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Pre-Surgical Information
Spaying or neutering your pet is a big step! There is a lot to consider
when we are planning your pet’s surgery. Here is some information to help
you make wise decisions.
Click here . . .
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Special LibraryOur Special Library
is a collection of informative articles on a variety of health topics.
Click here . . .
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Discharge InstructionsClick here for
information on how to care for your pet at home.
Click here . . .
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High Thyroid Levels
High Thyroid levels, also
known as Hyperthyroidism,
is a common disease of older cats.
Hyperthyroidism is a condition where the thyroid gland
makes too much thyroid hormone. Thyroid hormone
regulates the level of metabolism, and hyperthyroid cats
have a very fast metabolism. They show a variety of
symptoms related to hyper-metabolism including weight
loss despite eating a lot, excessive drinking and
urination, vomiting, diarrhea, and rapid heart rate.
It is quite common for hyperthyroid cats to also have
some degree of kidney dysfunction which is present but
hidden by the other symptoms. Many hyperthyroid
cats are also hypertensive. Without treatment,
hyperthyroid cats burn out quite rapidly.
With treatment, they will live longer and do better.
There are three forms of treatment for hyperthyroidism.
One is a surgery, which I feel has too high a
complication rate, one is radiation therapy, which is
quite expensive and is not available locally, and the
third is a medication called methimazole. While
methimazole treatment is not without it’s problems, I
feel it I the best choice for most cats.
Methimazole has the following problems that must be
addressed. The first is that if a cat with
hyperthyroidism also has hidden kidney problems, which
is actually quite common, the methimazole treatment may
make the kidney disease worse. It is estimated
that about 20% of hyperthyroid cats will also have
hidden kidney disease. We must monitor the kidneys
as we go with blood tests to make sure we don’t change a
bad problem (hyperthyroidism) into a worse one (kidney
failure).
The second issue is that methimazole can damage the bone
marrow in a few cats. Again, we need to monitor
the blood as we go to make sure we don’t cause a worse
problem.
The third issue is that about 15% of cats will
experience other side-effects with methimazole.
The most common are vomiting and itching. To
minimize these other problems, we start with a low dose
and gradually increase. Most of the problems
occur in the first three months of treatment if they are
going to occur.
There is also the issue of how we are going to medicate
the sick cat. Pills are the least expensive way,
but they can be difficult if not impossible to give.
Tablets cost around 50 cents to $2 a dollar a day,
depending on the necessary dose. The dose it takes
is variable, and so we start low and increase until we
get the results we want. For cats that won’t
take pills twice a day, there is a gel that can be
rubbed on the skin. This costs more, but is much
easier to give.
The schedule goes like this: We start with a low dose of methimazole given once a day for 2 weeks, then increase
the dose to every 12 hours for 2 weeks. At this
point we test the blood for adverse events and to see if
the dose is high enough. If the dose is not high
enough, we continue to increase the dose gradually,
re-testing every 2 weeks, until we get thyroid levels
under control. Then we re-test every 6 months or
so.
Methimazole treatment requires a time and money
commitment on the part of the owner, and is not
trouble-free. However, it will increase the
affected cat’s lifespan and increase the quality
of life. The literature shows anywhere from 2 to 4
years extension in life. It takes a while to see
improvement, generally 2 to 6 weeks after we get thyroid
levels under control. While methimazole treatment
it is not without it's problems, it is worth it because
it will extend the lifespan and improve the quality of
life of your cat.
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