Teddy - Hyperthyroid Cat

[RuthR]

My 13-year old male Maine Coon cat, Teddy, was diagnosed with hyperthyroid on 03/15/2022. At that time, his T4 level
was 7.2. After one month on Felimazole 2.5 mg. twice a day, his T4 only went down to 6.1. After one month on Felimazole 5 mg. twice a day, his T4 went down to 1.1. However, his T4 was up to 2.1 on 11/08/2022; and then 2.9 on 02/14/2023. When I ended his care with a conventional vet and took him for an initial visit with an integrative vet on 03/23/2023, she had his T4 tested again so she knew what she was working with to lower his dose, and his T4 level is now 4.3. So, in only five weeks, it jumped from 2.9 to 4.3.

Is there any difference between Felimazole and Methimazole? Teddy was always taking Felimazole until last month, when I was not able to get it. He has been taking Methimazole from March 15 to the present, so that was nine days before the latest bloodwork was done. Do you think that had anything to do with the big jump in his T4 level? I'll need to order more pills soon, so I want to make sure I order what is best for him. His new vet is going to keep him on 5 mg. twice a day and add Feline Thyroid (I think), then have his blood tested again after 4-6 weeks to check his T4 level.

After the webinar with Maddie King, I have been doing "figure 8's" over his thyroid area to try to use energy medicine to help heal his thyroid.

@Dr. Jeff @Dr. Christina @Dr. Jean Hofve @Dr. Sara

 

[Dr. Christina]

We all are on the journey of health and sometimes it is more challenging than others. Be sure to not let the diagnosis and symptoms change how you are loving being with Teddy.

Who is your integrative vet and does she seem to be looking at the whole picture, not merely using holistic treatments for hyperthyroidism?

Dr. Christina

 

[RuthR]

Hi, Dr. Christina. I am in a much better state of mind now that Dr. Linda Stern of Healing Creatures Animal Hospital in Camp Hill, PA is Teddy's new integrative vet. I was very impressed after his first visit there on March 23. We were there for more than 1 1/2 hours; Dr. Stern had put a towel on the table for Teddy to lie on, and before we left he was enough at ease that he was lying down and ready to go to sleep. The vet tech, who has been practicing for 30 years, gave Teddy a kiss on the head before we left. If I was still going to his conventional vet, I would be very worried because the only thing he would do is increase the dosage of Felimazole.

I do believe Dr. Stern is looking at the whole picture, because she is doing a lot of tests that we are still waiting for the results: AB Gut Biome Test, Fecal GI Parasite PCR fecal test - T991, Vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D) test; Qest BioFreq/BioMerid Comprehensive Test, and iFATS (inflammatory fatty acid) test. She also tested his urine, which came back fine. Dr. Stern said she thinks something is off with Teddy's gut, and she also said his Yin and Yang are working against each other. The instructions on the check-out sheet stated "Pending lab results for further recommendations".

 

[Dr. Christina]

Excellent!
Say hi from me next time you see Dr. Stern. If not swamped, ask about her grizzly encounter last summer.
She and I are both on the Council of Elders of the AHVMA.
Great vet!
Dr. Christina

 

[GinnyW]

Hi, Ruth,

I'm not a cat or hypo-T expert, but I find this impressively complete and thoughtful. I think Teddy's in good hands
We are awaiting our results on the AB panel, and I, too, have been drawing figure eights like crazy for a shoulder or elbow issue here. It's amazing and wonderful that we have access to so much more info and power these days. All our best to the boy!

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Is there any difference between Felimazole and Methimazole?

Nope. They are the same drug.

Hyperthyroidism in Cats—There’s an FDA-Approved Drug to Treat It

Hyperthyroidism results when the thyroid gland over-produces thyroid hormones. Felimazole (methimazole) is the only drug approved to treat the disease in cats.

www.fda.gov

It sounds like his thyroid adenoma (the benign tumor of 99% of cats with hyperthyroidism ).

It sounds like Dr. Stern is a great match for you and Teddy. Between you, Teddy, Dr. Stern and homeopathy with Dr. Tewari, I'm sure that Teddy will do as well as nature intends for as long as possible...

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

The active ingredient methimazole is the same in both forms and their action *should* be identical. However, there may be a difference in inactive ingredients: flavorings, binding agents, etc. That should not affect the drug's performance... but as we know, cats are their own little unique selves, and even small differences could, in theory, change his response.

 

[RuthR]

Thank you, Dr. Christina and Dr. Jeff and Dr. Jean for your answers, and Ginny for your encouragement. Dr. Stern from Healing Creatures called me today with Teddy's test results. I attached the Qest Report below and am hoping you can help me understand it better. It lists a lot of toxins and viruses, and some of them don't make any sense (that he would have them). What does it mean - that he has all of the things listed, or something else?

We are going to start by giving him three things: Omega 3, FMT and SH Thyroid Formula. We also discussed acupuncture but didn't decide on that yet.

If you could help me understand all the information in this report, I would really appreciate it!

 

[Dr. Jeff]

YW Ruth!

Sorry, personally I can't help much with this report. IMHO it really is just a small piece of the bigger context. However, there are some holistic vets who find Qest to be a valuable tool.

Personally, I'd love to see recent trended bloodwork and urinalysis results and have a detailed accounting of Teddy's symptoms prior to evaluating a Qest report.

And @Dr. Christina or @Dr. Jean Hofve may be able to help more.

Most important is, how's Teddy's BEAM?????

 

[RuthR]

I attached all the other test results from Dr. Stern, as well as his most recent complete blood work report.

When we were still taking him to the specialist (before I knew about homeopathy), they thought he had chronic rhinitis because of his respiratory symptoms (sniffly, snotty, sneezy, congested, some days better than others), but they wanted to do a rhinoscopy with biopsies and nasal flush, and that's when I realized I was done with conventional vets and thankfully found Dr. Tewari as a remote homeopathic vet, and now also Dr. Stern as a local integrative vet. With the test results, Dr. Stern thinks it could be allergies and not just rhinitis (or maybe not rhinitis at all). Teddy also appears to be itchy and scratches himself throughout the day.

As far as his BEAM, he is very happy. After his meals, he stretches out on the floor and I lie beside him and pet him, and he just purrs away for quite a while. He doesn't have much energy, though. There was a period of several weeks in December and January where he was steadily gaining energy and playing with his toys, but that didn't last (I can't really figure out a reason why). From October through March, Dr. Tewari had prescribed Silicea 30c; Lycopodium 30c, 200c and 1M; and Merurius Solubilis 30c.

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Thanks for the additional info Ruth! I think that I had already commented on his bloods except for the new iFATS report (based on how abnormal it is, he may really benefit from those omega-3s).

Rhinitis is really just a label for Teddy's allergy symptoms. Every inflammation (like rhinitis with discharging, sneezing, swelling etc.) is fundamentally an immune imbalance aka allergy.

Will Teddy eat whatever you offer him? What's he eating now?

Can you track in your journal which remedy he was on when his energy was increasing?

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Wow, that's a lot of information!

I never heard of QEST, and there wasn't really much I could find about that brand because of Google's strong preference to spell it Quest, which is a massive testing company. Looks like it's a composite of several tests. The first page seems like what the animal is allergic to, or perhaps what he is positive for (like viruses, bacteria, fungi)--but Artemesia is a plant, so that was confusing.

I couldn't find much on that particular brand but a study about what looked like a similar technology, in a double-blind study it failed to differentiate animals with and without allergies, including food and inhalant allergies (atopy). Another fairly recent review from Tufts confirmed what we've known for years, that blood and saliva tests are very unreliable for diagnosing allergies.

The other tests were more helpful. As Dr. Jeff said, increase Omega-3s, and particularly EPA, which is the strongest anti-inflammatory, though DHA is important for cell membrane function. Reducing dietary Omega-6s would also be helpful to balance the ratio. He's fine on vitamin D, and no intestinal parasites were found. The bloodwork was fine. Glucose is often low if the blood sits in the tube for any length of time before being centrifuged; the red blood cells eat it!

Since his T4 is creeping up again, the methimazole needs to be adjusted. I know Dr. Jeff and Dr. Christina have had success managing hyperthyroid cats without methimazole, but I am not much of a homeopath (I know enough to be dangerous), so I tend to be more conservative about changing it.

The microbiome test was interesting. Fusobacteria and bacterioides are primary and important residents of the feline gut, and likely should be supplemented. But the choice of probiotics is important. I'm going to look into this a little more to see what I can see!

 

[RuthR]

Yes, Teddy eats what I give him. His diet is: raw organic chicken hearts and raw organic ground chicken made with TC Feline premix; raw grass-fed ground beef made with TC Feline premix (next week I will be getting a hind quarter of grass fed beef from a local farmer and I will be cutting that into chunks to make his food). He gets one raw chicken neck every day to help clean his teeth. He eats approximately one tablespoon of raw organic pumpkin every day. I was giving him a half teaspoon of raw organic coconut oil every day, but the Qest report said he has a food sensitivity to coconut, so I guess he shouldn't have that. For his treats, he gets three small pieces of cooked organic chicken liver after breakfast and three after supper.

From my journal: On November 12 and 13, he received doses of Lycopodium 30c. On November 30, Kathleen Prasad did a Reiki session for him. On December 2, he started batting around his toys. On December 21, he received a dose of Lycopodium 200c. On January 26, he received a dose of Lycopodium 1M. His energy and playfulness were increasing until around February; since then he has mostly had low energy and isn't often interested in playing.

He will be getting the Sustenance Herbs Feline Thyroid to help control his hyperthyroid. I would love to totally get him off the methimazole, but I'll also be happy if his dose can be lowered.

 

[RuthR]

Update: Last month, Teddy's T4 result was 2.3, so Dr. Stern lowered his Methimazole to 3/4 of a 5 mg. tablet twice a day and 35 drops of Sustenance Herbs Thyroid Support. I started that new dose on July 1. His T4 was just tested again today, and I was very disappointed that it has gone up to 5.0. We decided we will keep him on the 3/4 pill twice a day, but increase the SH Thyroid Support to 45 drops twice a day.

My question is, do you think Ancestral Supplements Grass Fed Beef Thyroid (Grass Fed Beef Thyroid - Ancestral Supplements) would be beneficial in improving his thyroid function without interfering with the Methimazole and SH Thyroid Support?

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

No, it contains thyroid hormone, which the methimazole is trying to reduce. Kind of the opposite effect.

 

[Dr. Christina]

Ruth, you may want to include a homeopathic veterinarian on Teddy's team. They can help virtually.
Dr. Christina

 

[RuthR]

Thank you, Dr. Jean - I'm glad I asked!

Dr. Christina, are you saying to include a homeopathic vet to help improve Teddy's health overall? Dr. Ila Tewari, Teddy's homeopathic vet, said she wasn't sure how to help get Teddy off the Methimazole, but she always emphasized that she focused on Teddy's whole health. A couple of months ago she suggested that I just work with Dr. Stern for now. But, Dr. Stern did say she is fine with me also working with Dr. Tewari, and I have been feeling lately like it might be time to start working with both doctors now.

 

[Dr. Christina]

Yes, I would go back to Dr. Tewari in addition to Dr. Stern. Ask if she would like to consult with another homeopathic vet or feels like she can continue to help Teddy. Perfectly OK to ask that question.

I often consulted during my 40 years of practice, and even would refer to another when I felt I was not getting results.

Dr. Christina

 

[RuthR]

Thank you, Dr. Christina! I really appreciate all your guidance and advice.