This has all been happening over the last 2+ weeks...between the holidays, my store and dealing with the situation I haven't really had a chance to write about it here. Things have calmed down a bit and I wanted to share because it's another example of just how diligent we need to be when it comes to getting our babies good medical treatment.
Some background...I've been going to a practice with 4 vets, but in the last 5 years I always ask for one specific vet as I don't really like the others. There is one I actually hate, he took care of Callie's IBD for a while and I've always felt that if I knew enough to question more and had switched vets sooner that she may have lived a lot longer. So...the vet I liked left the practice a few months ago and I hadn't figured out yet where I wanted to go.
I wake up on the Monday before Xmas to Maggie vomiting like crazy...a small hairball and a little food in one pile and then 3 pretty big pools of liquid. She's on the floor hunched over, heart racing so fast I can see it pounding, panting and drooling. I confined her to a bathroom and after monitoring her for an hour or so and seeing her get a little better...she stopped panting and drooling, but was hiding behind the toilet, hunched over and staring at the wall I decided it was vet time. Since I hadn't picked a new vet, I called the old one knowing they'd get me in right away and while I'm not fond of them, they'd get her past the crisis.
They got me in within an hour and of course I get the jerk that I hate. He examines her and says he thinks it's her thyroid...which wasn't a surprise as I had noticed a few things that made me think something was brewing and had planned to pick a new vet in Jan and get her checked out. Gave her fluids, a shot for nausea and drew blood. Couldn't get urine because her bladder was empty.
I go home and start researching. I remembered laurief posting here about hyper-t and making sure to start the dose of methimazole off low. I dug up her posts and links and started reading. The next morning the vet calls...hyper-t is confirmed (her T4 was off the chart) and her glucose level is high, so a urine test is needed. He says he'll call in the methimizole prescription and I start asking him about dosing. He said the manufacturer of the med recommends 5-10mg twice a day. I mentioned that I had been doing some reading and that it is recommended that the dose be much lower (1.125 mg twice a day, definitely not higher than 2.5 mg twice a day) to avoid side effects and the possibility of pushing the cat into hypothyroid. His response was "there's lots of stuff out on the internet and most of it is wrong"...we went back and forth and finally I decided not to argue any further. The med was going to be a transdermal gel, so I figured I just cut it back myself and go find a new vet.
So I go pick up the prescription...after this conversation about keeping the dose low, the jerk doesn't even keep it on the low side of the manufacturer's recommendation...he ups it to 7.5 mg twice a day...6 times the dose that is recommended by all the authorities on the subject. The guy is completely out of touch and dangerous.
Since Maggie was showing absolutely no signs of diabetes, I decided to hold off on the glucose test until I had her settled on the meds and got through the holidays. I get a lot of info on the vets from my customers...whenever someone comes in saying "my vet recommended this food" or "my vet sent me to you" I always ask who their vet is. So I chose one that I've had multiple customers say good things about and I met her at an event in October and it seemed like we were really on the same pag.
Took Maggie in yesterday for the urine test. The new vet was horrified at the methimazole dose the other vet prescribed. The look on her face when I told her was priceless. Maggie's urine test came back good...the glucose was perfect and her urine is concentrating well, so she doesn't believe that there is underlying kidney disease. Maggie will have another T4 test today and a full blood test in 2 weeks. If all is well, I'm going to consider doing radioactive iodine treatment, which will cure the hyper-t.
So don't be afraid to question. I hate to think what could have happened if I had blindly followed this vet's prescription.
Some background...I've been going to a practice with 4 vets, but in the last 5 years I always ask for one specific vet as I don't really like the others. There is one I actually hate, he took care of Callie's IBD for a while and I've always felt that if I knew enough to question more and had switched vets sooner that she may have lived a lot longer. So...the vet I liked left the practice a few months ago and I hadn't figured out yet where I wanted to go.
I wake up on the Monday before Xmas to Maggie vomiting like crazy...a small hairball and a little food in one pile and then 3 pretty big pools of liquid. She's on the floor hunched over, heart racing so fast I can see it pounding, panting and drooling. I confined her to a bathroom and after monitoring her for an hour or so and seeing her get a little better...she stopped panting and drooling, but was hiding behind the toilet, hunched over and staring at the wall I decided it was vet time. Since I hadn't picked a new vet, I called the old one knowing they'd get me in right away and while I'm not fond of them, they'd get her past the crisis.
They got me in within an hour and of course I get the jerk that I hate. He examines her and says he thinks it's her thyroid...which wasn't a surprise as I had noticed a few things that made me think something was brewing and had planned to pick a new vet in Jan and get her checked out. Gave her fluids, a shot for nausea and drew blood. Couldn't get urine because her bladder was empty.
I go home and start researching. I remembered laurief posting here about hyper-t and making sure to start the dose of methimazole off low. I dug up her posts and links and started reading. The next morning the vet calls...hyper-t is confirmed (her T4 was off the chart) and her glucose level is high, so a urine test is needed. He says he'll call in the methimizole prescription and I start asking him about dosing. He said the manufacturer of the med recommends 5-10mg twice a day. I mentioned that I had been doing some reading and that it is recommended that the dose be much lower (1.125 mg twice a day, definitely not higher than 2.5 mg twice a day) to avoid side effects and the possibility of pushing the cat into hypothyroid. His response was "there's lots of stuff out on the internet and most of it is wrong"...we went back and forth and finally I decided not to argue any further. The med was going to be a transdermal gel, so I figured I just cut it back myself and go find a new vet.
So I go pick up the prescription...after this conversation about keeping the dose low, the jerk doesn't even keep it on the low side of the manufacturer's recommendation...he ups it to 7.5 mg twice a day...6 times the dose that is recommended by all the authorities on the subject. The guy is completely out of touch and dangerous.
Since Maggie was showing absolutely no signs of diabetes, I decided to hold off on the glucose test until I had her settled on the meds and got through the holidays. I get a lot of info on the vets from my customers...whenever someone comes in saying "my vet recommended this food" or "my vet sent me to you" I always ask who their vet is. So I chose one that I've had multiple customers say good things about and I met her at an event in October and it seemed like we were really on the same pag.
Took Maggie in yesterday for the urine test. The new vet was horrified at the methimazole dose the other vet prescribed. The look on her face when I told her was priceless. Maggie's urine test came back good...the glucose was perfect and her urine is concentrating well, so she doesn't believe that there is underlying kidney disease. Maggie will have another T4 test today and a full blood test in 2 weeks. If all is well, I'm going to consider doing radioactive iodine treatment, which will cure the hyper-t.
So don't be afraid to question. I hate to think what could have happened if I had blindly followed this vet's prescription.