Feline Fluid Therapy: How Much and How Fast... This Is the Question...

Feline fluid therapy: How much and how fast… this is the question…

Many cats presenting as emergency or hospitalise will require some form of fluid therapy as part of their treatment plan. Knowing the difference between hypoperfusion and dehydration is extremely important since this usually dictates the approach to fluid therapy including type of fluids administered, fluid rates and monitoring.

Patients deemed to be in hypovolaemic shock (haemorrhage, vomiting, diarrhoea, fluid lost in the third space) suffer from fluid loss principally from the intravascular compartment. If hypoperfusion is not rapidly diagnosed and addressed it will lead to tissue hypoxia, multiple organ failure and death. The ultimate goal in treating hypoperfusion, when secondary to hypovolaemic and distributive shock, is to restore intravascular volume and thereby improve cardiac output and thus tissue oxygen delivery. […]