Cat Thyroid Medicine

gloriajh

FERAl born “Pepper”
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 17, 2006
Messages
2,027
Purraise
66
Location
CA - Desert
Ok, now I’m miffed!
The vet, obviously didn’t tell me it was a tumor! Because I didn’t know the right questions to ask (he called to tell me the test results) I really made an uninformed treatment decision. Because he said we’ll recheck (thyroid blood tests) in 2or 3 weeks I (wrongly) took it in time we might be able to go off meds.
Of course the cost of treatment was a huge factor in deciding. When he said the The iodine was around $1200, I opted for the second form of treatment not understanding what is happinging with my 13 year old.
So, I’m miffed!
Now, thanks to your informative help, I’m a little better equipped to reconsider the course of action.
It could be with his age, and the T4 amount that the iodine (& costs) won’t be the best decision?
Thank you for helping me think through this, and I’m sure anyone else struggling for answers finds this enlightening!!
A hyperthyroid IS a tumor, though benign in the high majority of cases. The cat's thyroid is increased in volume and produces more hormone than it should be, and this causes all the symptoms you see.
The methimazole is NOT curing the tumor, it's only addressing the symptoms, but the thyroid will keep growing. This is the reason why a cat needs to be visited and assessed often through blood test, to see if the med needs to be re-dosed.
Both thyroid and methimazole causes different issues in the cats body, liver, kidneys, heart are heavily affected.
The treatment of first choice is the radioactive therapy with I-131. This radioactive therapy destroys the bad cells in the cats thyroid. There wiil be no more need of blood tests and meds for the rest of the cat's life.

The dosage of methimazole depends on the severity of the problem. The gel may be dosed in different concentrations, in my case also on customer's request.
I had my gel prepared at 25mg/ml. I had to give my cat 1.0 or 1.25 mg of methimazole twice a day, so I would rub 0.04 or 0.05 ml of gel each time.
 

Antonio65

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 27, 2017
Messages
6,053
Purraise
9,672
Location
Orbassano - Italy
I have a thread currently under constant updating about my cat Pallina who underwent the I-131 treatment.
So other info might be found in that thread.
My cat had her radio iodine treatment in August, 3 months ago, and she's 16+ yo, so there's no age factor to the therapy.
The cost was high, but I considered that in a little more than a year I would have spent the same money for meds and blood checks, without considering the fact that the disease would have worked against us anyway.
So I think it's an advantage rather than an expense.
 

gloriajh

FERAl born “Pepper”
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 17, 2006
Messages
2,027
Purraise
66
Location
CA - Desert
Antonio65:
Well you fully understand my $$ issue, by the time you nickle and dime this without a remedy it’s better just to do the one time cost and have a satisfactory solution.
I’ll certainly go to your thread while I consider how I’m going to pay for this:).

Thanks so much!
 

gloriajh

FERAl born “Pepper”
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 17, 2006
Messages
2,027
Purraise
66
Location
CA - Desert
I read your thread-wow! I can’t imagine all that you’ve been going through!
I was trying to find information from a reliable resource I had used a long time ago but couldn’t remember the link- but I’ve Re-found it and passing it along- and - for me & KiKi maybe just in the nick of time before the meds damage vital organs(?)
Feline Hyperthyroidism
This doctor said she’d go straight to the treatment rather than use the meds-my husband and I are evaluating - Dr. Pierson is a no nonsense doctor and worth reading what she has to offer.
 

Antonio65

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 27, 2017
Messages
6,053
Purraise
9,672
Location
Orbassano - Italy
I'm glad to read that the link you provided says the same things I had written earlier :)
Please, keep in mind that the sooner you act with the radio iodine therapy, the better results you will have and the fewer side effects from the disease (and meds) your kitty will receive ;)
 

Dilutetortislave

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Apr 18, 2017
Messages
15
Purraise
5
The methimazole I mentioned in my previous comment is in tablet form, 5mg tablets, and it is the generic form of Tapazole. It can probably be compounded into a liquid. A brand name will just make the medication more expensive, so I hope most vets are willing to use generic.

The prednisolone is also in tablet form (5mg tablets), although it can definitely be compounded into a liquid. I would be careful if you try to get liquid prednisolone from a human pharmacy because there may be flavoring additives (made for human children) that may be toxic to cats.

Generally steroids are pretty cheap drugs. Compounding will always increase the cost a bit.

Prednisolone can be compounded into tablets that dissolve easily and are flavored, Roadrunner Pharmacy in Arizona makes these, called "mini melts". Another compounding pharmacy that vets can use is Diamondback Drugs, which I believe is also in Arizona and both pharmacies ship to other states.

I also was unaware that hyperthyroidism was caused by a tumor, until I read Dr. Pierson's article about that.

Check out the vet she links to, Dr. Mark E. Peterson, who is a specialist and it's super cool that he has been one of the first people to research and try to get to the bottom of what causes it in the first place. He has a website that discusses both dog & cat endocrine disorders: Insights into Veterinary Endocrinology: Hyperthyroidism
 
Top