 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsGeneral TopicsCat AnecdotesHealth and BehaviorRescue CatKB.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / January 2006Hyperthyroid cat (update)
All, Mixed results with my cat that we recently decided to treat with meds verses radiation. She's been on her meds, twice a day, for about a month. The vet called after her last workup and said to reduce to once a day. We were rather late with her first dose at the reduced levels and she vomited several times, guess when, Christmas day. We spent several hours at the emergency vet, as everything I read said repeat vomitting is unusual for cats. They didn't really see anything that causes it, but saw on the films, "something that should be evaluated" on her heart. Anybody run across this one before? My latest issue, is that she *hates* getting pills and runs and hides under the bed. She's dove under there the second I got up (slept with us all night) and hasn't been out since. I don't think she's sick (the vomitting resolved itself); she just seems mad at me. Anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with this one? Any advice is appreciated. Rob Can you crush the Tapazole and place it in canned food for her? Gail > All, > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Rob >Can you crush the Tapazole and place it in canned food for her? >Gail Wouldn't she taste that? I'm getting a little worried about her being under the bed, but I don't want to further traumatize her by dragging her to the vet again. I put down some food at the bed and she ate that. I get the feeling she's mad at me. Rob >> All, >> [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >> >> Rob > >Can you crush the Tapazole and place it in canned food for her? > >Gail > > Wouldn't she taste that? Mine sure did. The trouble is, if you crush it up in all of her food, how can you be sure she gets the whole dose if she does not eat the food? So I crushed the Tapazole up in a couple of tablespoons of food first, intending to give her the rest of her food after she ate it, but she just tasted it and walked away in disgust. Tapazole is a really bitter tasting medicine. Eventually I resorted to feeding her the canned food, waiting until she has had a few bites, then quickly tossing the pill toward the very center of the back of her mouth so she cannot "tongue" it to the side and spit it out. She wants so much to get back to the food she tends to just swallow it. That said, Phil P. posted here about a transdermal gel that you can get at some pharmacies with a prescription from your vet. You wear gloves so you do not get dosed, then rub it on the cat's ear. There is also a flavored liquid medium (like tuna or chicken) and there are gel caps and treats that you can hide the Tapazole in. Good luck, this is difficult. On the good side, if your cat is like ours, after a year or so in the medicine she will be in great shape. >> >Can you crush the Tapazole and place it in canned food for her? >> >Gail [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] >to the side and spit it out. She wants so much to get back to the food she >tends to just swallow it. Interestingly enough, doing the pill without the gel cap worked much better yesterday. >That said, Phil P. posted here about a transdermal gel that you can get at >some >pharmacies with a prescription from your vet. You wear gloves so you do not >get dosed, then rub it on the cat's ear. Yeah, me and the wife talked about that this morning. >There is also a flavored liquid medium (like tuna or chicken) and there are >gel caps and treats that you can hide the Tapazole in. > >Good luck, this is difficult. On the good side, if your cat is like ours, >after >a year or so in the medicine she will be in great shape. Her fur improved dramatically in just a couple of weeks. Now if we can just get her to stop hiding from us.... > >> >Can you crush the Tapazole and place it in canned food for her? > >> >Gail [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > Her fur improved dramatically in just a couple of weeks. Now if we > can just get her to stop hiding from us.... She might be hiding from you because she hates the taste of Tapazole and she's beginning to associate you with the unpleasant experience and taste. Putting the Tapazole in a small #3 or #4 gelcap will mask the horrible taste until she swallows it and might also emiminate the vomiting. Vomiting and/or anorexia can be caused by the bitter taste of Tapazole and may not necessarily be side effects of the drug. She'll need to pilled for the rest of her life. Therefore, I strongly recommend putting the pill in a gelcap because she develops an irreversible aversion to Tapazole and pilling. After you pill her, follow the pill with water or canned food to make sure the pill goes all the way down and doesn't get trapped and begin to dissolve in her esophagus. A Pillpopper might make pilling much easier for both of you. Best of luck, Phil >> >> >Can you crush the Tapazole and place it in canned food for her? >> >> >Gail [quoted text clipped - 52 lines] >anorexia can be caused by the bitter taste of Tapazole and may not >necessarily be side effects of the drug. I've been using the gelcap from the beginning and have had a very hard time pilling her. We've pilled a couple of times without the gelcap and it went quicker. When she vomits, it's not until nine or so hours later (3:30 in the morning). I think she may have been constipated again as I went through this again this morning. She tossed and I let her out the bedroom for a while. Came out a bit later and gave them breakfast and she passed a rather large stool after eating. She was ok after that. My chief concern is that she is more tentative about food than as usual. Rather reluctant to start eating, but once she starts, she'll eat. That may be the pill and I hope it resolves itself. >She'll need to pilled for the rest of her life. Therefore, I strongly >recommend putting the pill in a gelcap because she develops an irreversible >aversion to Tapazole and pilling. After you pill her, follow the pill with >water or canned food to make sure the pill goes all the way down and doesn't >get trapped and begin to dissolve in her esophagus. Been doing that, but I think she's associating being fed with being pilled. She looks around so suspiciously when I feed her. >A Pillpopper might make pilling much easier for both of you. Tried it; it didn't go so well. What's the link to your website on how to pill a cat? Maybe I don't have the technique right. >Best of luck, Thanks for your support, Phil Rob > On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 07:32:35 GMT, "Phil P." <phil@maxshouse.com> > Tried it; it didn't go so well. What's the link to your website on > how to pill a cat? Maybe I don't have the technique right. http://www.maxshouse.com/Medicating_Your_Cat.htm Try using the least restraint as possible. Speed is most important factor. Pet her head a few times, and in once swift motion, open her mouth by gently pressing on the side of her jaw with your middle finger and thumb and tilt her head back. Hold the pill between your thumb and index finger of your other hand and use your middle finger to press down on her incisors to open her mouth wider- and drop the pill into the back of her throat. Hold her mouth shut but let her lower her head to its normal position. If she licks her lips, it usually means she's swallowed the pill. Pet her head a few times and open her mouth the same way as before to make sure she isn't hiding the pill. Coating the gelcap with butter will make it go down easier and dipping your fingers in tuna water or even normal saline (or salt water) helps to divert her attention away from the pill. Once you master the technique, pilling will be become easier- as long as she doesn't taste the Tapazole. If you give her a favorite treat, she'll begin to associate pilling with a pleasant experience. You can do it! ;) Phil > All, > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > that causes it, but saw on the films, "something that should be > evaluated" on her heart. Anybody run across this one before? Hyperthyroidism can result in heart disease - hypertrophic cardiomyopthy - a thickening of the muscle which can be detected in an x-ray. This may or may not be what is suspected, but I'd ask about it. > My > latest issue, is that she *hates* getting pills and runs and hides [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Rob >> All, >> [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >thickening of the muscle which can be detected in an x-ray. This may or may >not be what is suspected, but I'd ask about it. I pray the prognosis is not as grim as the google serarch about it says. Thanks for the reply. Rob >> My >> latest issue, is that she *hates* getting pills and runs and hides [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> >> Rob >>> All, >>> [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Rob I'll pray along with you Rob. Having lost a most wonderful cat to this disease, my heart goes out to you and your cat! When it comes to the health of your cat and yourself - Google! Take notes and don't be afraid to ask questions! Judy >>>> All, >>>> [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > >I'll pray along with you Rob. Thanks. My vet is calling over to the emergency vet to have the films sent to him. She is doing better. We took a chance and took her out from under the bed. She snuggled with me most of yesterday. She woke up again at 3:30 am and vomitted again. I think it was caused by her getting constipated again. She hadn't gone in well over a day and passed a huge stool this morning. She's brightened up since and is snuggling with me again. I don't know if I'm taking care of her or she is taking care of me (I have a wonderful chest cold). Rob > All, > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Rob My sister gets prescriptions for her cat at a compounding pharmacy. They are able to prepare it in various flavors (tuna, chicken, etc.) and that mades the medication much more palatable. You might want to try that. MaryL When my cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and I was told she had to take a pill twice a day I KNEW I could not get a pill into her twice a day. I have never been able to fool her by putting pills into food either.The vet assured me that if I crushed it and put it in her food she would not notice it. She was right!! Tillie takes Methimazole .I put it in her wet food at breakfast and she gobbles it right up. She has put on weight and got her gorgeous coat back. You are so lucky that your cat did not notice it. I have to give my rumble 2 pills of diazepam daily none of the tricks work. The pill popper works when you can get your hands on him but anything else he will eat around the food pill pouches he will eat the pouch and spit the pill right back in front of you. He is a little devil I have to do it Phil's way as he shows it on the website that works 3 seconds start to finish when you can catch him :-) > When my cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and I was told she had > to take a pill twice a day I KNEW I could not get a pill into her twice [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > gobbles it right up. She has put on weight and got her gorgeous coat > back. > When my cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and I was told she had > to take a pill twice a day I KNEW I could not get a pill into her twice [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > gobbles it right up. She has put on weight and got her gorgeous coat > back. You are so lucky. Are you saying you only pill her once a day, though? >> When my cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and I was told she had >> to take a pill twice a day I KNEW I could not get a pill into her twice [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >You are so lucky. Are you saying you only pill her once a day, though? For me, that is currently the case. We were at twice a day but the follow up blood showed too much hormone in the blood. We cut back to once a day and follow up again. She started out at two pills a day but after a follow up blood test she went down to one a day. > She started out at two pills a day but after a follow up blood test she > went down to one a day. That is great. My girl developed some sort of arrythmia from being hyperthyroid and now has to take both the Tapazole and a beta blocker to slow and steady her heart rate, so she gets two-half pills twice a day. (She began having little fainting episodes where she would kind of list to one side and feel around with her paws and be unresponsive to us. But the beta blocker keeps these little fits away.) Here is hoping your kitty does great for a long time on the one pill a day. When my cat's original brand of Tapazol was discontinued and she couldn't take the new brands we switched her to Tapazol capsules from the Roadrunner. I just have to break a capsule in the morning and throw it into her food. Apparently Tapazol has no taste. -- Barb Of course I don't look busy, I did it right the first time. > > When my cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and I was told she had > > to take a pill twice a day I KNEW I could not get a pill into her twice [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > You are so lucky. Are you saying you only pill her once a day, though? >> All, >> [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >are able to prepare it in various flavors (tuna, chicken, etc.) and that >mades the medication much more palatable. You might want to try that. I may do just that, if I can find such a place. We have been giving her the meds followed by some food. That was probably a mistake as she now associates food with getting a pill. I'm also wondering if the thyroid pill is giving her nausea as she tends to eat very slowly and isn't quite as interested in food as usual. I really noticed the change after we reduced her dosage to once a day per doctor's orders. >MaryL >>My sister gets prescriptions for her cat at a compounding pharmacy. They >>are able to prepare it in various flavors (tuna, chicken, etc.) and that >>mades the medication much more palatable. You might want to try that. > > I may do just that, if I can find such a place. There are some online compounding pharmacies. You might want to try that if you can't locate a pharmacy locally. They do require prescriptions, as do "regular" pharmacies. MaryL We opted for the radioactive treatment for our 13 year old siamese female. It worked wonderfully and a year later she is fat and sassy as a kitten. Our Vet explained to us that although the treatment was a $1000, giving pills daily over an extent of time would be more expensive and could possibly not do the trick. Also, what would you do if you were OOT and your catsitter could not get her to accept the pill from her?. If not too late were I you I'd do the radioactive thing. > We opted for the radioactive treatment for our 13 year old siamese > female. It worked wonderfully and a year later she is fat and sassy as a [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > and your catsitter could not get her to accept the pill from her?. If > not too late were I you I'd do the radioactive thing. It's my sister (not myself) who has a hyperthyroid cat. She opted for pills because her cat is 17 year old -- and I'm not sure how informative her vet was. MaryL >We opted for the radioactive treatment for our 13 year old siamese >female. It worked wonderfully and a year later she is fat and sassy as a [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >and your catsitter could not get her to accept the pill from her?. If >not too late were I you I'd do the radioactive thing. Bob, We still have that as an option. The place that does it is quite a ways distant and we're also monitoring to ensure she has no kidney problems. For the short term, tapazole is the way to go. We'll revisit some time next year. Rob Rob. The place we had the treatment done was an hour from our house. We had to leave our little loved one with them for 2 days and nights. They shave the fur off the area where they administer the radioactive iodine and it takes a few months for it to grow back. Other than that there were no side effects and there was no danger to either us or our other cat. I hope whatever cure you pursue works for you. Bob >Rob. The place we had the treatment done was an hour from our house. We >had to leave our little loved one with them for 2 days and nights. They >shave the fur off the area where they administer the radioactive iodine >and it takes a few months for it to grow back. Other than that there >were no side effects and there was no danger to either us or our other >cat. I hope whatever cure you pursue works for you. Bob, Thanks. I guess our decision will rest upon what her heart issue is. The emergency vet saw something on the xrays she said should be evaluated. Rob >>>My sister gets prescriptions for her cat at a compounding pharmacy. They >>>are able to prepare it in various flavors (tuna, chicken, etc.) and that [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >you can't locate a pharmacy locally. They do require prescriptions, as do >"regular" pharmacies. Are they known as "compounding pharmacies"? Thanks Rob >MaryL >>>>My sister gets prescriptions for her cat at a compounding pharmacy. >>>>They [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > >>MaryL Yes, I just went to google and typed in "compounding pharmacies" (including the quotation marks). I got quite a number of "hits." Unfortunately, I don't have experience with any of them and would really prefer a local pharmacy when available, but most of them also have toll free numbers if you want to ask questions. MaryL >>>>>My sister gets prescriptions for her cat at a compounding pharmacy. >>>>>They [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >>>you can't locate a pharmacy locally. They do require prescriptions, as do >>>"regular" pharmacies. Mary, Thanks so much! Found one that is local to me. I guess we'll see how it goes for a while longer before we go that route. Rob I put my cats thyroid pill in a round bottom shot glass and crush it into a powder with the handle end of a hammer type meat tenderizer. then I mix it into his morning friskie moist canned cat food and he eats it without any concerns. I have 3 cats one outside and 2 inside, hope to get the outside cat in ,have been trying, she is afraid of my female inside cat who don,t want compition if you know what I mean...
|
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.