My cats thyroid medication has stopped working

by APRIL
(TORRANCE,CA)

My 12 year old cat has been taking thyroid medicetion for two years without problems until now. It has stopped working and I dont have the money to take him to the vet. His hunger is out of control yet he is losing weight. He is starving even though I am feeding him as much as 3 cats should eat in a day.His medication is called Methimazole and I give him 5mg twice a day. Should I increase the dosage or can I do something else for him? He only weighs 7 pounds.



Answer by KAte
Hi
Well I can answer this having had the same experience with my old cat. Unfortunately sometimes the thyroid gets to the point where by medication no longer works and as far as i know the only option is to have surgery to remove the thyroid gland. that is what happened to my cat, however in the end we carried the treatment out too late and she had become so thin and lost a lot of muscle that she fell and broke her rear leg which meant we had to have her put down as we couldn't put her through a amputation operation as she was 17 years old.

i sorry to say that your only option is to speak to your vet, he may be able to advise increasing the dosage but do not do this without speaking to them first as it may do more harm than good.

Unfortunately owning a cat is expensive sometimes and there simply is no way round it. Sorry

best wishes Kate

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Thank you Kate
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Kate thank you for getting back to me although it was not the news that I wanted to hear, infact it breaks my heart. When I adopted him from an animal hospital 3 years ago he was recovering from a leg amputation. He also is missing half his teeth. I quess what I am trying to say is that when he is no longer a happy and healthy cat I must do what you did and put him down.A good owner does not let their pet suffer.

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