My dog's IV has blood in it! What's happening and what should I do?

With such severe clinical signs and a low blood cont, hospital treatment is the only option. Clinics are used to treating infectious disease cases and all kennels/cages shoul be secre and safe with no leaks between patients and barrier nursing (changing gloves/washing and disinfecting all equipment) between patients to protect each of them from spreading diseases further. He should remain on an iv until he is voluntarily taking enough food/liquids to maintain his own hydration

When an IV catheter is placed in a blood vessel for several days, it can eventually pull out of the blood vessel so that the fluids are going under the skin rather than in the blood vessel, or it could mean that the tape holding the catheter in place is a bit too tight. Both of these events occur very commonly in animals that are hospitalized on IV fluids. While a swollen paw is a bit uncomfortable temporarily, the vet and vet tech will be able to either remove or replace the catheter, or simply adjust the tape holding it in place. I've seen several of your posts about Hunter and I'm thrilled to hear that he's doing much better! :-)

Poor Meddy! I am sure you are very worried about him. I wish i could tell you what is going on with him but from the medications you list it sounds like something is wrong with his liver. If he received a blood transfusion then this means he was anemic (low red count). The pictures you show are of a common intravenous fluid solution to maintain hydration, an antibiotic, and a sugar solution (which is often given if the blood sugar is low). It sounds like your vet is working hard to help him. As all of these are supportive medications the really important thing will be finding out why this is happening. I assume you took him to the vet because he was sick and he was placed on these medications to treat him. If this is not the case and he developed sickness after starting a medication then report this to your vet right away. It sounds like Meddy needs more tests to figure this out. Do you have access to any veterinary specialists in your area, such as an internal medicine specialist? If not, you could talk to your vet about he or she getting a phone consult with a specialist to help with the case. I hope this helps and the Meddy feels better soon! Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

This is a tough question to answer without know the entire history of the patient. In some cases, yes, the fluids will be stopped if the patient is otherwise well-hydrated and/or if the patient has heart disease (because he will not be able to handle the fluids as well). If this has happened to your pet I would encourage you to speak with the veterinarian about the choice to stop fluid therapy. There may be a very reasonable explanation. If you are not happy with the choice you always have it within your rights to seek care elsewhere. I hope this helps. Best of luck!

This is not uncommon after enemas; however if it continues and increases then he will need to see the vet again. It can lead to dehydration and infections and sometimes IV fluids with hospitalization is required.

I’m not sure what type of surgery was done, or what types of tubes are left. This makes it hard to answer as well as I would like. However, anytime my clients have ANY concern about a healing surgical patient, then I want to see them and evaluated the incision. If your doctor says it fine then great! If not, then having it checked out early is better than waiting!!! Good luck Bow! I hope he is back to normal soon!

Hello, so sorry that Fifa is having this issue. It is very difficult to comment without seeing her leg. I suspect she has cellulitis. Probably some of the IV fluids and/or medications went around the catheter and into the surrounding tissues causing inflammation. It is not typically an emergency but I suggest you call the hospital she was at, or your regular vet, to get her seen for treatment of this problem as soon as you can. Typically oral antibiotics and anti-inflammatories are needed to help correct this. In the meantime you can do some cold water therapy on the leg for 10 minutes 2-3 times per day. This entails using a hose with a firm spray (and cold water) on the leg - move the water up/down the leg for the entire 10 minutes. Use as hard of a spray as she will allow. Hope this helps. Best wishes.