Hyperthyroid cat - vomits and feces

[AnneH]

Aside from her runaway hyperthyroid metabolism, the main symptom standing in the way of
Girly's ability to put on weight seems to be her vomiting. By sticking to pate style canned foods, and taking out the bone and gristle from raw, I am hoping to reduce the incidence of vomits.
I just saw the webinar on vomiting for help.
Qs ~ give Nux Vomica or Arsenic Album in addition to her Lycopodium, [she's a chilly cat (skin and bones), retches violently, and drinks LOTS of water, even when I have added it to her food], or is the vomiting with it's accompanying lower food intake a sign it is time to dose L again?
There are sometimes bits of undigested food/treats that seem to be left behind the other food moving through her: is it possible they can stay in her system for 10 hours or even 25 before they are vomited up, and can they be the cause of that vomiting?
After she vomits, I try to give her foods easy to digest such as raw and chicken, what else is easy, what should be avoided? Is a tuna meal followed by duck considered a 'dietary indiscretion'?
A very loose stool resembling diarrhea, often in connection with vomiting ~ can this be undigested food?
I usually associate dark stools with eating raw foods, and pasty-pale stools as a possible symptom of imbalance, is this true?
Thanks for all your help ~

 

[Dr. Jeff]

When was your prior dose of Lycopodium Anne? What was the potency/dose (e,g, Lycopodium Q1 10/1, Q-Tip) and did you observe any response to it?

If so, what was the response?

Yes, the food bits could sit in her stomach 10-25 hours. No, they are not the cause.

Her underlying energetic imbalance is the cause. Homeopathy can be the solution.

Yes loose stool can have partially digested food.

Persistent changes in stool color without changes in diet can indeed be early warning signs of internal imbalance.

 

[Dr. Christina]

How is she doing, Anne?
Dr. Christina

 

[AnneH]

Hi Dr. Christina!

Thank you for asking. It has been quite a journey.

In a nutshell, Girly has been improving, but is in another setback over the past couple of days.

I’ve been working with Dr. Jeff, and we’ve been making progress. By keeping notes and paying attention, I saw that most of Girly’s major vomits had undigested food or other indigestibles in them. By changing foods and taking out bits of bone and tough pieces, she vomits much less. In the past few weeks, her vomits either have hair in them, (a clump or loose, but not a ball), or otherwise they are small, clear or mucousy froth, usually in the a.m., and which I believe is a continuation of a long habit of self-induced vomiting (chewing on plastic) when she feels she isn’t getting her food on time.
So I agree with Dr. Jeff that her vomiting is a sign of internal imbalance, but I feel the trigger is often eating things she’s unable to digest, which our other cat, Tip, has no problem digesting, or passing. The type of vomiting we’ve seen recently is fewer in number, smaller in amounts, and doesn’t cause her to sleep for most of the day, and therefore I don’t think it interferes with her gaining/maintaining weight. The last time I dosed her before today, funnily enough the day after I had a session with Dr. Jeff and all seemed well, was partly due to these vomits becoming daily again (actually twice the next day). Lycopodium helped immensely, and we had nearly a week without any vomiting, and had good eating and behavior and BEAM.
The lycopodium also seems to make her a less fussy eater, and less suspicious of me messing with her food and adding things to it. Before homeopathy, I had to hide tiny amounts of raw food in her favorite canned foods, and now she will eat a bowl of raw by itself! After taking lycopodium, Girly very quickly gained a pound (went from 4 lbs to 5), but stayed at that weight for I would guess a month or more. I decided at that time that it would make sense for her Internal Balancer to raise her weight out of the danger zone, and then work on other issues ~ getting her to prefer raw, hopefully improving her ability to digest, giving her more energy and vitality ~ rather than using up energy trying to digest massive amounts of food.

As the Universe would have it, our other cat Tip has been on a diet, having gained a lot of weight after taking prednisolone last summer due to severe anemia from what the vet thought was lymphoma at the time.
Tip recovered but now has a return bout (see the Forum thread, Tip’s balance) of what the vet now believes to be a feline infectious anemia, a flea or tick-borne dose of parasitic bacteria which attach to red blood cells which Tip’s immune system then destroy. It has been difficult for Tip to watch tiny Girly get serving after serving of food while she had to cut back, and may have been the stress which triggered a recurrence of Tip’s symptoms.

The family focus shifting from Girly to Tip recently, and the stress due to Tip’s difficulty breathing, as well as shifting Girly from canned foods to more raw* may be implicated in Girly’s losing weight again over the past few days, and becoming more lethargic, clumsy and fussy with her food, and a lack of interest in eating. I dosed her again this morning, but have not seen much increase in her appetite or her present BEAM yet.

After hearing Dr. Basko on the Empower Hour webinar the other day, I down-loaded his book on feeding cats, and he suggests the following for hyperthyroid cats: Thyrodex by Evergreen, fish oil to lower inflammation and heart stress, Amino B-Plex, and eliminating commercial cat food. He also outlines the dietary guidelines for feeding a hyperthyroid cat, and mentions the Chinese herb Dan Shen, a probiotic “Outta My Box,” by VetClassics, and Coenzyme Q-10.

Are you Drs familiar with these supplements? Particularly Thyrodex? Do you prefer others?

I really want to continue with allowing her body to heal as naturally as possible. I’m grateful for the positive changes I have witnessed in her with Lycopodium and understand that it takes time for homeopathics to balance a major chronic dis-ease. Is Thyrodex in keeping with the principles of homeopathy?

Any other ideas to help Girly gain weight asap?

* I was hoping that [not only correcting the vomiting, but also] incorporating raw meals into Girly’s diet would naturally lower the amount of food she needs to take in to maintain her weight, because of their nutrient density. RAWganics suggests giving the animal 2% of it’s body weight as daily intake, which for poor 12 lb Tippy trying to lose weight amounted to under three ounces/day; the gentleman from Answers on our Empower Hour said that feeding Answers food would reduce the amount your pet needed in a day more than ordinary raw, and yet on the box they suggest a 10 lb cat should get 4-6 oz/day, which doesn’t square with RAWganics and is closer to what the commercial canned foods recommend.
When I give Girly raw, she eats less. She has had more energy and BEAM, but is now losing weight as the percentage of raw goes up. She’s back in the weight danger zone. Today I found her lying down, staring ahead with her tongue hanging out of her mouth, something I’ve never seen before and which really startled me. Two days ago, after Girly climbed up and along the counter to where I was fixing one of her new favorite foods, I told her as usual that she didn’t belong there, and gently nudged her off, but for the first time she landed on her side with a thud rather than on her feet. I think I felt worse than she did

I hope you’ve been well, Dr. Christina,
Thanks for all your help!

Anne

 

[AnneH]

Girly's BEAM:
She has found a new spot to be alone
When I bring food to her in her spot, she may eat a few licks and then climb down (off a chair) and go to a different chair. When I offer the food there, she may eat a few more licks, then climb down and go elsewhere.
Today she was waiting near me while I got her food ready, and when I was done carrying it to where she eats, she did not follow as usual, and did not come when I called her.
She often sits upright looking uncomfortable, sometimes seems confused, listless, sometimes catatonic
Seems sad or depressed
Lost weight, went down to 4 lbs, may be 4 1/2 lbs now

I notice her symptoms but am not always sure of how to interpret them.
There appears to be some pushback from her after she eats substantially more raw food, and she becomes fussy again and I throw out more food.
Dosing her often helps her to be willing to try and to eat better quality foods.
I dosed her today after she refused at least 6 food offerings, 4 of them 18 hours after her last meal yesterday.
She refused all food I offered her until 23 hours later when I finally went back to an earlier food that she liked.

Some of her BEAM symptoms are similar to when she was 4 lbs before taking Lycopodium, but now the quality of her food is generally much better, and she's not vomiting so much.
I am concerned about the weight loss
I am concerned that there may be an underlying heart issue
Do I need to have her tested?
Is Thyrodex a good adjunct to Lycopodium?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[AnneH]

Girly ate just over 2oz of food yesterday, and vomited it at 5 a.m. today.
This is her first vomit without hair in it since 4/21, not counting the small amounts of clear froth or mucous she induces by chewing on plastic.
After dosing her on 1 May, she had only a hair vomit on 17 May, and otherwise only occasional clear froths until today.

Her next dose wasn't until 21 May. During that time her raw food intake rose steadily and she ate her first completely raw meal. She had a fairly good BEAM, with more energy and vitality, and spending more time with family.

I noticed right away when Girly started looking uncomfortable, sullen or depressed. I put it in context. Tip was beginning to show EWS and was needing more attention at mealtime; I was taking a lot of time to prepare Girly's food because the raw has indigestibles that I remove, and I was blending that into ZiwiPeak for variety, and I mash the ZP carefully because there are denser chunks in it and pieces of bone, and as Tip's symptoms worsened, I would sometimes feed Tip first so she wouldn't have to wait when she needed energy ~ Girly wasn't happy about that.

An annoyed cat having to wait when they are hungry looks about the same as a cat who may be in pain or whose weight is dropping to a dangerously low level.

When Girly began refusing food more than once that she enjoyed the day before is why I decided to dose her on the 21st. It took a few days of slow improvement before the small miracle on Sunday when something in her compelled her to eat so much raw beef. That was the improvement I was waiting for with the dose. I could see by then that BEAM symptoms are early warning signs, and perhaps I should have dosed her earlier than I did.

I dosed her right away yesterday when she refused so much food. Maybe I dosed her too soon this time.
Her vomiting ~ just an upset stomach from too much raw beef? She has pooped twice since eating it.
She has just arrived and is purring, so I think I'll go fix her some food and see what happens

 

[Dr. Christina]

First, your report on Friday said:

Lycopodium helped immensely, and we had nearly a week without any vomiting, and had good eating and behavior and BEAM.
The lycopodium also seems to make her a less fussy eater, and less suspicious of me messing with her food and adding things to it.

Excellent to know that all the symptoms, including BEAM are important. Did she also stop eating plastic things?

You mentioned that you are having to decide when to redose the Lycopodium. You may want an appointment with Dr. Jeff to discuss that in more detail. It may be easier for a short time to be giving it on a regular basis than stressing yourself deciding. Or maybe he can give you specifics - If a,b &c, then dose. No major harm is done if you give one dose too early. You are doing a great job of looking at the context, and BEAM, so just hang in there.

I would suggest, if possible, feeding them in two different places since the amount of food, and the psychic energy ("gain weight, Girly" and "lose weight Tip) may confuse both.

Can you prevent plastic chewing by super picking up house?
As she improves, that will cease.

Now, after the vomit then not eat then Lyco and now purring - I would just wait a bit.

About the supplements. Since she is having appetite problems I would stay clear of any supplements, unless you can find one she loves. some cats love Standard Process tablets. Maybe have a brief consult with Dr. Basko and ask if any of his suggestions are ones that cats love and adore. the homeopathic medicine may be all that is needed.

If BEAM improving (even though up and down) and mostly Girly is happy, then you are doing great.

Keep being specific about describing the symptoms.

Dr. Christina

 

[AnneH]

Thank you for getting back to me.

We’ve gotten rid of much of the plastic Girly could get into, but she no longer swallows any, we think she just finds something to chew on to activate her saliva.

Dr. Jeff has given me pointers on how to decide when to dose, and has also made suggestions to others on the Forum that I’ve found useful. I’m learning to be calm, which I find helps Girly, too.

I focus on what is going right and remember that symptoms are her way of telling me what’s happening with her. When I stay positive and upbeat, things flow more smoothly and we make forward progress.

Your suggestion of feeding them in two different places is a good one; we have a small, open house and have tried feeding them at opposite ends of the house, which led to them eating a few bites and then going to check out the other’s food dish, which was hilarious. Both times Girly ate her first bowl of raw chicken and recently raw beef, she ate what was in Tip’s bowl. She likes to make her own decisions and have some fun, too.

Feeding Girly supplements was mostly impossible before homeopathy. When things are flowing, I have no problem putting a small amount into her food. Dr. Basko recommends nutritional yeast in a hyperthyroid cat’s diet, and I tried it out today on some raw chicken, and Girly liked it! Usually, if I add glandular support, I must add it to food with a strong aroma, and I never try for a full dose at one time.

I was interested in the Thyrodex to speed the process of thyroid balancing to alleviate stress on Girly and Tip and everyone. I am convinced that homeopathy can do the job, but I understand that when something has been out of whack for a long time it will take a long time to heal. Thyrodex is only available to patients and licensed practitioners

I have learned a lot from you doctors and I appreciate the plan to empower those who are closest to the animals to make good decisions. What sank in last night was to write down all the symptoms regularly.
I keep my eye on them, but my journal is mostly about what and how much the cats eat and where that ends up. I will be sure to include daily BEAM reports, etc. in future pages.

 

[AnneH]

It is now almost 4 p.m. and Girly has eaten 3 different foods and turned down another, and has eaten less than an ounce.
Yesterday she vomited the 2oz she ate.
Any ideas about how to encourage a cat to eat? or is there a better question, like is it best to let the cat sleep?
or something else?
I am trusting Girly's inner balancer and picturing her well

 

[AnneH]

...Girly, however, only likes the nutritional yeast, and she didn't finish her food this morning, so I may have to wait a few days for her to accept it again. I don't have enough raw that she likes to be able to give her only raw. If I could find more foods/supplements/herbs or spices that were good for her that I could add to her food, it would really help. Any ideas?

Girly Update and Qs:

I am feeding Girly almost entirely raw and fresh food!

When I can’t get her to eat raw, I fall back on a frozen lightly cooked beef patty until she is ready for raw again, usually a day, sometimes two, later.

I still have to be careful to chop things up carefully (I put that frozen patty through a grater) and take bones and other things out. I eased up a bit because she hadn’t vomited in awhile, but on the past two Mondays she vomited again, 4 - 7 hours after eating, with pieces of undigested food in it.

She eats a lot less volume of food than she did ~ it varies, but is about 1/2 what it was in the middle of May.

This past week:
5/26 3.43oz
5/27 4.77oz
5/28 5.53oz
5/29 6.12oz
5/30 4.85oz
5/31 4.76oz
6/1 4.7oz, but vomited 2oz
6/2 4.25oz

I gave Girly a lycopodium dose Q1/10 on 5/25, when she ate only 2.08oz, but threw it up.

Considering the dietary changes she has seen recently, her BEAM is pretty good. She sometimes walks with a certain je ne sais quoi air as if she’s in the know. She is not so demanding as she used to be about food, though if it is too slow coming in the a.m. she will induce a small clear froth vomit to let me know. She sometimes will sit in the window, and on cooler days may seek the company of others. She will get excited over her new favorite foods, now raw chicken livers. When not enthusiastic about the menu, she’ll go without. She still sleeps quite a bit and is a skinny little thing, but she has a distinct life force that allows me to relax knowing that she has only put quality food in.

She weighed in at 5 lbs today

Qs:
Should I be concerned that her totals steadily rose to midweek and now are slowly falling off?

I have been waiting to see a natural drop as the quantity of raw food rose, and maybe this is it.

Another reason could be that t-4 levels are dropping ?

Another could be that she doesn’t like raw food enough yet ~ evidence for this is stacks of her food bowls in the fridge that she either didn’t finish, or refused entirely today but may eat tomorrow.

Should I consider dosing her again asap?

With a cat her size, things can turn around very quickly.

Please advise

Thanks so much!

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Impressive work getting Girly on a fresh food diet, Anne!

I have no experience with Thyrodex but suspect that everything you are doing is helping to activate natural healing mechanisms to help normalize her thyroid.

@Dr. Sue will also know if there are Standard Process whole food supplements to help further.

Yes, the decreasing eating is a sign to re-dose unless her BEAM is improving in any other way.

Please keep us updated on her progress.

 

[AnneH]

Thank you again, Dr. Jeff!

 

[AnneH]

Dosed Girly today. She ate just over 5 oz.
She vomited about half of that about 3 - 5 hours later ~ I can give her Answers beef but not RAWganics until I can find a way to puree everything

 

[Dr. Sue]

Hi Anne,
Sorry for getting in on your post a little late. A Standard Process supplement that I recommend for your kitty is Feline Whole Body Support. It will support digestion, healthy thyroid function and gentle liver detox which are all important to eliminating toxins and providing nutrients for rebuilding and repair. If she handles this one well you could also add Feline Hepatic Support. Dosing to start at is 1/2 tablet daily crushed with food, as a treat, or as a pill.

Warmly,
Dr. Sue