about a minute or less to push about 15ccs of fluid, and Whitney would continue licking throughout.

• When I finished pushing the fluids, I'd place the syringe back on my lap. Then the thumb of my left hand (which was still steadying her underneath) would come around and get ready to apply some gentle pressure to the injection site (which would have a bubble of fluid underneath) as I slowly pulled the needle out with my right hand.
  
  
• I kept a little direct pressure on the spot where the needle had been to help prevent seeping. I should point out that I've never seen a vet apply pressure here so it seems to be all right if some fluid seeps out, but hey, I'd worked hard to get that stuff in there and as far as I was concerned it was staying in!
  
  
• After another 10 seconds or so, the licking would stop and she'd want to get down. And it was over!
  
  
• There will be a little bubble of fluid under the skin when you're done (Roughly the size of half a Ping-Pong ball). This is normal and will probably go away within the hour as the fluid gets absorbed into their system. There may also be a little bit of blood sometimes, but the pressure you apply afterwards usually takes care of that.
  
  
• Clean and dry the injection site a few minutes later with a paper towel and a few drops of warm water. This will reduce scabbing and itchiness at the injection site. Whitney actually seemed to appreciate it when I picked her up to do this!

Clean Up

No you're not done yet!

When the ferret is done and back down and running around (and it's still breathing and you're still breathing and the world didn't burst into flames and you've calmed down enough to believe that maybe everything really is still ok!) then it's time to clean up.

• Place the sheath back over the butterfly needle so you don't stick yourself with it by accident now or later. If you've lost the sheath, put some tape over the end of the needle to cover the tip.
  
  
• Next remove the butterfly needle from the syringe and put the needle in a safe container. These CANNOT be reused and must be disposed of at your vet's office or at a medical facility. Do not just throw them out. It's against the law in most places.

• Now, remember that first needle you capped and set aside? The one used for drawing the fluid out of the bag? Put that back on the tip of the syringe and keep it capped.

  I've been told that as long as the syringe is capped and nothing gets in or touches the needle or touches the insides or tip of the syringe (and you didn't drop either one on the floor or anything) they're safe to reuse about 4-5 times. Don't wash or rinse either of them out or do anything to them in between. Just cap the syringe with the capped needle and put it away. I'd use one syringe and needle set for about a week (which is more than 4-5 days but it seemed to work ok). Remember, though, the butterfly needles can only be used once.

• Once the butterfly needle is re-sheathed and in the safe container, and the capped syringe and "drawing out needle" have been safely put away, all that remains is to clean up all the stray packaging, recap and put away what you used as a treat, and wash off your plate (er… leg!) -This would also be a good time find your ferret again and gently clean off the injection site (as mentioned above.)
  
  
• After about a week you'll need to use a new sterile syringe and a new sterile "drawing out needle." The old "drawing out needle" should be capped and put with the butterfly needles in the safe container. I usually washed the used syringes and kept a few around for emergency feedings. They don't need to be sterile for that. But they CANNOT be used again for any kind of injections. If you find yourself with a bunch of extra syringes, donate them to a shelter or a Wildlife Rehabilitator for feeding purposes only. Make sure they know that the syringes are no longer sterile.

Well, that's it! What do you think?

I had no problems giving my ferret fluids twice a day using this method. It took a little more patience in the beginning, but then it took very little time. Of course I would like to think that it was just because Whitney was an exceptional ferret, but I think it's also because it doesn't take long to do with a syringe and she was so busy licking off the oil that she really didn't seem to mind it much at all. I think she associated the phrase "Time for fluids!" with "Time for a treat! –while mom does that other thing" as opposed to associating it with "needle stick."

FYI, I did try this once or twice without the treat and she was not having it! Not if she wasn't going to get her end of the bargain! So I didn't try it that way again. The lesson? As long as Whitney was busy licking the oil, and as long as the oil licking lasted longer than the fluid injection, we both came through the twice a day ritual ok!

~ A Few More Things ~

1) Some people have said that their ferrets tolerate the fluids a little better if you lay the tubing in a bowl of warm water. This way the water surrounding the tubing will warm the fluids as they pass through. I never needed to do this and I think it would be a little tricky with only one foot of tubing, but it makes sense to try it if you think your fluids might be on the cold side. If you need to give this method a try, see if you can find some butterfly needles with a longer length of tubing. I personally do not recommend heating the entire IV bag.

2) I know of several people (mostly shelters) who give fluid injections directly out of a syringe with a stiff needle attached. It works for them (and I'm sure it's cheaper than buying the butterfly needles) but I personally am not comfortable using that method. I'd be afraid that one squirm could cause the needle to break or puncture something. The tubing attached to the butterfly needle makes things a lot more flexible. If I was holding the syringe and Whitney moved while the needle was under her skin, the tubing in between allowed for some flexibility and movement. -At least long enough for me to get her to stop! But again, the timing was such that 99% of the time I was finished before she'd finished licking and she didn't move much at all. Still, if you've learned to give fluids with a stiff needle instead of butterfly tubing, and it works for you, then do it that way. Do whatever works best for you and your ferret.

3) Something I shouldn't have to say but....
Giving subcutaneous fluids is not the same as giving an IV, and no other medications or fluids of any kind should be mixed with the Sub-Q fluids or given in the same manner. If you believe there is an exception to this (that I don't know about), please discuss it with your vet.

OK, now you're done! :0)