? Alex: 3/8: AMPS:148 (1.5u) +2.5 62, + 3 71, + 3.5 66

alexMama

alexMama

Member Since 2026
Starting a new thread!!! Alex is potentially going into remission his vet thinks..No shot today since AMPS was 73.

Wants me to dial him back to 1.0 units and maybe only 1x a day???!! Thoughts?

His labs came back.. Phosporus was 5.6 and normal.

Sodium low

chloride and potassium low

creatine: 4.2 (shows kidney injury)

BUN :( Improved) 99 ,

electrolytes the issue , still needs more!

not stage 4 Kidney failure , is in stage 3, heading towards stage 2.

Still in acute phase???

Consider Give sub q fluids: however risk of overwhelming heart…

-Needs:
-potassium supplement
1 unit twice a day or once a day maybe?

Thread 'Alex:3/6: AMPS 187, +2 127, +4 111, +5 119., +8 148, +10 297,Pmps 141, +2 121, +5 74, +8 78, +10 68'
Alex:3/6: AMPS 187, +2 127, +4 111, +5 119., +8 148, +10 297,Pmps 141, +2 121, +5 74, +8 78, +10 68
 
It’s good the labs have improved.
Alex may be heading toward remission but we won’t know unless he stays between 50 and a max of 120 without any insulin for two weeks. I’ve seen lots of cats have cycles like these before… and we are hoping for remission… only to be disappointed so I try very hard not to speculate on that. I try not to jinx it. What is recommended is to lower the dose gradually according to protocol and go through all the doses gradually 1 unit, .75 units, .5 units, .25 units, .1 units and finally a drop dose. Sometimes the cat will get ahead of you, and sometimes they may only stay at the reduced dose for a single cycle before earning a reduction— with back to back reductions. Sometimes the cat just needs a lower dose, and they end up fooling us into thinking they’re going into remission — and then they stabilize at a lower dose and don’t go all the way. We find that the best way to achieve a lasting remission where the cat doesn’t end up back on insulin is to take things slowly — as long as the numbers warrant it. I would be VERY excited to see Alex in remission, but I have seen many vets call it remission when a cat really isn’t in remission.

He’s already into blue at only +5 though so we will have to see how the rest of the day goes.

As for shooting only once a day… it makes no sense. ProZinc isn’t going to keep BG under control for 24 hours. Not even Lantus will do that, although you would have a depot to carry you for a little while. It would be better to shoot a lower dose every 12 hours than to give insulin once day.

And I am really really happy to see those improved kidney values! He is heading in the right direction.
 
Is he drinking water? Can you encourage more water consumption? Can you use tuna juice watered down? Have you asked the vet about Purina Hydra Care? Are you adding water to his food?
 
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Suzanne & Darcy said:
Well… he is at 133 now… or at last test… last night he was 141 at PMPS and you gave 1.75. If he is in a similar place you could try 1.5 (a little less than last night.) In fact, even if he goes up higher and closer to 200, I would still try 1.5.
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Ok, he’s 132, so i feel comfortable doing 1.5… i did 1.75 when he was at 142 last night and he did well , so i think 1.5 is reasonable.. and i will be checking through the night…
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Is he drinking water? Can you encourage more water consumption? Can you use tuna juice watered down? Have you asked the vet about Purina Hydra Care? Are you adding water to his food?
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yes, drinking water, but I don’t think he’s drinking enough.
I keep bringing it to him and taking it over to him and he doesn’t really want much..,
I forgot to ask about the Purina Hydro care. I water to his food, but his food does have water in it… I’ve been using Weruva slide and Serve chicken.
 
Yikes. I saw the 200 on his SS. I hope that’s as high as he got. Oh well. Alex is doing his own thing.

Regarding hydration: it is kind of a problem with the Lasix. I would not attempt sub-q fluids without the guidance/approval of the cardiologist. When did the cardiologist want you to return? I know they were talking euthanasia, but if he improved they had a timeline I believe…3 months? But you should be able to call/email them with questions. I was always able to reach our cardiologist.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Yikes. I saw the 200 on his SS. I hope that’s as high as he got. Oh well. Alex is doing his own thing.

Regarding hydration: it is kind of a problem with the Lasix. I would not attempt sub-q fluids without the guidance/approval of the cardiologist. When did the cardiologist want you to return? I know they were talking euthanasia, but if he improved they had a timeline I believe…3 months? But you should be able to call/email them with questions. I was always able to reach our cardiologist.
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fortunately, he went down to 168 so he seems to be trending down… Was very happy to see that just a few minutes ago.
I can email the cardiologist and will email them with some questions.
 
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Looks like you went with 1.5.

What caused the mid cycle spike last night? Did he eat medium or high carb food. It suspicious because the ProZinc was near the peak of its potency at the time that 200 was recorded. So it certainly looks like he ate something that raised his BG for a little while and then the carbs wore off and his BG dropped back down. The dropping before AMPS is probably due to lack of food. That’s normal.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Looks like you went with 1.5.

What caused the mid cycle spike last night? Did he eat medium or high carb food. It suspicious because the ProZinc was near the peak of its potency at the time that 200 was recorded. So it certainly looks like he ate something that raised his BG for a little while and then the carbs wore off and his BG dropped back down. The dropping before AMPS is probably due to lack of food. That’s normal.
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Nothing high carb given. No idea why he spiked. He just had the low carb Weruva slide N Serve chicken breast dinner puree with some boiled shredded plain chicken.

I gave him a tiki treat with water around 1:30-2am or so when we went up to bed.. would that do it? He spiked before that though and was literally just sleeping that whole time..

I did do the 1.5 this AM.. Hoping he stays in the blues and greens.

I put in all the info into AI and didn’t like what it said.. I put in all the lab values from last Monday’s cardiologist visit and the new lab values. It says he’s still in a very dire situation with his kidneys because the creatinine is still so high.
I’m not sure if that number is going to go down or not with time? I did start the heart meds now that we’re done with the labs and I will be doing that every day… The clopidogrel. I had the low phosphorus food coming tomorrow or Tuesday from Weruva and the one he’s getting now is as well. Low carb and low phosphorus.

i’m going to email the cardiologist to ask about the Purina electrolytes you mentioned versus the sub Q fluids…want to hear what her take is on that…
We went down to a quarter of furosemide pill a day now starting today, so we’ll be monitoring his respiratory rate and making sure his heart stays OK.

Essentially, I think we’re on borrowed time here, but I’m trying to do all we can within reason to help him have a good quality life for whatever he has left.

I was so encouraged by how much better he was doing, but what I’m hearing from the vet and what AI is telling me is that he is still very much in a very difficult situation with three major issues. The diabetes has definitely subsided as far as the high numbers so that’s good but the heart issue is not going to improve…only get worse over time they said.. and the kidneys have an acute injury. So frustrating!! All of it!
 
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Holy cow, he dropped like a rock from 148 to 62 in 2.5 hrs. Watching him closely.. At what point would I need to be giving high carb food? At 50 or earlier.. only have the FF which is Not good for the phosphorus content.. So will run to our local co-op this AM to find some higher carb low phos food if possible!
 
1pm: 66
Is it my understanding that the level on a relion monitor is about 18 points lower than the alpha track? So in reality he’s really in the 80s if we were doing the vet/Alpha track monitor? So what numbers are you thinking are concerning then on my monitor?
40’s and lower correct?
 
alexMama said:
I put in all the info into AI and didn’t like what it said.. I put in all the lab values from last Monday’s cardiologist visit and the new lab values. It says he’s still in a very dire situation with his kidneys because the creatinine is still so high.
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I have found AI to be extremely alarmist on more than one occasion with my own cats. I think they’re trying to program it to be careful and have people go to the vet.
 
alexMama said:
did start the heart meds now that we’re done with the labs and I will be doing that every day… The clopidogrel. I had the low phosphorus food coming tomorrow or Tuesday from Weruva and the one he’s getting now is as well. Low carb and low phosphorus.
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Which heart meds? I thought you already had started the Clopidogrel? That’s very important. Tastes awful though. You need to gelcap it.
 
alexMama said:
1pm: 66
Is it my understanding that the level on a relion monitor is about 18 points lower than the alpha track? So in reality he’s really in the 80s if we were doing the vet/Alpha track monitor? So what numbers are you thinking are concerning then on my monitor?
40’s and lower correct?
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Wait. You are using a ReliOn meter at home to measure his BG. So the “take action” number (does not mean a hypo) is below 50. So high carb is given with a number below 50.

If you were using an Alpha Trak meter at home the “take action” number is 68.
 
alexMama said:
80 at PMPs… .5 or 1.0? What do you think?
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I would have given only a very small dose like .25 or maybe.5 if I was sure I could stay up with him. And no matter what the dose … he needs those mini meals of a few tsp of LC food at regular intervals. That’s really the key to the cycle.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
I would have given only a very small dose like .25 or maybe.5 if I was sure I could stay up with him. And no matter what the dose … he needs those mini meals of a few tsp of LC food at regular intervals. That’s really the key to the cycle.
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Yeah, in the meantime I’m dying with a 101.5 fever, can’t breathe, pain all over and husband asleep and son gamin with friends. I have not been this sick in years and years!
 
alexMama said:
Yeah, in the meantime I’m dying with a 101.5 fever, can’t breathe, pain all over and husband asleep and son gamin with friends. I have not been this sick in years and years!
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Oh my goodness I am so so sorry to hear this! I hope you will get better soon!!!! You should shoot less in order to keep Alex a little higher and just rest! I see he decided to stay in blues for you. Good boy Alex! Get better, Maria!
 
Are you trying the 1 unit the vet recommended? I think it is a good idea so at least you can show/tell them what happened.
I hope your fever has broken.

I have a cat here who will not eat! You know what that is like. Just finished syringe feeding her. I think it’s just due to her sinus infection but I am still taking her in this afternoon. I had antibiotics on hand from the vet — and started them 3 days ago but she has green goop coming out of one side of her nose (the side that was badly damaged by inflammatory rhinitis) and she is prone to these infections because of the internal damage to her nasal structures. I am still taking her in to the vet today because I don’t like to take chances with her and her AKI/CKD.
 
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