Hyperthyroid and borderline CRF cat declining

In article ,
Janet Boss wrote:

Where do I get gelcaps?

Answering myself, it looks like I can get them at the Vitamin Shoppe.
Good deal.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

On Jun 10, 7:15*am, Janet Boss
wrote:
Just an update here - I've gotten her eating with the Cyproheptadine. * *
She actually ASKED for dinner and breakfast. *Unfortunately, she also
barfed a few times and peed on the loveseat and had loose stool in her
box. * *She had solid stool in her box this morning though. *She's still
pretty weak and fragile. *We'll keep plugging until Thursday and hope
our vet visit is optimistic.

This is (mostly) good news! Here's hoping she'll keep eating until the
appointment.

Janet Boss wrote:

Thank you. I doubt we'll do the iodine treatment, but we really have to
take one day at a time I suppose. I'll be talking to my vet about all
of this on Thursday. Meanwhile, I've gotten her to eat a bit and bought
her some junk food to try as well. When she wasn't interested in kitty
crack (Evo dry), that was the real shocker.

Hi Janet. I'm so sorry Carrie is having such serious problems. I'll be
watching for an update from you, and hoping for the best.

Hugs to you and yours!

"Janet Boss" wrote in message
...
My Carey cat, who has has problems for the last 6+ years, none of them
successfully diagnosed (despite numerous vets and specialists and
tests), has finally been diagnosed as hyperthyroid, which I have
suspected all along, but tests did not indicate. Her urine output has
increased dramatically the last few weeks and has been happening outside
of the box as well as in. She has dropped even more weight and although
the vet office weighed her at 5#, she was moving around a bit and I
don't believe she's actually that much.

She is not interested in eating. I got her favorite roasted chicken,
and while she'll take a bite or two, that's it. I have had to take her
to her food, as she has not come in to the room seeking it. I offered
her food off my plate last evening and it was ignored. We usually let
her clean off our dinner plates and it is a highlight of her day.

While I know that tapazole is a possibility as well as radioactive
iodine, I'm concerned that there is and underlying issue that is causing
her to not eat, and also aware that the hyperthyroid treatments could
send her kidneys into a tailspin. I don't want to just let her fade
away, but don't want to cause her pain either. She is barely sustaining
herself at this point.

She got sub-Q fluids on Wednesday, and rallied a bit, but she's back to
just staying in her cat bed for the most part. I'm assuming that
there is probably some cancer at play, as we all expect a hyperthyroid
cat to be ravenous. She has not been and is not now.

I have to think about this practically along with the emotional part,
and her 15th birthday is in a bit over a month. We have another
appointment at the vet on Thursday and I'm feeling a bit lost about what
course of action to take.

Any actual experiences with a cat with this particular combination of
symptoms/diagnoses would be welcome.

I would *definitely* get her treated for her hyperthyroidism, prob. via
Tapazole/methimazole (generic), partly since it could be done immediately.
A dosage is started, then bloodwork is done as a follow-up, & dosage
adjusted if necessary. Hyperthyroidism affects the rest of the body's
organs, stressing them out, so is important that it's treated.

AFAIK, treating one (cat, human, whoever) for hyer-T doesn't put them in a
renal failure tailspin. I haven't had a cat with the exact combo of
symptoms, but... I'm hyer-T (it works basically the same way in cats &
humans, incl. treatment), one of my cats was, & two cats have had CRF/renal
failure.

Good luck for her.

Cathy



--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

"Janet Boss" wrote in message
...
In article qQd3k.225$ul.75@trndny08, "Phil P."
wrote:


To avoid a kidney crisis, simply choose a conservative and reversible
therapy such as oral or transdermal methimazole and monitor her kidney
values. If her kidney values (BUN/Cr) rise while she's taking methimazole
simply manipulate the dose until you strike a balance between an
"acceptable" level of hyperthyroidism and an "acceptable" level of
azotemia.
OTOH, if her kidney values remain stable while on methimazole, she'd
probably be a low-risk candidate for I-131- which is a permanent cure.
That's the route I took with my hyperthyroid cat two years ago and she's
been thriving ever since.

Thank you. I doubt we'll do the iodine treatment, but we really have to
take one day at a time I suppose. I'll be talking to my vet about all
of this on Thursday. Meanwhile, I've gotten her to eat a bit and bought
her some junk food to try as well. When she wasn't interested in kitty
crack (Evo dry), that was the real shocker.

If a cat isn't eating, even junk food is better than nothing.

Oh, & an antihistamine for humans - Periactin, also happens to act an
appetite stimulant for cats. It's worked well for 2 of my cats.

Plus there's Hill's Prescription Diet a/d - a canned food (available at the
vet's) which I've used with success in the past when a cat has lost her
appetite due to medical reasons.

Cathy

In article ,
"Cathy F." wrote:


Oh, & an antihistamine for humans - Periactin, also happens to act an
appetite stimulant for cats. It's worked well for 2 of my cats.

Yes, we gave that (Cyproheptadine) with little result.

Thank you all for your words. We said goodbye to Carey on Thursday
afternoon. She was in very bad condition and we've been fighting a lot
of unknowns for over 6 years. I miss her dearly already, but know that
she's at peace.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

"Janet Boss" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Cathy F." wrote:


Oh, & an antihistamine for humans - Periactin, also happens to act an
appetite stimulant for cats. It's worked well for 2 of my cats.

Yes, we gave that (Cyproheptadine) with little result.

Cyproheptadine - was trying to remember its generic name & waouldn't come to
me at that point.

Thank you all for your words. We said goodbye to Carey on Thursday
afternoon. She was in very bad condition and we've been fighting a lot
of unknowns for over 6 years. I miss her dearly already, but know that
she's at peace.

I'm very sorry - after I posted, I noticed the lag in time stamps... didn't
see other follow-up posts, & hoped she was okay/stabilized; except she
wasn't.

Cathy

In article ,
"Cathy F." wrote:


I'm very sorry - after I posted, I noticed the lag in time stamps... didn't
see other follow-up posts, & hoped she was okay/stabilized; except she
wasn't.

Thanks. I was trying to be more hopeful than the reality of the
situation. The only bad thing about loving pets is having to say
goodbye.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

"Janet Boss" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Cathy F." wrote:


I'm very sorry - after I posted, I noticed the lag in time stamps...
didn't
see other follow-up posts, & hoped she was okay/stabilized; except she
wasn't.

Thanks. I was trying to be more hopeful than the reality of the
situation.

Well, sometimes there is an unexpected good turn-around.

The only bad thing about loving pets is having to say
goodbye.

Yep. Although so far I've found the lead-up time (knowing it's going to end
at some point & needing to make the correct/timely decision) to the
euthanasia worse than the process/death itself. One of my cats presently has
a latent (very latent) vaccine-induced fibrosarcoma. I know at some point
it's going to make itself known to her & I'll have to make a decision,
euthanasia. But she is blissfully ignorant of the situation at this point!

Cathy