My cat continues to lose weight....

Hi everyone,

Well...I thought everything was going ok. Tonight at the vet I find that Jasmine (14-yr old hyperthyroid and also CRF) has continued to lose weight recently, despite the scale showing that she gained some weight during the past month at each weekly vet visit (for sub-Q fluids). She is now 7.4, and was at one time a 9 lb. cat for most of her life.

My doctor reviewed her charts and feels like we have gone from hyperthyroid to hypothyroid. (But if hypo is the case then she shouldn't be losing any weight at all...actually should be gaining). So, they want me to switch from the transdermal methimazole cream (for hyperthyroidism) to a liquid form of treatment. That way they know that she is getting the right amount. The thinking is that the cream (compounded in a local pharmacy) may have some variations of strength from one syringe to another and so may be resulting in unpredictable and inconsistent dosages. My doc doesn't think that the transdermal treatment is the best way to go.

This thyroid condition is absolutely maddening- it's such a balancing act medicine-wise. Otherwise she is eating really well...(recently was put on K/D prescription diet)..actually she is acting a bit TOO hungry...leading me to believe, despite what the vet is saying, that she is not getting enough methimazole. Because that's how she acted before she was even diagnosed and treated for hyperthyroidism. That would much more go along with her acting hungry, eating alot, but yet still losing weight! That scenario makes much more sense to me.(?)

So, tomorrow night they want me to come back and get the new fluid form of hyperthyroid medicine. Jasmine just had her sub-Q fluids tonight. Too bad I couldn't have gotten what I needed the same evening. They want me to withold her hyperthyroid treatment tonight and tomorrow morning.
I'll keep everyone here posted.

IS it possible that, if Jasmine is hypo at this point, that she could still be losing weight? Or could there be something else going on totally unrelated to either CRF or thyroid problems that are resulting in weight loss??



Thanks for any thoughts or advice,
three4rd

But aren't the sub-Q fluids and the use of prescription diet supposed to help slow the symptoms of CRF? If not I'm putting my cat through alot of stress for no good reason. Tell me more about Coco if you don't mind....how did things progress with CRF? How long did Coco have CRF and was she on fluids? Right now I'm just feeling really stressed out myself over all this.

Hi mews,

I really appreciate the replies. I'm still thinking that the vet is a bit off on this one, but I'll follow her advice. I'm betting that Jasmine actually is not getting enough hyperthyroid med at this point, rather than the other way around. Either way, it'll be good to get her on the correct dose. That will at least rule out the hyperthyroid treatment as being the cause of weight loss. She did indicate that she's a bit puzzled as to what exactly is going on.

Thanks again....