Hyperthyroid Cat - Is This A Side Affect Of The Medicine?

baxtersmom

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My 14 (almost 15) year old cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism a couple weeks ago. He was put on Methimazole twice a day. He seems to be eating less now and his breathing and heart rate is a bit slower. However, he now seems to be heavily congested. It seems like he has a stuffed nose. He was also on a probiotic for bad diarrhea for over a week but it didn't clear it up completely. His poor little rear-end is a mess with clumped diarrhea stuck in his fur and on his back legs. I've tried cleaning it off the best I can without traumatizing him by putting him in a full bath. He just seems so pitiful. He's so skinny (4.8lbs). He's a white cat as you can see from my profile picture. He likes to go out in the backyard to lay around and comes back in filthy. I've caught him drinking disgusting water out of puddles left from the rain and he's started eating his litter. I recently started making his food myself and have followed the recipes from reputable vets and also added all the supplements he needs, including chicken livers and hearts, vitamin E, fish oil, vitamin B complex and taurine. He's due to go back to the vet this coming week for a check-up, but I feel at such a loss. He's still eating great and drinking a lot but otherwise he just lays around. I don't know what to do. Am I prolonging his suffering? Could the stuffy nose be just a cold or a side affect of the Methimazole? On top of that, he has a broken tooth and the root is sticking out, but the vet can't do anything for it until he gets better. It obviously hurts him as he's always shaking his head and can't eat on that side. I already lost 2 of my cats this summer. One from old age and one from mouth cancer. I can't stand the thought of losing him too. BTW, his name is Scooter. Baxter is my dog (who I almost lost last month when the doctor gave him Rimadyl for an enlarged prostate and it caused his kidneys to start shutting down). This has been a terrible summer. On top of all that my Dad passed away last month. When it rains it pours.
 

Antonio65

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baxtersmom baxtersmom ,
I'm so sorry for what's going on to you. All these terrible and sad episodes are surely affecting you and no wonder that you're questioning all you're doing to Scooter.

Anyway, as far as I know, Methimazole does not give such side effects on cats. Every known side effects are on kidneys, liver and stomach (if given orally).
I think that Scooter might have some URI or something similar.

As for his weird habits, I'd ask your vet and see if it lacks some minerals that leads him to drink filthy water and eat his litter.
A complete blood panel with all the electrolytes could be a good starting point.
 
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baxtersmom

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baxtersmom baxtersmom ,
I'm so sorry for what's going on to you. All these terrible and sad episodes are surely affecting you and no wonder that you're questioning all you're doing to Scooter.

Anyway, as far as I know, Methimazole does not give such side effects on cats. Every known side effects are on kidneys, liver and stomach (if given orally).
I think that Scooter might have some URI or something similar.

As for his weird habits, I'd ask your vet and see if it lacks some minerals that leads him to drink filthy water and eat his litter.
A complete blood panel with all the electrolytes could be a good starting point.
Thank you Antonio. We actually just had a full panel run. That's how we found out about the thyroid. He was a tiny bit anemic but otherwise nothing. His diarrhea is so bad now that he just stops wherever he is and lets it go. I have to make sure he's not on the carpet since the diarrhea is so bad. It's much easier to clean up from the wood floors. I asked the vet if he should be given some kind of supplement for the anemia and she said we just needed to fix the underlying problem (hyperthyroidism). I put a good amount of liver in the food I made to help with the anemia so maybe it's just a matter of letting it do it's work. He has a follow up with the vet this week. I just lost my Peanut to mouth cancer on Sept. 2nd and Pepper to old age Aug. 11th, and now Scooter is so sick.
 

Antonio65

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Good to read that!
Did the blood panel include the elctrolytes (Potassium, Calcium, etc)?

Restoring the red blood cells count in an anemic cat might take weeks or months!
My other cat started taking iron pills to pull her RBC count up. She died to mouth cancer 19 months ago.

Fixing a problem (HT) doesn't rule out taking care of other underlying diseases.
 
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baxtersmom

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I'm pretty certain it did. They did the most expensive blood panel so I would think it covered everything. I'm going to call them tomorrow and ask them to send me a copy of the test results. I think I'm going to take him to a different vet. I've had a couple of friends recommend their vet and. I read about your sweet Lola when my Peanut was dying of her mouth cancer. It helped a lot in understanding what I was dealing with.
 

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It has been a couple of months since you posted, how is Peanut doing now? Wanted to share my experience with you. My hyperthyroid baby, Hector, passed away one year after his diagnosis. However, he was a rescue and could have been as old as 20. Also, his previous owners were inside smokers and abandoned him outside for God knows how long- so he was predisposed to lung infections, pneumonia, etc..
I have to say, while Hills science diet for this condition is mostly corn and pork gluten, it did wonders for my animals quality of life. Most of the time, a hyperthyroid cat will gobble up anything, so he never refused the food. After two months of being on the food his T4 levels neutralized and his liver and kidney function improved drastically. What I wish I had done sooner was treat him with diet- along with vitamins and supplements (ones that contain little to no iodine of course).
Hector was also allergic to Tapazole, and became weak after using Methimazole extensively for months. Over time he also became allergic to this pill form of medicine, as many animals will. We couldn't bear to part with him for a week of iodine therapy, and anything with the word radioactive really horrified us. Plus, very expensive.
After half a year of being on the diet we had to say goodbye to our baby. But I am so happy he had that half year to eat, and be happy and healthy enough to run and play with his brother, Jasper. Also, the Hills food can be uses in conjunction with a lesser dose of Methimazole!
A lot of these thyroid problems develop as a response to years of eating terrible pet food brands such as ALL of the ones carried in your average grocery store. They are extremely high in iodine content! If you can't afford Hills (because it is pricey) AT LEAST feed your hyperthyroid cat a healthy food along with their medicines. We feed ours Fromm 4 Star Nutrition game bird cat food and it's grain free.
And just a general PSA- rescue cats that develop this disease often do so because of their overexposure to environmental pollutants (eating and drinking what they shouldnt when they don't know better). Keep your home clean, vacuum frequently, take shoes off at the door, use natural cleaners. Think of your cat as a mop! They roll all over everything and spend hours cleaning themselves. And also, work to keep the environment clean so we can prevent this from happening to all the animals making it out there on their own.
Also, good practice is to regularly check your animals neck, throat, and lymph node areas for inflammation and lumps. This could be a sign of a rapidly progressing cancerous tumor which is a common secondary condition.

Thank you for reading and I hope I could be of some help. Best of luck to you and your baby Peanut.
 

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I'm sorry. I meant Baxter, I read Peanut above. Also wanted to add, I do think Methimazole has a devastating effect on the cats insides and will only get worse with more medicating. It weakens the immune system. When this happened to my Hector he was receiving a steroid shot once a month.
 

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Also, if you do decide to try the Hills science diet, you will need a prescription from your vet before purchasing online at Chewy.com or in person at Petco. Chewy has incredible autoship deals. We were purchasing their largest bag once a month for just 40 bucks. We weaned him off Methimazole slowly after introducing the diet. He was on 20/day, so we decreased by 5 mgs until he was no longer taking it. After that, his diarrhea and restlessness subsided. But by this time I really believe the Methimazole had destroyed his lungs. It's a tough disease to overcome, and unfortunately I do believe when an animal is diagnosed over the age of 12-15 the best thing we can do is improve the QOL.

Again best of luck to you and Baxter!
 

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Wow, Scooter. I'm so sorry, not meaning to be insensitive.
 
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baxtersmom

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Wow, Scooter. I'm so sorry, not meaning to be insensitive.
LOL, it's okay. I know it got confusing with me talking about my 3 cats and my dog. Unfortunately Scooter died on November 3rd. It was so unexpected as I thought we were on the road to recovery. We were giving him his pill twice a day. He caught a bad cold at the vet's office, but I doctored him through that and he recovered. I really thought he was doing better. He was eating and drinking great. I don't know if the hyperthyroidism was caught too late and had done too much damage already. I also caught him eating his litter. I stopped him and took the litter away but it was clumping litter and I question if he had been eating it before I caught him. If so the litter would have caused an obstruction. The vet didn't say anything about it when she examined him and I told her about the litter. The day he died he seemed to be doing good. He ate all his food, drank a lot of water and went and took a nap behind the couch. When I check on him later I noticed that he was breathing a lot faster and felt cold. When I picked him up he cried out. That's when I realized he was dying. It happened so fast that I didn't have time to get him to a vet and it was a Saturday night. I sat with him petting and talking quietly to him until he crossed over. I went from 3 cats to no cats in a matter of a couple of months. Thank you for asking about him. I don't come on here very often anymore since I don't have any cats now. Now I watch my dog, Baxter, so closely. I worry so much about him after going through losing all 3 cats this summer. I don't know if I can take anymore heartbreak.
 
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