Fluid Skin Buttons for cats

[bigkittinteef]

I have a 16 year old cat, Tika, that has chronic kidney failure. He's been getting subcutaneous fluids every night for about a year now, to his great displeasure. My vet and I decided to try implanting a skin button in his side so he wouldn't have to suffer needle pokes every night. The surgery was simple and recovery was quick. The button worked so well for the first 2 weeks of use. Seemed like a godsend!

NOT! We had to remove it 3 weeks later (today) because of an intense inflammatory reaction. Scar tissue encapsulated the internal port of the button preventing further use and collected pus. We called the company that sold us the button kit and apparently this is not uncommon. My poor kitty had to have it removed today. I feel like a horrible person for making such a bad choice. I wish I never put my sweet kitty through this.

I don't normally push my medical opinions on this forum, but I thought some of you might benefit from this info since this is a relatively new procedure (from what I can tell). My hospital had never done one before my cat so we didn't know what to expect. I wish my vet and I had known this was a likely outcome before we decided to do it. Another cat received a button after seeing my cat's (false) positive results during the first 2 weeks. Now we're worried it will happen to this kitty too. Sad day.

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[bigkittinteef]

Here is a picture in case you've never seen one. I hear they are more successful in dogs but that was info from the manufacturing company. So who knows...

 

[Wildlife woman]

Thanks for the info. My kitty has kidney disease so if he ends up progressing to kidney failure it's good to know that this may not be the best choice

 

[bigkittinteef]

I'm sorry to hear about your poor kitty. The concept is truly genius, but needs improvement so far in practice. Here's to hoping we can find something better soon for our kitties.

 

[heylodeb]

I'm fascinated by the idea but can see why it would be difficult to keep sterile...hmm....wonder how they could be improved?

 

[bigkittinteef]

In regards to sterility, each needle (specialized blunt needle that fits into the port--18 gauge sized) came in a sterilized pack also containing and iodine swab and an alcohol scrub. I cleaned the site with the iodine and alcohol before each use. The vet thinks this was more of a "sterile abscess" (as he put it) or an inflammatory response, not an infection. One of the vets was telling me that cats tend to have huge inflammatory responses (compared to other species such as dogs) when foreign bodies are inserted. This may be why the plug works better for dogs?

 

[Psorophoraferox]

Thanks for the info! I hadn't heard of these before.

 

[yann]

I get the idea of the button and definitely see the pro of it. I'm really sorry to hear that it didn't work out for you and your kitty, but thank you for sharing it here for all of us to know! I have a 13 year old cat back home too and if (more like "when" lol) she gets kidney failure I will definitely tread very cautiously on this fluid button kit. Did the company give a statistics on the commonality of the side effects?

 

[StormWater]

I have a 16 year old cat, Tika, that has chronic kidney failure. He's been getting subcutaneous fluids every night for about a year now, to his great displeasure.

It's amazing the lengths we go to for our four-legged family members. Daily subcutaneous fluids is quite a commitment. I did weekly for my so's 15-year old cat for about a year and did daily insulin shots for our family poodle when I was younger. In order to figure the insulin dose, we followed him around every morning to get a urine sample in a beaker. He'd get so 'pissed', he'd raise his leg, we'd get the beaker in position and he'd lower his leg and move to another location. After a few attempts, we'd finally wear him down and he'd allow the sample to be taken.

Best of luck with Tika, but you should be proud of the extra time you've given him.

 

[SnowyRox]

In regards to sterility, each needle (specialized blunt needle that fits into the port--18 gauge sized) came in a sterilized pack also containing and iodine swab and an alcohol scrub. I cleaned the site with the iodine and alcohol before each use. The vet thinks this was more of a "sterile abscess" (as he put it) or an inflammatory response, not an infection. One of the vets was telling me that cats tend to have huge inflammatory responses (compared to other species such as dogs) when foreign bodies are inserted. This may be why the plug works better for dogs?

Shouldn't the vet have researched failure rates and reported that information to you before implanting the plug? I would have thought that was standard. You couldn't make an informed decision without knowing the common risks/benefits.