Tag: HCM

Cats, CKD, FIV+, HCM

FIV, CKD, HCM…and Felycin-CA1!

kristynallen

I mentioned earlier this year that Harry persevered through some serious struggles. I’m so happy to say that he cleared his Cryptococcus infection in 5 months, gained half a pound, and his CKD has been relatively stable through it all! I spoke to his cardiologist in May and we decided we would start the compounded version of Sirolimus HPMC capsules available through Wedgewood Pharmacy while waiting for Felycin-CA1 to be released. Felycin was available for purchase beginning in August 2025.


That brings us to now! Felycin-CA1 has entered the chat, y’all!

This week, Harry had an acupuncture appointment, and since we started Felycin 3 weeks prior, I wanted to do a quick blood check just to make sure his glucose and liver values were okay. Felycin is contraindicated for cats with diabetes and it is metabolized through the liver, so it’s important to monitor. Not only were they okay, but his KIDNEY values were outstanding, and I’m still riding that high days later!!! SDMA (symmetric dimethylarginine) is a specific blood marker that can be used to measure kidney function. I personally feel it’s the most sensitive measure, although creatinine, BUN, and phosphorus are important too. A normal SDMA is between 0-14. Harry has not been below 12 since at least 2022 (could be earlier), and he’s been averaging between 12-16 the last few months, but this week…this week IT WAS 8!!! A SINGLE DIGIT! I’m ecstatic about that. I have tried to get it in my mind that the most important diagnostic is the cat physically right in front of me, and that numbers are just additional data, but it’s hard NOT to be thrilled when you see such a drastic improvement when he’s already come so far!!! I’m so happy about it, and really the only significant change is starting Felycin, and he’s only had 3 weekly doses!

Felycin is a specific formulation of Sirolimus (more commonly known as Rapamycin) made for cats for the specific purpose of treating Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM). Felycin is also the specific formulation that was used in clinical trials for HCM cats so I’m thrilled to be able to have it in hand. We have a recheck echocardiogram scheduled in December and I’m hopeful that it’s making a positive difference for the mild thickening noted in March for Harry’s left ventricle. He did not have atrial dilation and I’m very grateful for that.

There are three strengths of Felycin available and based on his weight, Harry needs two of them to make his 0.3mg.kg dose. The pills are tiny which is amazing! My image shows the 1.2mg and 0.4mg pills. At once a week, they are a breeze to give Harry.

Having Felycin available for HCM treatment is wonderful all by itself, but there has also been anecdotal evidence of Felycin being beneficial for CKD cats (which is a BIG reason why this is such a huge deal for us this week). There are studies taking place right now to assess if Felycin could also help CKD cats too. I would never want a diagnosis of HCM or CKD for any of my cats or any cats at all, and typically treatment of one exacerbates the other, so if Felycin can make a positive impact on both…that is a monumental advancement in the making. The fact that Harry was diagnosed with mild HCM, but so early that it didn’t warrant starting any typical meds, feels like the universe giving us a break. Living in this timeline where Felycin was on the horizon and there were generics available in the meantime… man, I’m so grateful.

I also have not found a single other FIV+ cat walking a similar journey as us with HCM and CKD while trying Felycin, so I’m posting on all my socials and here to hopefully give the next cat parent someone to find. Rapamycin is technically an immunosuppressant drug (although immunosuppression has not been seen in the low doses Felycin is prescribed at) and the thought of giving an immunosuppressant drug to an FIV cat felt a little scary at first. I’m so proud of my boy and proud of the advancements giving us a path to follow now.

Cats, FIV+

2025 Updates and Blog Revamp

kristynallen

It’s been a while! My last post was for the fundraiser I did for EveryCat Health Foundation in memory of my sweet Baby Doug. It’s been nearly 15 months since I said see you later to him, and some days, the void of his loss still stops me in my tracks.

2024 was a really difficult year full of grief and other health difficulties for my remaining boys. Albert’s sinus struggles hit their worst levels 2 weeks after we lost Doug and I’m sure it’s not a coincidence. He has #felineherpes flare-ups and when it’s bad enough, he sometimes gets bacterial infections on top of that. This is gross to admit, but I also think it’s a bit of a super power…lol I can smell when we likely need antibiotic help. I’m really happy to say that we got through a minor flare up just a few weeks ago with just the help of his antivirals famciclovir and cidofovir for his eyes and I think it’s in part because he’s on his Moxxor Omega-3 and Standard Process Feline Immune Support supplements. We’ve tried a lot of things, and these seem to give him more good days between flares and help us get past flares more quickly. I hope it lasts.

In addition to Albert’s struggles, Henry was also diagnosed with a Grade 1 #softtissuesarcoma in his right front leg. Thankfully, we were able to keep his leg and they removed just his bicep muscle in that leg. As usual, my little athlete recovered very well and he is just as wild and active as ever. The prognosis was good and aside from the area of biopsy on the mass, his margins were clean. The cancer had a low spread rate and this type of cancer is not known to metastasize. There is a chance of it returning locally, so this momma is on lump watch (for him and everyone) from now on. I felt blindsided by this muscle and in all the ways I assumed “lumps” might feel, this one did not feel out of place until you physically felt the lack of symmetry with his other leg, and saw the size of it once the fur was shaved. I’m SO thankful we found it when we did and that the stars aligned for us to get the mass removed so quickly too.

Perhaps the heaviest lift in 2024 besides losing our friend Doug, was the struggles Harry persevered through. Harry is FIV+ and he and I have made it our mission to advocate for FIV+ kitties everywhere. In April 2024, we learned he was considered Stage 2 for #felinechronickidneydisease according to IRIS guidelines. We were also still managing his chronic fibrinous uveitis in his right eye and he was doing well at that point. Fast forward to June 2024, his uveitis flared up with mild hemorrhaging, and due to our original ophthalmologist being unavailable, I called veterinary ophthalmologists all across New England and was so thankful that the Ophthalmology team in Burlington could see us the very next day! Amazing! They were about 3 hours away but wonderful to work with and my boy was so strong through all those trips. He battled three corneal ulcers before this flareup got under control. In early fall, he started to have what looked like more fibrin showing up in his eye. Ultimately, this was not well controlled and due to his early kidney stage, we opted to enucleate (remove) his eye and send it out for pathology.

Harry STRUGGLED to recover from this surgery. He is a sensitive boy, but it was really difficult for him to get back on track. We did twice weekly acupuncture for a few weeks too. When his eye pathology came back, it showed TONS of yeasts consistent with cryptococcus – which Harry subsequently tested positive for. We began treatment for that and nearly 4 months later, we’re still treating that – but gaining! The most scary thing that wrapped up 2024 was Harry’s sudden kidney failure due to what we found out was a big e. coli infection in his bladder. This is likely caused in part by his FIV, but also probably due to his tough enucleation recovery and perhaps not cleaning as well as he normally does. His creatinine, BUN, phosphorus, and SDMA numbers were extremely high and I thought I was going to lose him. We hospitalized for 3.5 days with IV fluids and antibiotics and he RALLIED! FIV babies can show up to fight with the right support and that’s exactly what my beautiful boy did. During this episode, a heart murmur was heard for the very first time too. He had an echocardiogram in January that suggested mild hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and unfortunately, that was just confirmed this week as we got him established with a wonderful cardiologist. It’s still considered very mild, and no clinical signs which I’m super thankful for. There’s a new drug called Felicyn that is formulated for cats using the human drug Rapamycin, and it has been shown to TREAT HCM!! Not help symptoms of disease progression…actually treat, as in reverse the heart wall thickening for cats. I am so thankful that we’re in this particular timeline when there is promise for this disease. I’m currently trying to learn as much as I can.

And that brings us to now! This world is crazy every day, particularly in the USA at the moment, and sometimes it can feel overwhelming wondering how we can make a difference with anything. When I originally started this blog, I wanted to have a space to post about FIV advocacy and our ailments and things to advocate for has grown exponentially. I’m going to try and post more regularly here, but I’m very active on Instagram @caffeinatedlowtoxcatmom if you want to follow our journeys there! All my boys have their own hashtags on the posts.

I do still consult for Norwex and Java Momma through the links above if you’re interested in low-tox cleaning or skin care (LOVE THE SKIN CARE) or coffee, but I’ll probably stick to mostly cat posts.

Message me anytime using the email button in the menu or at caffeinatedlowtoxcatmom@gmail.com.

Thanks for reading!