04/16 - Black Kitty - old timer update - Hyper T dx

Status
Not open for further replies.
Sandy and Black Kitty

Sandy and Black Kitty

Member Since 2009
Hi there :cool:

I called to schedule BKs annual check up, only to find out his vet was moving to Kentucky!
Managed to get him in on her last day. He weighed on about 1/2lb less than last year- that got my attention.
How could that be? He eats the exact same types/amounts of food every day.
She was not concerned.
His ears needed cleaning, which they did.
They detected some yeast in his ears so they sent me home with some sort of ear wash, which I have not yet attempted.

There was some redness around a few of his remaining 4 teeth - time to schedule a cleaning.
So, we had blood drawn for the standard pre-dental stuff. She recommended a colleague and we said our goodbyes.

A few days later I get a call from the vet picking up BKs case, advising a couple liver values are off.
That, combined with the weight loss, made her suspect possible Hyperthyroid. She recommended the freeT4 test.
Said the lab can likely do it from the sample on hand so I gave the go ahead.

A few days later I was advised he tested positive. Methimazole prescribed, in pill form, to be given daily.

I have been procrastinating due to the thought of giving BK a pill each day.
I don't have the required manual dexterity/co-ordination to pill BK.
So I search around town and find the duck recipe pill pockets. He turns his nose up.
I decide today is the day and try, unsuccessfully, to pill him. On the outside chance it may work, I load up one of the pill pockets and offer it - no dice.

In a last ditch effort, I roll the pill pocket in some chicken dust, pressing it all over the pill pocket.
Bingo - gotta love chicken dust. :cool:

Let's hope it works tomorrow.

I entered the BW results onto the 2nd tab of his ss. I don't know a thing about Hyper T and the BW/results related to it.
His BG looked good - no vet stress for Mr. Mellow :mrgreen: .
All helpful information is most welcome.
 
Re: 04/16 - Black Kitty - old timer update

aw, so good to see a Black Kitty condo, sandy!!!

i know nothing about hyper-t, but there are plenty of people who do.

great job on figuring out how to get the pills down him! heeheehee - ya gotta be smarter than a cat, which is not easy. you might try throwing some blanks (no pills) down to get him all excited and in the mood before you toss down the loaded pocket. :lol:

punkin's got a dental scheduled in a couple of weeks. lots of maintenance on our little ones, isn't there?! good thing they're worth it :-D
 
Re: 04/16 - Black Kitty - old timer update

I was very excited to see a BK condo but not so happy to read the news :sad: I hope the chicken dust keeps working on getting those pills down. Otherwise we will have to come up with some novel solutions for him - there is the will so we will find the way :smile:

Now get washing on those ears that yeast has got to be itchy! Is he scratching? When my drooler had a yeast issue we had to treat his feet as well because he was cross contaminating.

ETA: would be good to put the hyperthyroid bit in the subject line to get the eyes of those that do know about it.
 
Re: 04/16 - Black Kitty - old timer update

I just got advice on Henry's ears this week. No yeast but a lot of gunk and some bacteria. I was told to go with something called Zymox which a lot of cat owners use. The people I got advice from said the vet stuff can be quite harsh. One of the replies I got from them "I also don't like using
> > > those ear drops anymore b/c most (all?) of the vet ones contain gentamycin
> > > or similiar a/b which is nephrotoxic. I've just heard of too many cats over
> > > the years who've had kidney worsening after being on the ear meds. The
> > > vets claim that it doesn't get absorbed, but I just don't believe it.
> > > (name removed) sister's cat also got really hyper/agitited on her drops b/c she
> > > clearly absorbed some of the corticosteroid that those drops usually
> > > contain. Again, vets say it shouldn't happen, but I really think some of
> > > the meds do get absorbed."

BK probably has the start of fatty liver (FHL) from the weight loss from the thyroid. Make sure he gets in enough calories to maintain his weight and not lose any more. Elevated liver values may cause nausea so watch for signs of this - reduced appetite, showing interest in food and licking and sniffing and walking away, lip licking/smacking teeth grinding. Ondansetron is the medication of choice to treat nausea. I know you probably know this already. Do you have a baby scale/shipping scale or postal scale that weighs to the ounce or better? If you are in the US you can find them affordably on Amazon. Make sure the scale lists an accuracy factor.

I can't help on the hyperT but I thought you could get an ear cream for this. I'll be following along and learning. Good catch.
 
Re: 04/16 - Black Kitty - old timer update

Hi Sandy. I was happy to see the old timer update from you. And then not so happy to see he has a couple problems, and you need help with getting those meds. in. I wish you well in finding a solution. I know there's a way. I don't have an answer, but I bet someone will.

Enjoy your day, otherwise.
 
Re: 04/16 - Black Kitty - old timer update

Hi Sandy,

I'm sorry to hear that the paper towel kitty is not feeling 100%.

Will you be delaying the dental until the liver values resolve, and the thyroid medication has a chance to settle in?

The Methimazole can also be given in a transdermal formulation, which is an ointment that you rub inside the ear lobe. I don't know if that is an option for you right now while he has the other ear issue going on. The transdermal formulation "may" cause fewer GI side effects. Methimazole can cause some nausea or stomach upset, so watch for that. Given what Karrie also mentioned, don't be surprised if he does seem nauseous, and perhaps have Ondansetron on hand just in case. Also be ready to discuss with your vet a lowering of the thyroid medication dose ... see next paragraph.

Another thing about Methimazole is that it should be started at a very low dose, normally lower than the therapeutic dose. The thyroid values and kidney values are rechecked after a couple of weeks, and then the dose is increased until a therapeutic dose (thyroid values in normal range) is achieved. You will likely also want to recheck liver values. Starting at a very low dose lessens the chance of seeing gastric side effects. It also lets you see how the kidneys are tolerating the treatment. BK's kidney values are in the normal range, but at the higher end. In some cats, there may be some early renal insufficiency, but the hyperthyroid condition masks it. Once the thyroid values are back in normal range, you may see an apparent worsening of renal values, as they now will reflect their actual condition. This may NOT happen to BK. Just something you should be aware of, and test for.

Most cats tolerate Methimazole well. A small number may have some severe side effects and have to come off of it. Bear Man did well on transdermal Methimazole.

I am sending feel better vines to Black Kitty.
 
We also use transdermal methimazole for our senior civvie, Mario. I get ours compouned through Drs Foster and Smith....they seem to have the cheapest price from what I can tell. I believe they can also compound it into a treat, which may also work for BK.

Actually, I find it REALLY intersting that BKs liver values and weight lost prompted your vet to order the HyperT test. Mario had the same symptoms last December, when his methimazole dose was too low, but rather than first consider it being caused by his thryroid falling out of regulation, my vet immediately suspected the "Big C" and wanted me to do an ultrasound. Due to a wide variety of circumstances, the amongst which include his age (17), his high BP, how much he hates and stresses at the vet, and - to be perfectly honest - my own gut instinct in feeling it wouldn't show anything unusual (and even if it did, we surgery wasn't an option for him, given his age and health conditions), I declined the ultrasound. One vet suggested his liver values MIGHT be the result of the the HyperT, but the first vet was convinced something else was going on. That was over 5 months ago, and Mario is still going strong. He's due for another round of BW next month.

Amy
 
Hi Sandy!

Happy to see a BK update....not so happy to see a HyperT dx. I cannot pill Zoe and when she was given the HyperT dx 2 years ago, I thought NOW how am I going to get those pillsin her??? She will not touch a pill pocket for anything....I have rolled them in chicken dust, fortiflora....anything and everything I could think of....out of frustration, I crushed the pill, dissolved it in water, mixed it in her FF and she ATE it....licked the bowl clean! Problem solved. She was on 1/2 a pill, twice a day, and she did beautifully on the methimazol...as long as I mixed it in her food. I was amazed.....she will take Clavamox that way too.

Good Luck with BK......I finally did the I-131 treatment with Zoe and she has been fine ever since. :mrgreen:
 
Sandy & BK!! Nice to see you--We missed you!-Sorry about the dx, Moonie was tested for FreeT, but she was ok for now..Seems the treatment works for most kitties here, Hope that BK will be fine ...
Is BK still attacking the paper towels?? :lol: :lol: :lol: Fame comes in strange ways :lol:
Wishing you & BK good health, hope it will be an easy treatment & he will be his happy self.
Hugs & Love from us!!
 
Hi Sandy,
Stu was diagnosed with Hyper T and Chronic Renal Failure at the same time (he also had cancer, but we didn't know that then). He had lost a lot of weight (more than a pound a month over several months). Hyper T makes everything in the body "run faster," hence the weight loss and the fact that poor kidney function (as in CRF) is masked by the hyper T. We were going to have the I-131 treatment (radioiodine) at Hypurrcat (Dr. Mark E. Peterson; see link below), but Stu was too weak to qualify for the treatment. The I-131 actually cures Hyper T. There is a Feline Hyper T support group on Yahoo that you might want to join: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/feline-hyperT/?yguid=354124632

Here is the link to Hypurrcat. Many vet practices do the I-131 now, but Dr. Peterson is the pioneer and you can learn a lot from this website: http://www.animalendocrine.com/hypurrcat/hypurrcat/

I am very sorry that Black Kitty has this condition, but you are lucky that it was caught quickly. As Linda says, start the methimazole at a low dose and increase slowly (my vet at the time--a one-size-fits-all believer--prescribed way too high a dose).

I hope everything will go well for Black Kitty,

Ella & Rusty (and Stu, GA)
 
Sandy, how nice to see a post from you. I was wondering where you were. Sorry to hear that Black Kitty's values are off - don't know anything about Hyper-T but am keeping you and BK in my thoughts.

Pattie

That is a paper towel he is holding - right?
 
Sandy

I've had two hyperT cats...Gus and Teddi. Gus was fairly straightforward and he was on a low dose of methimazole (MMI) for about a year...we had it compounded and gave it orally as a liquid. After the year, his kidneys were stable enough to have I131. He's done great since then.

Teddi was diagnosed as being hyperT just based on her fT4. She was put on MMI and the her kidney levels jumped up. A recheck showed that even the lowest dose was causing her thyroid levels to be too low which was, in turn, decreasing the perfusion of blood to her kidneys thus causing her renal values to become abnormal. I joined the hyperT yahoo group and found that hyperT should not be diagnosed just from fT4. She was taken off the meds and then I sent a blood sample to Dr. Jean at Hemopet.com. This is her area of specialty. She ran a free and total T3 and 4 and found Teddi was not hyperT. It took me months to get her renal values back down.

I highly recommend Hemopet.com and I also would be concerned about the dx and using MMI based on one number. BK might be hyperT but I'd do some additional testing.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top