The Scooter Cat
Scooter's Supplies for Chronic Renal Failure (CRF)

About IV Fluids - LRS and Multi-Electrolyte

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The fluids prescribed to "maintain" CRF cats are usually Lactated Ringer's Solution (LRS) and multi-electrolyte solutions such as Normosol-R (Hospira), Isolyte S (B.Braun), Plasma-Lyte A (Baxter).  All these solutions are "buffered," LRS with lactate and the multi-electrolye solution with acetate and gluconate.  These buffers help deal with the metabolic acidosis so common in CRF cats.  LRS is the usual maintenance prescription for CRF cats; the multi-electrolyte solutions are usually prescribed when calcium is high and vets are worried that the small amount of calcium supplemented by LRS (see table 1 below) may throw a cat into hypercalcemia (high calcium).
...
Table 1.  Comparison of LRS and Multi Electrolye Solutions
Electrolytes (mEq) per Liter
Trade Name
LRS
Plasma-Lyte A
Normosol-R
Isolyte S
Manufacturer
Many
Baxter
Hospira
B.Braun
Sodium
130
140
140
140
Potassium
4
5
5
5
Calcium
3
    
 
Magnesium
 
 3
3
3
Chloride
109
98
98
98
Lactate
28
 
  
 
Acetate
 
27
27
27
Gluconate
 
23
23
23
pH
6.5
7.4
6.6 or 7.4
6.7
Notes
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)

(1)(2)(3)    Data from http://www.internationalwin.com/tech4.html
(4)            Data from Kelly in MD


Table 2.  Ingredients / Concentration - MGs per 100 mL
LRS and Multi Electrolyte Injectable Solutions
Ingredient
Lactated Ringer's
(Many)
Isolyte S
(B.Braun)
Normosol-R
(Hospirat)
Plasma-Lyte A 
(Baxter)
Magnesium Chloride
-
30
30
30
Potassium Chloride
30
37
37
37
Sodium Acetate
-
370
222
368
Sodium Chloride
600
530
526
526
Sodium Gluconate
-
500
502
502
Sodium Lactate
300
-
-
-
Calcium Chloride
20
-
-
-
pH
6.5-6.6
6.7
6.6 or 7.4
7.4

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