- Increase awareness of thyroid health,
- Promote understanding of advances made in treating thyroid diseases,
- Emphasize the prevalence of thyroid diseases,
- Focus on the urgent need for education and prevention programs, and
- Expand awareness of new treatment modalities.
In humans, dogs and cats, the thyroid, a large endocrine gland located in the neck, produces hormones that influence virtually every cell, tissue and organ in the body. The thyroid gland regulates the body's metabolism — the rate at which the body produces energy from nutrients and oxygen — and affects critical body functions, such as energy level and heart rate.
Diseases of the thyroid gland include hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, and thyroid cancer. These disorders are very common and affect tens of millions of people worldwide. As we all know from reading this blog, the same thyroid diseases are also common in dogs and cats.
For more information, see: www.worldthyroidday.com.
I have a cat recently of two weeks ago that got constipation. They did tests to find out that my male cat, 10+ years of age is hyperthyroid with 1/3 kidney function. I started Methimazole 5mg, half in morning and then the other half in the evening. My issue is his eating has changed dramatically. I tried renal food and his liking has changed. Now I have tried 6 different commercial foods that are low in phosphorus. My husband is thinking the medication may be too high for the beginning in that we are lucky the cat is eating a 1/4 to a 1/2 can per day. I don't want to stop the medication but if a cat is not eating enough for kidney health, what is your recommendation for starting out in mg. I know both issues can be complicated but I know once the kidneys do not function there is no way to fix them.
ReplyDeleteWithout seeing your cat or having the complete record, I can't tell you what dosage is needed. However, if you cat is not eating well, you need to speak to your vet about what to do. If the T4 is normal or low, we can certainly try to cut the methimazole dose in half and see if that is enough.
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