when my cat's hyperthyroidism gets worse, is it likely pill pockets will work?

My 13 year old kitty was borderline high when last tested, and will probably need medication for this soon. She is an anxious cat, so I don't want to fuss her up too much. Are pill pockets likely to work? I am dubious. Thanks!

If you are using the methimazole medication, there are several forms it comes in, including a GEL that yuo can rub inside your cat's ear, and a fish flavored treat that most cats love.   Before going to such a heavy duty medication, however, you may want to try the natural herbal product called RESTHYRO.  I had very good results with it, no side effects, and all symptoms clearing o my old cat -- his coat came back and got whiny, his diarrhea stopped, his heartbeat slowed to normal and he gained weight.  Google it to learn more and find out where to get it.  Prices vary.  I got mine from the source, in Canada.
 

Hi!

When I first started having to give my cat a pill, I was terrified and stressed! I don't know how big the pills for thyroid are, but if your cat is a nibbler, the pill pockets probably won't work by themselves. They did work for my one boy cat cause he inhales his food, and was so excited to get the pill pockets he didn't even care. It kinda depends on the cat.

I have found that if you need to administer the pill yourself, you need to first, stay calm (cats can tell.) Wrap the pill in a tiny bit of pill pocket to coat it (so they can't smell the pill, or at least not much of it).

Put the cat on your table, safely, of course, a table is best so they can't fall off. Wrap one arm around the cat, and use that hand's fingers to gently lift the neck and pop open their mouth ( gentle pressure at side of their jaw on each side) They will not run forward to escape you, because the instinct is to go backward.Use your opposite hand to pop the pill in the back of their mouth. Gently close their mouth and give their throat a light rub. Keep in mind, you will have to do this fairly fast. I watched a few youtube videos to help learn a good technique. The best thing I did (after many tearful attempts!) was to calm down. 

When kitty is done, give them a treat and a pet on the head or scratch on the ears. This will associate positive things with the pill. I also found, and I know it sounds dumb, but it worked, was to tell my cat what was going on. I'd say, "It's time for your pill! Now I'm going to put you on the table and bla bla." It helped calm things down. She would wait patiently for her treat afterward. It wasn't like she was totally thrilled to get a pill, but she would tolerate it for the treat.

I'm sure others will mention other tecniques, like pill guns. I just found this worked best for me.

Good luck!!

If you are in the US (you don't say where you are) it's possible to get the drug made up into a gel you put on the inside of the cat's ear.  I have no idea how the cost compares with pills.

I used a chewable chicken flavored tablet that my cat gobbled right up twice a day with no problem at all. I actually had to be careful my other cats didn't get to it first. I believe this was the manufacturer:

http://www.wedgewoodpetrx.com/items/methimazole-gourmeds-chewable-tablets.html

It looks like they also make a transdermal gel and a flavored soft treat form as well. It would definitely be worth it to have a discussion with your vet about what form of med would work best for your kitty. 

Muffin takes medicine for thyroid. He only needs a quarter tablet daily, which is a very small piece. It was hard to try to give it to him by hand and impossible in a pill pusher because the pill portion was so small. I use the pill pocket and just lay it on top of his food. He eats it first and thinks it is a treat. My vet discussed the ear get. He said it works to alternate ears, but the worse problem is most people won't keep the cat's ears clean. Then the medicine won't work well. Good luck with your cat.

My cat was diagnosed with "pre-hyperthyroidism" and put on medication too. Thankfully, she was given the ear drops. However, when I took her to a larger animal hospital, I was told that since she is not officially hyper-T, she didn't need the medication anyway. But if you're concerned with giving your cat pills, ask your vet for the gel. It's easy to administer - just rub it in the cat's ear. No fighting to stick a pill down Kitty's throat. I don't know if the gel is more expensive than the pills or not, but it's definitely easier to medicate that way.

When my kitty needed to take pills (NOT for hyperthyroidism), I did use Pill Pockets. I was dubious, but she gobbled it up without a second thought and looked at me, asking for more.
 

Red Top Rescue said:

Before going to such a heavy duty medication, however, you may want to try the natural herbal product called RESTHYRO.

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Heavy duty?? What's heavy duty about thyroid meds??

I don't have the same medical issues that you do but I have experience with the Greenies Pill Pockets. One of my cats has to be administered with the pill shooter. No ifs, ands or buts about it. She thinks the Pill Pockets are medicine (smart little kitty and won't touch them. The other 3 will gladly eat anything I put inside of the Pill Pockets. It's a treat for them. If your medication comes in pill or capsule form, pill pockets are certainly worth a try :nod:

I just thought of something...
I can bet most everyone who gives pill pockets, only gives them when they have a pill in them. So if the kitty tastes the pill, or feeds off your stress, they are never going to associate the pocket with being a treat! :O

I would try giving her some now as a treat, so then if you Do end up needing to give pills with them, she won't even think twice about it! :nod:

Minka said:

Heavy duty?? What's heavy duty about thyroid meds??

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http://www.wedgewoodpetrx.com/learn...onographs/methimazole-for-veterinary-use.html   has some good information on the monitoring suggested when first placing a cat on methimazole.  My vet has always treated this as a medication to be given carefully with the doseage followed closely to be sure it was just right. I wish I could say none of my cats ever developed hyperthryoidism, but a number of them have.

I do recommend, for the cat who just can NOT be pilled (oh miss misty, my warrior princess..in all my years of living with cats, you were the only one I could NOT pill..lol), that having a compounding pharmacy make up the methimazole in a gel you can rub on their ears, worked well.

Ah.. I see. It seems the adverse reactions may be because of the bitter taste of the drug and not because it is necessarily shifty or anything. There is also another drug that has less reactions and works just as well.

I also forgot that we are talking about HYPERthyroid as opposed to HYPOthyroid, so my bad. ^^;

Minka said:

Ah.. I see. It seems the adverse reactions may be because of the bitter taste of the drug and not because it is necessarily shifty or anything. There is also another drug that has less reactions and works just as well.
I also forgot that we are talking about HYPERthyroid as opposed to HYPOthyroid, so my bad. ^^;

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No, truly it is a very powerful drug and it has to be correctly prescribed - the dose is very important.  Too much or too little - both have repercussions.  My vet has always taken a gentle hand in prescribing any change in dose (a couple of my guys were difficult to get onto the correct dose).

Cats vary in their response to it so unfortunatly it's not possible to simply means T4 / free T4 and prescribe a dose.  Vets usually start low, repeat bloods and might go round the loop several times.  I was lucky with Rufus, the initial dose was fine for him.

OrientalSlave said:

Cats vary in their response to it so unfortunatly it's not possible to simply means T4 / free T4 and prescribe a dose.  Vets usually start low, repeat bloods and might go round the loop several times.  I was lucky with Rufus, the initial dose was fine for him.

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Good point!

In my experience, for bitter tasting pills, Pill Pockets did not work.  I would coat the pill in butter, wrap Salmon flavored cream cheese around the pill, and insert the pill in Pill Pocket (with a diferent hand).  And Ritz would lick the butter, eat the cream cheese, eat the Pill Pocket (sometimes) and never eat the pill.

So when I have to give Ritz medicine, I make sure it is a drug a pharmacist can compound into a flavored liquid or pill.  Most recently, Ritz had to take Reglan and Flagy, both were chicken/tuna lavor liquid.  I put it on her (raw) food and Ritz ate it right up.

With our cat, pill pockets worked for a while until she caught on. After that, she'd just eat the pocket and spit out the pill whole.

We were eventually able to get her to take her tapizole in liquid form by mixing it in with a little bit of tuna juice. The liquid version comes in tuna flavour and salmon flavour if I remember correctly (it's been a while - we lost her two years ago).

Also, if you can't get your cat to take her medication for hyperthyroidism, I'd highly recommend considering the radiation treatment. It's definitely an expensive treatment, but in the long run you'll save over the cost of buying methimazole/tapizole. Plus you don't have to pill your cat every day.