Hyperthyroidism

Did they mention the transdermal cream, it is just rubbed on the ear once or twice a day?

This is an exact repeat of what my vet said back in January. They wanted to put her down that day. They said her results were too high to read and they felt it masked a kidney disease. I can go on but what you are saying is an exact recording of what I was told.

I took her to another vet. She is on the same meds twice a day and it is now August. She is doing fine and no kidney issues. It took about 4 visits of blood work at the start to get her numbers right and now she sees the vet every six months. I watch her weight and she is stable as a weight loss is a red flag. I hope to some day be able to get her the cure but the meds do work.

So go to another vet as there is treatment.

Do you have a compound pharmacy near you? They can compound a liquid, with a flavor-I chose chicken-You are given a syringe to fill the liquid dose, then put the syringe into their mouth -in their mouth as close to the back of the throat as possible, under the tongue-this is a way of delivering the meds that helps you from getting the meds on you, and much easier to give to the cat. Sorry, I’m in a hurry, Hope I’ve explained enough

Antonio65 said:

Radio-iodine treatment is a very special therapy. It can't be done everywhere.
It requires a special equipment, a special structure, a well trained staff, a specific disposal of the waste, and so on.
That's why it isn't that easy to find a clinic that does it, or a vet who knows what to do.

When you pick the clinic where your cat could be treated, make sure they can do an in-house scintigraphy first (possibly on the same day).
Scintigraphy is a special scan, where the cat is injected with a tracking element, the peretechnate, that binds to the thyroid cells and to salivary glands.
With this scan, that might look like an x-ray, a vet can tell if the cat has any ectopic masses, namely in the lungs. And the vet can also assess the size of the thyroid tumor so to adjust the amount of I-131 to be injected to kill the tumor.

Beware of those clinics who just shot I-131 at random, based on previous experiences.
If the injection is too little, the treatment will be ineffective.
If the injection is too heavy, the cat is likely to become HYPO-thyroid, with no chances of recovery.

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Hi Antonio!
I had the I 131 treatment done for my cat. I didn’t know anything about the Scintigraphy. Her first follow up appointment is mid April. She doesn’t have very much energy at all. Sleeps way more than she used to. A different cat. Should I be worried? Do you think she could be hypothyroid now?

Hi W WandaD ,
When was your cat treated? Has she been treated recently, I mean in the last very few days?
If so, she must still be tired from the experience. After all she was put under anesthesia, manipulated, given a chemical shot, held in a small cage in a stranger environment for a few days. She must be tired, scared, stressed out, she might just want to recover and stay quiet.
My cat too was a bit off for some days after the treatment, I think at least a week.

All cats, regardless the approach of the treatment, get a little hypothyroid after the therapy. There's a negative overshoot of the hormones production.
As a matter of fact, at the first follow up visit the vet will find much lower levels than the normal. This is an expected condition and will normalize within 3 or 4 months.

Only time will tell you if the therapy has been effective and properly done. I can guess that if within July or August her thyroid levels don't go back within the range, you could ask the facility what you would expect.

Please, keep up posted!

My 15-year-old MC was just diagnosed with hyperthyroidism (T-4 is 4.6, which I don't think is a very extreme case, but he has lost weight recently). The vet suggested 2.5 mg medication once a day and suggested regular blood tests to monitor kidney function. Those blood panels, combined with the office visit, aren't cheap! My question: the hyperthyroidism would be fatal if not treated with the pill, so what is the point of the repeated blood tests thereafter? It won't matter if the cat has kidney failure if removing the medication results in death from hyperthyroidism. It seems to me that's just a risk you have to take since withdrawing the drug isn't an option. Right?

The purpose of the blood test is to ensure that he is on the right strength of tablet to keep thyroid count correct. My cat had monthly blood tests until the correct dosage and then every six months.

All vets that aren't in this matter much, start with 2.5 mg once a day, which is proved to be wrong. It is much better 1.25 mg twice a day, or less.
The use of repeated blood panels is to assess the effectiveness of the therapy. If the T4 goes down too much, the dosage will be reduced, if T4 doesn't go down as expected, the dosage will be upped. The effect of the med takes about two to three weeks to kick in, that's why at a month between two tests is required.

When my cat was diagnosed with HT, she was put on 1.25 mg twice a day, but it was later reduced on my request, and because of the lowered T4, to 0.625 twice a day.
The blood tests were repeated every 5 to 6 weeks, for a year.
Over here, in Italy, vets, tests, meds, are much cheaper than in the US.
In my case, all the visits were free of charge, the blood test was about €70 (about $77) each.
Pills were €5, pack of 100, the dosage was a quarter pill a day (split in two halves), so a pack of pills would last over a year.
Then we switched to ear gel, which is easier on the stomach and to administer, but it was a hundred times more expensive.

Despite this, I knew that the best choice was the radioactive therapy, the I-131.
Though it might seem dear and unaffordable, this treatment matches the costs of a year of visits, tests and meds, and from the second year after the radioactive shot you are saving money. Furthermore, the radioactive treatment is the final solution to the disease. The meds are palliative, do not cure the disease, they just control the symptoms, but need constant adjustments, and give troubles to liver and heart.

So, the first thing you need to do is to convince your vet to cut the dosage by 50%. It is much better, even for the cat, if you start on a lower dose and then increase it if needed, than the other way round, because the methimazole gives some irreversible side effects.
There are Facebook groups for HT cats that might guide you much better than a vet can do.
I was guided day by day by one of these groups and I could never thank them enough for their help.

Hope it helps.