# Lactated Ringers? (Anyone With Medical or Vet Training?)



## Beaners

We lost one of our puppies to parvo a couple weeks ago. (The ones from Georgia.) My vet had given me lactated ringers to do sub-cutaneous fluids. Everything is still sterile and I have about 10 extra needles, and I have one bag that hasn't been opened yet. I also have a bag that is hooked up to a line that has 800 mL in it. (I only used 200 mL out of it.) Do these go bad or need to be used within a certain amount of time?

My really old dog just died today too...it has been a bad few weeks here.

Kayleigh


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## MountAiry

Aww that is a shame and I am sorry to hear. Parvo is very dangerous and when I was a vet tech, saw it many times.

Donât throw the supplies out! You can check the bags to see if there is an expiration date on them or call the Vetâs office, but keep them. Both bags should keep for quiet awhile, even the one with the line in at as the fluid is still sterile. Just discard the syringe you used on the sick puppy, but keep the unused syringes. 

If you have other puppies, make sure the area that the sick puppy was in is cleaned well and sterilized. Parvo is viral and highly contagious to puppies.


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## mightybooboo

The sterile unopened bags and supplies are a bonanza,keep them!

You might use the opened one on a pet in an emergency but definitely nowhere near a human being.Once that bag is spiked it is no longer sterile when that system has been used to deliver product and then removed.Personally I would toss the opened system,I wouldnt re use it in any form.Did you hook the bag to a needle then put a needle in dogs neck and infuse fluid?If so it is no good,toss it.Thats what I think Im reading what you did.

If all you did was remove fluid from the bag with a sterile syringe using sterile technique it should still be good.If you withdrew from the bag more than once with the same syringe/needle used for an injection its contaminated.

If you withdrew 50 cc's,injected dog,then used that syringe or needle again,its contaminated.

If you have ANY doubt,toss that opened bag.After 72 hours max that used system needs to be tossed.That is maximum hospital standard.Some toss em every 24 hours.

Heck,bottom line? Toss the open bag.


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## diane

Sorry to hear of your loss. Our furry friends are so important in our lives and so hard to loss.
I am an RN and I agree with booboo. You need to be more specific about the partial bag. Personally, I would toss it. All IV solutions should have an outdate date clearly printed on the bag.


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## Beaners

There was a drip line leading from the open bag to the needle. It has a simple device on it that screws one way or another to speed or slow or stop the flow. The vet showed me how to take off a used needle and put a new one and keep things sterile, but I don't know if he really meant sterile or if he was saying sterile to try to simplify things to be sure I understood them.

The open bag still has the line hooked up to it, it has never been detached, and the vet told me that would keep that part sterile. It has been more than 72 hours since it was first opened. Will leaving the line hooked up to it be an alright way to store it or should I detach the line and toss that too?

The bag does say 10CT2009 on it, I assume that is an expiration date?

Kayleigh


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## tab

I have used sub q fluids many times for kidney issues in old kitties and various other issues. I would keep the new bag and needles. As long as the fluid is clear it is OK. That is what more than one of my vets has told me. I might hesitate on the open bag because it was parvo. I think I would call your vet and get that opinion. I would ask for an IV set up (usually about $5.00 last time I got one) so you can use the new bag if needed. Sub q fluids can work wonders in a sick animal. Two of my vets are great about giving me meds that I need, when I need them. A couple of the vets in the group are downright crappy about it. So, I have learned to get supplies WHEN the opportunity is there.


As far as an open bag, for animals the regs must be different than people because I have had the conversation with at least five different vets throught he years and they all said just use the bag until it was gone unless it got cloudy. I even asked if it was ok after several weeks (I kept it in a bag in the frig) and the vet said it should be fine. Now it was a clean needle and for the same animal and not a contagious disease so that is why I would be a bit concerned because parvo is so contagious.

I am sorry to hear about your dog and puppy. I hope the rest of your pups are OK. Give them an extra hug.


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## lmnde

Toss the open bag and line and needles. Even though the fluids may still be sterile - the outside of the bag is not, and you handled sick puppies and then touched the bag and drip line etc. Even if you were scrupulous in disinfecting hands every time - the price of a bag of fluids is not worth having another potential animal contract parvo by keeping it around or using it in an unrelated emergency.

Your unused bags, as long as they are still in the plastic liner, are fine to safe for later use...


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## MountAiry

I somewhat disagree with some of the other comments. You should check with your Vet though to make sure. Keep the open bag until you talk to him and keep the lines connected. The syringe that was connected to the bag is the thing to make sure you throw away. You should not have backwash from a sub Q line that would go up into the lactated ringers if you did what the Vet showed you. 
If you were worried at all, you could use that bag for other animals, like cats. Parvo wonât transfer from your puppies to cats, for example. As far as the bag itself (on the outside) being contaminated, I would worry more about the soles of your shoes being contaminated!

Listen, if you donât feel ok with the open bag, donât worry. Call your nearest wildlife rehabilitator (you can get the number from your Department of Natural Resources) and donate it to them. Tell them that it was used on a puppy that died of parvo and they can use it on avian species, etc (if they want it).

The unopened bag is wonderful and so are the syringes. I donât know if you have other puppies, but you may find it a life saver until you can get to the Vets (in case they also got sick).

Check with your Vet though and follow his advice. I am sure he will be happy to help you with it. And if you really are concerned about the partially used bag, then sure, go ahead and toss it. 

Keep the other one though.


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## MountAiry

By the way, I forgot to say, the Vet may have you toss the line, but check with him before you do. (I was under the impression you only had the one line). You can always disconnect it if he tells you to toss it and get another one from him.

Sub Qs work a bit differently than IV lines, so I was just trying to suggest you talk to him before you toss everything. The syringe is the main concern in my opinion, not the solution in the bag. I am not sure about the solution in the line, but I personally wouldnât toss it unless the Vet told me to.

At least, this is my humble opinion.


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## wogglebug

One thing bacteria are real good at is forming "slime colonies". Once they've done that, flushing the line won't remove them That's why you've got time limits on leaving stuff once it's opened. Just one bacterium swirling against the flow, or moving onto a rough space, can settle in.

As others have said, discard the opened stuff. The unopened stuff should be fine, although double-wrapping it with cling-wrap or alfoil wouldn't hurt.


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## MountAiry

Well, you could disconnect the line from the bag if bacterium was a worry to you and then call the Vet. I would toss the line before I tried to flush it. 

I donât know. All I know is I wouldnât toss out lactated ringers unless I knew darn sure I had to! Lol I wouldnât toss any of it until I checked with him. 

I guess it stems from my 7 years working with native wildlife and my time in the animal hospital. Supplies like that become gold and there are usually options.


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## Beaners

Thank you everyone! We did end up losing four puppies that were in a foster home and the one that I had, but the one chickenista has has been fine, one that was adopted out has been fine, and two others in a foster home are fine. They had caught the parvo at the shelter we pulled them from, probably right before we got there, so they weren't contagious when they were all being transported. It was absolutely heartbreaking to lose the ones we did though.

I am going to ask the vet what they would recommend, and I will be hanging on to the unused needles and the unopened bag. It is also nice to have the experience of setting up and administering fluids.

We were wearing gloves when we did use the fluids on the puppy, and someone else was in charge of holding the puppy while I did the fluids so I am not too worried about the outside of the bag and the outside of the line. And yes, since parvo is species specific cats or birds won't catch it, although I believe foxes and wolves could. There is always a small chance of internal contamination I suppose, but I think in this case it is pretty small. I will ask the vet though. Thank you again!

Kayleigh


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## mightybooboo

My advice comes from 30 years of hospital experience with IV's.

If you want to reuse an opened non sterile IV,go for it.Just to do so is very bad advice and extremely poor practice.

You will not find a single nurse who will tell you otherwise.

Its that simple.

Any Nurses here want to tell me Im wrong? Of course not.


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## jenofthewoods

Keep them no longer than a year and keep them in the fridge.
if you havent kept them in the fridge all ready then throw them out they are not good.


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## mj1angier

mightybooboo said:


> My advice comes from 30 years of hospital experience with IV's.
> 
> If you want to reuse an opened non sterile IV,go for it.Just to do so is very bad advice and extremely poor practice.
> 
> You will not find a single nurse who will tell you otherwise.
> 
> Its that simple.
> 
> Any Nurses here want to tell me Im wrong? Of course not.


You are right.

10 years at vet hospital, 25 years sleeping with the vet- toss the opened bag!

Fluids do not need to be kept in fridge. Most of the time we warm it up before giving.


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## mightybooboo

mj1angier said:


> 10 years at vet hospital, 25 years sleeping with the vet


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! That was cute!


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## mikeyfireman

Toss the used bag. Everything was sterile untill you punctured the bag. You broke the seal with a non sterile item, the tubeing end you put in the bag is not sterile. Plus way better to be safe than sorry.


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## Beaners

It is being tossed...but the tubing end WAS sterile when it broke the seal. The tubing was sealed before opening and was sterile.

Kayleigh


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