2/27 Binx AMPS 178

[Briana + Binx]

Last post

Happy Friday!

Looks like Binx is recalibrating after the depot drain. Interested to see how the weekend goes!

Still no update from the vet on acro or t4 testing, but I’m following up daily now. Edit: results are in, notes about that below.

Hope everyone has a calm and safe surfing day

 

[Staci & Ivy]

Last post

Happy Friday!

Looks like Binx is recalibrating after the depot drain. Interested to see how the weekend goes!

Still no update from the vet on acro or t4 testing, but I’m following up daily now.

Hope everyone has a calm and safe surfing day

I hope you hear from the vet soon, Briana. It’s so stressful wait for lab results

Good luck with Binx’s surf after draining his depot. Safe surfing and happy Friday

 

[Kat & Trixie]

Happy Friday, Briana!

Hope Binx's numbers stabilize and he surfs safely!

 

[Briana + Binx]

I hope you hear from the vet soon, Briana. It’s so stressful wait for lab results

Good luck with Binx’s surf after draining his depot. Safe surfing and happy Friday

Happy Friday, Briana!

Hope Binx's numbers stabilize and he surfs safely!

Thank you, both Just got an email from the vet with results, I'll post a separate note with those.

 

[Briana + Binx]

Lab results are in And it's exactly as expected... hyperthyroidism AND acromegaly. I haven't fully processed yet and will be booking an appointment with an internist to discuss, but will spend the weekend doing research. I'll give a fuller breakdown of everything on tomorrow's post maybe, once I digest everything.

 

[Kat & Trixie]

Sending big hugs, Briana. So sorry the results are not what you wanted, but at least now you know what you're dealing with and can start to put a plan in place. Remember we are all here for you.

I would definitely reach out to Wendy as she has some great advice when it comes to Acro.

 

[Allie & Gen]

Oof, that's a lot, Briana. Big hugs. I know from a brief poke around while awaiting results that there are lots of resources on acro around here. And of course, @Staci & Ivy has experience with hyperthyroidism. We're here for you and Binx.

 

[Briana + Binx]

Sending big hugs, Briana. So sorry the results are not what you wanted, but at least now you know what you're dealing with and can start to put a plan in place. Remember we are all here for you.

I would definitely reach out to Wendy as she has some great advice when it comes to Acro.

Thanks, Kat The one thing keeping me from panicking is knowing how many great resources there are here and how supportive everyone is. Definitely going to speak to Wendy about acro and Staci about hyper-t. I don't know what I would do without this community!!

 

[Briana + Binx]

Oof, that's a lot, Briana. Big hugs. I know from a brief poke around while awaiting results that there are lots of resources on acro around here. And of course, @Staci & Ivy has experience with hyperthyroidism. We're here for you and Binx.

Thanks, Allie You hope no one else has to deal with it, but those with experience are invaluable.

I might've missed it, did you get Gen's acro results back? I know you said your vet has been behind, so not sure.

 

[Allie & Gen]

Thanks, Allie You hope no one else has to deal with it, but those with experience are invaluable.

I might've missed it, did you get Gen's acro results back? I know you said your vet has been behind, so not sure.

I did, and they came back negative. There was so much going on that I think the information got lost in the shuffle.

 

[Briana + Binx]

I did, and they came back negative. There was so much going on that I think the information got lost in the shuffle.

Glad to hear all was negative. Good to know what you may, or in this case may not, be dealing with

 

[Staci & Ivy]

Lab results are in And it's exactly as expected... hyperthyroidism AND acromegaly. I haven't fully processed yet and will be booking an appointment with an internist to discuss, but will spend the weekend doing research. I'll give a fuller breakdown of everything on tomorrow's post maybe, once I digest everything.

Ugh. I’m so sorry for the news, Briana
I know you’ve been tracking the T4 for a while, so you kind of had an inkling it was on the horizon.
That doesn’t make it any easier.
And adding the acro on top, not what you needed. Wendy is so knowledgeable in this area, I know she will have advice and support there.

You are so right that we have an incredible community of support here to help you and Binx. So you’re not alone in this fight

As for the thyroid, I joined the Facebook Hyperthyroid Cats group. It’s a good resource for information.

And you can look into the Hyperthyroid group below. And you can post questions and get some help there too.

https://groups.io/g/FelineThyroidManagement/topics

Of course you know I’m happy to share any information I’ve gathered to this point with you

What is his T4 level?
Did the vet want to put him on Methimazole?

From what I’ve learned you want to start on a very low dose (like maybe 1.25 mg 2x a day) and see how that works and test again a month.
Then if not in the normal range, raise the dose slowly, and repeat.

The transdermal med seemed not to work for Ivy.
But plenty of cats do very well with it.
If not, there’s pills (I get from Chewy) or liquid.

And of course there’s the I131 treatment (which I don’t think Ivy is a good candidate for since they have to stay at a facility for several days. I don’t think she would eat without me. And of course she would need her insulin).
Complicated

Many cats do great and are so easy staying at the vet hospital and are then cured.

Hang in there. Let us know what your vet thinks and what their suggestions are and how we can best help you and Binx.
Sending you both lots of love and support.
And of course vines too

 

[Briana + Binx]

Ugh. I’m so sorry for the news, Briana
I know you’ve been tracking the T4 for a while, so you kind of had an inkling it was on the horizon.
That doesn’t make it any easier.
And adding the acro on top, not what you needed. Wendy is so knowledgeable in this area, I know she will have advice and support there.

You are so right that we have an incredible community of support here to help you and Binx. So you’re not alone in this fight

As for the thyroid, I joined the Facebook Hyperthyroid Cats group. It’s a good resource for information.

And you can look into the Hyperthyroid group below. And you can post questions and get some help there too.

https://groups.io/g/FelineThyroidManagement/topics

Of course you know I’m happy to share any information I’ve gathered to this point with you

What is his T4 level?
Did the vet want to put him on Methimazole?

From what I’ve learned you want to start on a very low dose (like maybe 1.25 mg 2x a day) and see how that works and test again a month.
Then if not in the normal range, raise the dose slowly, and repeat.

The transdermal med seemed not to work for Ivy.
But plenty of cats do very well with it.
If not, there’s pills (I get from Chewy) or liquid.

And of course there’s the I131 treatment (which I don’t think Ivy is a good candidate for since they have to stay at a facility for several days. I don’t think she would eat without me. And of course she would need her insulin).
Complicated

Many cats do great and are so easy staying at the vet hospital and are then cured.

Hang in there. Let us know what your vet thinks and what their suggestions are and how we can best help you and Binx.
Sending you both lots of love and support.
And of course vines too

Thank you so much, Staci

This is incredibly helpful and coming at the right time. I've been spiraling since looking into everything and feeling overwhelmed, so I appreciate your support and your knowledge. It means so much

His labs came back with -
Total T4: 65.2 nmol/L (which Google tells me is 5.07 µg/dL)
Free T4: 35.3 pmol/L (which Google tells me is 2.74 ng/dL)

The vet has recommended Felimazole at 1.25mg, twice daily - it's reassuring to hear that this is the typical starting dose. I'm especially worried about his kidneys, because he's already CKD stage 2 and this might be suppressing the real numbers... PLUS with acro, I have no idea how that impacts kidneys yet but I don't imagine it's good.

What was the transdermal you were using? I think I read somewhere that once you go for pills, you can't switch over to transdermal after. I've heard about the I131 treatment too... I wish it was an option for you and Ivy, I'm sorry it's not. I'm not sure it's on the table for us either, or at least just yet (and of course we'd have to do the medication first to sus things out). But with acro, diabetes, and CKD, I don't know if a hospital stay would be possible for Binx either.

 

[Staci & Ivy]

What was the transdermal you were using? I think I read somewhere that once you go for pills, you can't switch over to transdermal after.

I think it’s ok to switch from one formulation to another.

I was using a transdermal from a local compounding pharmacy near me.

I’m glad your vet began Binx on a low dose. From what I’ve read they usually try to start on a higher dose, which is not good.

Ivy’s highest T4 was 7.7, we have steadily increased her dose over time and it’s now 5 mg 2x daily.
Last month the T4 was 3.3, so it finally came down.

Hopefully Binx will respond well and have a lower T4 soon.

I know your head is exploding right now, Briana. I totally understand.

I’ll keep trying to find more information to get to you to help you get your head around the thyroid situation.

You’ve got this, Binx is so lucky he’s your baby

 

[Briana + Binx]

I think it’s ok to switch from one formulation to another.

I was using a transdermal from a local compounding pharmacy near me.

I’m glad your vet began Binx on a low dose. From what I’ve read they usually try to start on a higher dose, which is not good.

Ivy’s highest T4 was 7.7, we have steadily increased her dose over time and it’s now 5 mg 2x daily.
Last month the T4 was 3.3, so it finally came down.

Hopefully Binx will respond well and have a lower T4 soon.

I know your head is exploding right now, Briana. I totally understand.

I’ll keep trying to find more information to get to you to help you get your head around the thyroid situation.

You’ve got this, Binx is so lucky he’s your baby

Thank you so much, Staci

This is incredibly reassuring. I followed up with the vet about the dose too and they said since he's just marginally above the limit, they wanted to keep the dose low to not tip the scale too far. When all of this is so new, I don't know what high and low is, so it's helpful to know Ivy's dose and the highest she had gotten... just like with insulin, it took time to get familiar with but the collective experience and knowledge here was everything... with time, research, this community, everything becomes that much more doable.

So glad her T4 has come down too... I know you were having to do a lot of tests and adjustments before that.

And I appreciate all of this, so please don't feel like you need to get more information. You're already such a valuable resource with your experience and I will be looking into the Facebook group you sent too. That's so much more than I could ask for

Thank you again

 

[Staci & Ivy]

Thank you so much, Staci

This is incredibly reassuring. I followed up with the vet about the dose too and they said since he's just marginally above the limit, they wanted to keep the dose low to not tip the scale too far. When all of this is so new, I don't know what high and low is, so it's helpful to know Ivy's dose and the highest she had gotten... just like with insulin, it took time to get familiar with but the collective experience and knowledge here was everything... with time, research, this community, everything becomes that much more doable.

So glad her T4 has come down too... I know you were having to do a lot of tests and adjustments before that.

And I appreciate all of this, so please don't feel like you need to get more information. You're already such a valuable resource with your experience and I will be looking into the Facebook group you sent too. That's so much more than I could ask for

Thank you again

I’m happy to help, Briana!
As you mentioned, it takes time to get to have a slight understanding of what’s even happening.
So if we can cut through some of that it will help getting you up to speed

I’m so glad your vet seems to be fluent in this situation and followed a safe protocol. I think that’s a very good indication!

Try to get some rest

 

[Elaine and Ember]

Thank you so much, Staci

This is incredibly helpful and coming at the right time. I've been spiraling since looking into everything and feeling overwhelmed, so I appreciate your support and your knowledge. It means so much

His labs came back with -
Total T4: 65.2 nmol/L (which Google tells me is 5.07 µg/dL)
Free T4: 35.3 pmol/L (which Google tells me is 2.74 ng/dL)

The vet has recommended Felimazole at 1.25mg, twice daily - it's reassuring to hear that this is the typical starting dose. I'm especially worried about his kidneys, because he's already CKD stage 2 and this might be suppressing the real numbers... PLUS with acro, I have no idea how that impacts kidneys yet but I don't imagine it's good.

What was the transdermal you were using? I think I read somewhere that once you go for pills, you can't switch over to transdermal after. I've heard about the I131 treatment too... I wish it was an option for you and Ivy, I'm sorry it's not. I'm not sure it's on the table for us either, or at least just yet (and of course we'd have to do the medication first to sus things out). But with acro, diabetes, and CKD, I don't know if a hospital stay would be possible for Binx either.

My angel kitty Luna started on methimazole pills when she was first diagnosed, went to transdermal, then switched to liquid, and it was not a problem at all! So hopefully that's one less thing to worry about. (The pills caused nausea which is why we switched to transdermal.) She wasn't absorbing quite enough so we switched to the liquid and that worked out really well for her. I'm sorry to hear about the double whammy diagnosis.