How quickly can i raise tapapzole?

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Sara and Buttercup

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hypert cat at 3.75mg tapazole once a day. last t4 reading 3.4. vet wants me to do 3.75mg morning and night, doubling the dose with the goal of getting her diarrhea under control. she is shooting for a t4 of 2 or below. is it safe to raise it that fast? pharmacist said to raise it no more that one mg a day. what do you think. any advice would be appreciated. her kidney levels are normal but they are enlarged. whole other story but i just thought i would through that in there could be infection, could be cancer, don't know yet. thanks!
 
I'd go to the feline hyper-t group on Yahoo Groups and ask there: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/feline-hyperT/. Personally, I wouldn't double her dose. That sounds dangerous! Is she getting the Tapazole just once a day now? The half life of Tapazole or methimazole is about 12 hours. If she's getting it just once a day, that could be why it's not working. And one of the side effects of Tapazole is diarrhea: http://www.avmi.net/newfiles/hyperthyroidism/faq.html. So she might be getting too much, or too much at the same time.
 
When we doubled the dose from 1.25mg to 2.5mg, Buster had problems - he'd vomit the pill within an hour of taking it. (morning)

So... we tried 1.25 in the morning and 1.25 in the evening. He still had some problems with vomiting - usually in the evening.

So... we cut the evening dose in half -- 1.25 in the morning, .75 in the evening and he seems to be doing well on that. His last T4/FreeT4 was normal - I don't remember the number.

We have 5mg pills that we cut -- 1.25 is a quarter pill, .75 is one eighth.
 
One dosage discussed in Plumb's Vet Drug Handbook is to start at 2.5 mg sid. If further decrease needed then go to 2.5 mg bid and then increase by 2.5 mg per day. Another dosage is to start at 5 mg two to three times a day.
 
Larry, how old is your book? This information sounds outdated. The rule of thumb now is to start at a very low dose twice a day and gradually work up to a therapeutic level. The medicine is less likely to cause side effects that way. I'm pet sitting for a newly diagnosed cat now, and she gets .1 ml twice a day. She's on the transdermal gel.
 
If kidney levels are normal now but kidneys are enlarged, I'm not sure I want to go under 2 for the T4.

Others may disagree, but my hyperT had good kidney values, then went for I-131 treatment in January. He is now going into renal failure. Kidney values are going too high and he's constantly at the water bowl, getting subq fluids and still losing weight. If it were my cat, I'd want to keep the T4 around 2.5 - 3 if possible and watch kidney values. Maybe treat the diahrea with some Flagyl for a few weeks.

When did the diahrea start? When Tap was started or before? If the Tap caused it, maybe try the transdermal ear gel, it's a little less hard on the belly in the beginning than Tap can sometimes be.
 
diarrhea started before the tapazole. i just am increasing it .75 mg per day right now which is way way less than the vet suggested. i have a feeling that the hypert sin't causeing the diarrhea. prob not that tapazole either but i'm not sure. she's already on transdermal gel. so i bumped her from 3.75 mg once a day to 4. 5 mg per day divided in half. does that sound ok? her last t4 was 3.4. i would rather go slow with this than double the tapazole like the vet suggested. her small instestines are thickened and her kidneys are enlarged. she is also being treated for a bladder infection right now with zeniquin. i may have to take her to a specialist this week. i desperately don't want to because of lack of money but i need to figure out what is going on. any advice appreciated. she is eating right now and drinking. shoudl i give sub q this weekend if she is eating and drinking and doing ok? i'm not sure.
 
harry's vet said to increase by half a pill and keep dose for a week before increasing by another half pill. but he gets the tapazole BID.
 
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