Civvie Hyper Thyroid question

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Sarah Smith

Sarah Smith

Member Since 2016
Evening all, hope everyone and their kitties are doing well!

I posted a few days ago looking for ideas on plumping up my girl with hyperthyroid. I have been feeding her wet kitten food trying to get some extra calories in her. We went to the vet this evening and like I thought her thyroid is high again, back up to 7.5 from 2.6 3 months ago. So its time to up her methimazole again.... She is currently on 15mg per day (7.5mg twice a day) and we are upping her to 18mg (9mg twice a day).

My vet mentioned she is getting close to the limit on the methimazole, that we really should not give her more then 20mg daily as it could start affecting her kidneys. Is anyone else out there dealing with high doses of methimazole, or had to change to another med or treatment because of it?

She was good on her starting dose for about a year, and since then has had to be raised about every 6 months.... last time she was raised she was on 12mg daily and her thyroid was over level was over 15 (normal is 1.5 to 4 on my vets machine)

Thanks!
 
Have you considered I-131? When Squeaker was diagnosed HyperT he was in the rare 5% that could not tolerate methimazole but I had already decided to go with radioiodine anyway. This treatment, while expensive, does cure HyperT rather than just controlling it. I researched methimazole and decided I did not like the damage from long term use.
 
I was considering it back when she was first diagnosed about 3 years ago, may have to start looking at it again. I don't believe there is anywhere local that can do it, I'd have to send her to Dallas, unless something has changed since i researched it. I didn't like the idea of sending her somewhere with her age (she was 12 then, 15 now) but shes perfectly healthy except the thyroid and shes too thin (from the unregulated thyroid) so it definately could be an option, even though I told my vet I didnt want a glow in the dark kittie :cat:
 
Like Anita, my cat Jason couldn't tolerate the methimazole (1 month on it trashed his immune system and led to an infection with fever over 105 for a couple of days) and I had the I-131 treatment done on him (about 3 and a half years ago, he's around 17 years old now). I can't speak about the long-term or high dose effects of methimazole obviously, but the radio-iodine treatment worked great for us. If you do pursue it, be sure to talk with your vet about the possibility of underlying chronic kidney disease that could be unmasked by the treatment. That was a concern for Jason going in since he's always had high-normal values, but thankfully his values didn't change with the treatment. I had the treatment done at a local BluePearl location (although I'm pretty sure one of the universities nearby also had the facilities for it, I'm located near Kansas City) - might be worth checking BluePearl and if there are any human facilities nearby that vets work with (before the BluePearl here could do it themselves, I believe they actually used the KU teaching hospital). The glow in the dark part is just them manifesting how much of a light they are in our lives ;)
 
Thanks Sarah :) They actually just opened a Blue Pearl facility here last year, I had cancer consult there last March right after. I will have to see if they do the procedure :) Kidney disease is always on my mind with Dee, even when her thyroids regulated she drinks like a fish, I have bloodwork and urine run every 3 months on her because of it. Luckily her numbers are always good in those areas, but its scarey all the same. I have some digging to do on the internet the next few days, see if we might look that direction now. I didn't know there was a "limit" to dosing methimazole, but never thought about her getting this high either!
 
Yep, Jason's kidneys area always on my mind as well - ever since I adopted him over 5 and a half years ago, his values have been high normal. So far, so good though!

I didn't know there was a limit either, but I guess it makes sense - at some point the negative impact would outweigh the positive. And since the underlying thyroid gland tumor is still growing, makes sense that the medication would have to keep getting adjusted up for it. Good luck with the search!
 
In some cases, they can surgically remove the thyroid. Sometimes, there is ectopic thyroid tissue, located in other areas of the body. I had a civvie who had a tongue tumor removed during a dental and it turned out to be thyroid tissue.
 
Elizabeth and Bertie said:
@Sarah Smith

Sarah, is your kitty on the methimazole tablets or the transdermal gel? My understanding is that the gel has less side effects (though I don't know if the gel is any easier on the kidneys - but maybe it is..?)
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She is currently on a compounded liquid methimazole, we started with pills, but she is horrible to pill. Tiny girl but a BIG fight. We then moved over to the transdermal, which worked great for awhile. She started having issues with it though, lost fur on her ears and they were always red. Her number shot up too so we think she wasnt absorbing it well (?) So switched her to a chicken flavored liquid I put on wet food and she seems to like it.
 
Sarah Smith said:
Her number shot up too so we think she wasnt absorbing it well (?)
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My old tortie girl is on the transdermal gel, and I've found that it's really important to keep her ears clean. If I forget for more than a few days I can see the change in her symptoms. And I do sometimes forget.. :oops:
Strangely enough, the vet never even mentioned the need to clean her ears. Thank goodness I read about it on the internet....

Really, really hoping you find something that works for your hyper T girl, Sarah... :bighug::bighug::bighug:

Hugs,

Eliz
 
Thanks Eliz :) I thought it was buildup on her ears at first, but cleaning didnt help and her numbers kept going down. Knowing now how easy injections are, it would ne nice if there was a injectable dose, no fuss no muss like pills, gels, and liquids

Edit: Her numbers kept going up, not down.. confusing my thyroid and diabetes lingo today!!
 
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Sarah Smith said:
Knowing now how easy injections are, it would ne nice if there was a injectable dose, no fuss no muss like pills, gels, and liquids
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Classic example of ECID: as cats go, Saoirse is a dream to pill and I can get several of her meds into her grub but she really doesn't get on with injections.


Mogs
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I had a civvie on methimazole. I dissolved the tablet into some canned food and she would scarf it right down.
 
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