Methimazole itching and scratching

[duffo]

Cat is on methimazole for hyperthyroidism but has started scratching her head to the point where it has bloody sore, and the edges of her ears have become weirdly scabby. Strangely, I almost never catch her scratching those areas, but clearly she is because of the damage done. It is apparently a side effect of the medication. This puts me in a bind though, because:

a) the medication is honestly really easy to give to her and relatively affordable - preferably I could keep her on it?
b) she has existing food allergies which the hyperthyroidism iodine-free food would almost certainly trigger
c) the other options are expensive surgery or radiation

Has anyone ever dealt with this and successfully got their cat to stop? Some things I'm thinking might help would be reducing the dosage (currently 5mg/day), supplementary antihistamies, switching to the transdermal medication, or seeing if her body adapts to the medication over time (I say this because she was previously vomitting a lot due to the meds, which cleared up on its own). If none of that helps I'll obviously have to explore the expensive surgical/radiation route.

Its super stressful to leave the house now knowing she's probably going to town on sores on her head! Had an e-collar on her before when it started and things were looking up for a bit after I took it off, but clearly have taken a turn for the worse and she is not letting me get the collar back on. And when the ecollar is on she gets super depressed and basically won't move except to eat.

Thanks!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Is that once a day or split into two doses daily? As you mentioned can you check with the vet and test to see if the dosage can be decreased?

Get some unblended unflavored chamomile tea from the store (not garden grown) brew it, cool it and apply to the hot spots. It is anti fungal, anti bacterial, will ease discomfort and is safe if she licks it.

Would you consider home cooked since you commented the commercial y/d food will trigger allergies? This sounds to me as though she is having a very severe reaction to the med, because you're not seeing her scratching and you would.