Continuing Education lecture
East End Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center
Riverhead, NY, April 3, 2012
Call (631) 369-4513 or email DrVatash@pet-ER.com for more information.
* Hyperadrenocorticism: From Confusion to Clarity
2012 ACVIM Forum
New Orleans, Louisiana, May 30 - June 2, 2012
* The Problem Diabetic: Acromegaly, Cushing’s, and Other Causes of Insulin Resistance
I have a 7-year old female spayed Siamese cat that has been on Hill's y/d food for the past 2 months. The cat's thyroid levels have not come down (still > 15 μg/dl) and she is miserable on the food. She acts like she's starving (possibly from the uncontrolled thyroid) and is trying to steal food from the owner.
I am discontinuing the food but was wondering if I need to wait a certain amount of time before starting her back on methimazole?
My response:
I've heard the same story from many cat owners and veterinarians. The y/d just doesn't appear to look and taste very appetizing to many cats (the food certainly looks pretty gross to me, but I must admit — I haven't tasted it!).
If the cat's serum T4 value is still high now, I'd switch the cat to a good diet (higher in protein, lower in carbs) that she wants to eat and start methimazole now.
* A 7-year old Siamese could live a very long time, possibly another 15 years! I'd talk to the owners about the following facts when you discuss how to treat the cat's hyperthyroidism (1-5):
* This cat, like all hyperthyroid cats, has a thyroid tumor
* The thyroid tumor and hyperthyroidism will never go into spontaneous remission
* The thyroid tumor will continue to grow larger with time
* In some cats treated long term medically, the benign tumor will transform into a malignant thyroid carcinoma. In my studies, the incidence of thyroid carcinoma is above 20% in cats treated medically for longer than 4 years (6).
The bottom line:
If this was my own cat, I'd either do surgery or radioiodine to cure the cat's hyperthyroidism rather than trying to manage it with an iodine deficient diet (Hill's y/d) or methimazole for the rest of her life (1-5,7,8). She is already suffering from a severe case of hyperthyroidism, which will only worsen with time.
In the long run, a definitive treatment would be the wisest (and most cost effective) means of treating this relatively young cat.
Obesity Epidemic Worsening U.S. Pets A recent survey by the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP) found that 53% of dogs and 55% of cats in the U.S. are overweight or obese.
Q & A: Pancreatic Cyst in a Cat with Diabetes Mellitus My patient is a 10-year old male neutered DSH that was treated for several years for diabetes mellitus. He went in to remission and was doing well until this summer.
Paper Review: High Amounts of Chemical BPA Being Absorbed from Canned Food Is it safe to eat canned foods? That’s a question worth asking after a recent study in human volunteers found a huge spike in urinary levels of the chemical bisphenol A – commonly known as BPA – in a group of volunteers who ate canned vegetable soup for several days.
Q & A: Hypothyroidism in a 17-year-old Chihuahua My patient is an older 17-year old male Chihuahua. His weight is normal at 6.8 pounds. He is having episodes of pain at time of defecation and appears painful in his back.
The Cooking of Commercial Pet Food ...the longer I practice and care for dogs and cats with a variety of hormonal problems (from diabetes to thyroid disease to Cushing's syndrome), the more I realize the vital roles proper nutrition and diet make in the overall success of the patient's treatment.
The Animal Endocrine Clinic is the only clinic of its kind in the country that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of cats and dogs with endocrine disorders. Dr. Peterson has set up two NY clinics (Manhattan and Bedford Hills) to service clients from New York City, Long Island, Westchester County, New Jersey and Connecticut.
This Clinic is separated into three divisions: the Endocrine Clinic, dedicated to diagnosing and treating dogs and cats with endocrine disorders; the Hypurrcat treatment center designed for treating hyperthyroid cats with radioactive iodine (I-131); and Nuclear Imaging for Animals, a state-of-the-art medical imaging facility where we use radioactive tracers to perform nuclear scanning (scintigraphy) for diagnosing of thyroid, bone, liver, and kidney diseases in dogs and cats.
The Animal Endocrine Clinic is a referral-only hospital, and does not offer prophylactic or routine care. We can be reached by phone at (212) 362-2650 or (914) 864-1631; by email at info@animalendocrine.com or on the web at www.animalendocrine.com.
