Poor punkin!

I'm so glad he's doing better!

Pet people, PLEASE, if your cat, especially an older one, starts pacing, losing weight, acting hyper, get his thyroid checked.

& if your dog becomes lethargic or has seizures, get his thyroid checked;
many vets pooh-pooh hypothyroid in dogs because they are taught that it's "rare".

Of course it's rare if you say the problem is something else:

Heart disease in women used to be "rare", too, until somebody figured out that when women died from it, the cause of death was listed as something else.

I'm so glad that you were able to get him in for I-131 treatment and that he is home, eating, and recovering from the methimazole overdose. I sure wish more vets would get the message that starting hyperT cats on a high dose of methimazole is a BAD, BAD idea and one from which many hyperT cats suffer serious consequences. But at least your boy won't have to deal with that anymore.

I hope that his albumen level has returned to normal on next checkup. There's always a possibility that the first test was a lab error, and his albumen level was never low to begin with. One can only hope.

Laurie

ack, my old cat has just been diagnosed with hyperthyroid and she started her medication yesterday. I hope she doesn't have any bad side effects from it. she's started on a low dose of neomercazole (carbimazole).

It sounds like your boy is going great since the iodine treatment. How old is he?

I started both of my cats on methimazole and then switched to carbimazole when they exhibited mild digestive upset on the methimazole. Neither cat had any digestive upset or any other negative side effects with carbimazole, so it's been the drug of choice in my experience.

What dose was your girl started on?

oh thanks laurie that's good to know. From the reading I've been doing since reading this post it seems like the carbimazole has less chance of side effects and is better for long term treatment - fingers crossed she goes ok on it.

my old girl (15 yrs) is on 1/2 a 5mg tab twice daily. I don't think it will be enough though so I'll take her back to the vet in a few weeks.

Just so you know, carbimazole converts into methimazole in the cat's digestive tract AFTER it leaves the stomach, which is why it tends to not cause as much stomach upset as methimazole. It can, however, cause the same side effects as methimazole since it does convert into it.

My cats both started on 2.5 mg carbimazole daily (divided into two doses). By the time Billy passed about 2 yrs later, his dose had increased to 3.75 or 5 mg daily (divided into two daily doses on alternate days). Tommy is currently receiving 7.5 or 8.75 mg daily (divided into two daily doses on alternate days). Since hyperT is a progressive disease, it'll likely be necessary to continue to increase her dose over time.

oh so it looks like her dose isnt that low after all. laurie how often did you get blood tests to see initially when the dose was right? and once your cats were stabilised, how often did you get blood tests done then?

Actually, 5 mg of carbimazole daily is a fairly low dose. I just prefer to take a VERY cautious approach with these drugs since my Billy was initially overdosed on methimazole when he was first diagnosed and I didn't know anything about the meds yet. After I joined the hyperT mailing list, I read post after post by folks whose cats were overdosed on high starting doses of methimazole, some with deadly results. That was more than enough to convince me that the "start low and go slow" approach to dosing is the only safe way to introduce these drugs into a cat's system.

During the initial dose regulation phase, I had my cats' blood tested every three weeks and made small dose adjustments (no more than 1.25 mg daily adjustment) after each test. I kept them on this three week retest/dose adjustment schedule until they achieved euthyroid (normal thyroid levels).

After achieving euthyroid, I retested Billy every three months (he also had CRF and several other chronic diseases) and made med adjustments only when necessary. For Tommy, whose only medical concern is hyperT, I retest every six months and make med adjustments only when necessary.

Laurie

My cat just turned 10 this summer. I believe the initial dose we started him on was either 2.5 or 5 mg twice daily, but it only took about 2 days for the side effect to show up. So, Trancegeminii, if your cat suddenly starts to shake his head alot, or twitches his ears I suggest you stop the stuff immediately! Poor Isaac literally dug all the hair off the sides of his head until he was bloody--and reducing the dosage didn't help, nor did switching to the rub in the ears formulation. It took being off for nearly a week AND a second trip to the vet for a shot of steriods to calm the itching. Plus, it knocked him off his feed, and since he'd already lost 2 of his 10 lbs, NOT GOOD.

Unfortunately, from what I've read on the hyperT list, the bad side effects of methimazole overdose can't necessarily be undone just by reducing or even stopping the med dose. Once the cat's body "fights back" against a high dose, that same response may be triggered even at a low dose. That's why starting at a low dose is so important. It gives the cat's body a chance to gradually acclimate to the drug and its effects, and that helps minimize side effects even if the dose has to be slowly increased over time.

FYI, methimazole and carbimazole don't have the same dosing. As a general rule, a cat switching from methimazole to carbimazole is started at twice the dose of carbimazole as (s)he was taking of methimazole. That is not a consistent correlation, however, and varies from cat to cat. Billy, for instance, achieved euthyroid at only very slightly more carbimazole than he had achieved euthyroid on methimazole.

well, my vet said he'd never had a bad reaction with the gel. Apparently once you've had a bad reaction with the pill, switching to the gel isn't going to help.

Now I have another problem--I think Ike is getting the same sneezing respiratory mess that Rudi has! Forget asking for my 2 front teeth for Christmas--all I want is for all of my babies to be well. I've had cats for 20 years and I've had more trips to the vet in the past 3 months than in that entire time. He still seems to be eating, but I'm calling the doc (again) in the morning.

thanks for the info laurie and biza. Laurie I feel the same and would rather start low and work up gradually, even without side effects it must be a bit of shock to the body when the medication kicks in.

biza I've been keeping an eye on her for the signs you mentioned and so far so good. Her overeating has really come under control and she's been much more alert and walking about more (she was very lethargic and just lying around all the time, only getting up to eat again) :)

let us know how things go biza, it's a bad time for animals to get sick with vets going away on holidays etc, I hope your kitties feel better soon

One additional advantage to the iodine treatment--no being tied to a daily regime of dosing. ONe of my vets said that he feels that ANY oral meds can throw some cats off their feed, and also that one side effect of the tapazole is loss of appetite. Ike couldn't win for losing. Both he and Sophie had the sneezes, but aren't yet showing signs of a 2ndary infection. As long as everybody will eat and apparently feel well, I can deal. At this point , the big issue will next weekend. I normally travel to my parents and have friends who come in once or twice a day to feed and care for the 'kids'. Not sure what I will do if things take a turn for the worse--can't ask the friends to dose. Ike wouldn't be very cooperative. And can't take them, since I can't take the chance on carrying this home to mom's cat.