Liver Disease Questions

kskatt

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jul 31, 2015
Messages
558
Purraise
277
Mr is 14 years old, has been hyper-T for about a year and a half. He's always skinny, was lean healthy for all of his years. Weight loss was one of the reasons we discovered his hyper-T. Shoot, I need to get copies of his blood work, I never can remember the numbers. Liver values off, anemic and white cells a little low.  My vet recommended a biopsy, treat symptoms until we have a diagnosis. She did a surgical biopsy and said his liver was grey with little red spots, spots the color his liver should be.

I'm pretty overwhelmed right now; Adonis has a mass in his chest, same day we got Mr's vet check, also took Tweety Bird, early stage renal failure. I'm hoping we can, at least, stabilize her renal failure with diet. Already have one on a special diet, Moon is diabetic. We treated with insulin for a while and got him in remission.

Should I ask any questions on all of them here, or separate threads?


Well, that's a little big. Did the closeup to try to see his eye, his right eye had a cataract for several years, retina detached and we had to remove the eye. My boy has gone through quite a bit this last year.

Well, a few of my babies are going through a lot.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

kskatt

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jul 31, 2015
Messages
558
Purraise
277
https://www.vetinfo.com/side-effects-methimazole.html

http://pets.thenest.com/long-can-cats-tapazole-8439.html

Thank you for the response. I did some looking, it's late so it's just a start. I found two articles that don't even mention the liver, a reference to kidneys, but not the liver. I also put in a request to join a feline hyper-t group. If it's anything like Feline Assisted Feeding, it will be tons of help. You got me looking farther, and if nothing else that is a lot! I will have a discussion with my vet. Thank you.
 

missmimz

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 11, 2015
Messages
2,301
Purraise
365
It appears to be a more rare side effect. Dr. Peterson is a feline specialist in hyper-t and one of the best in the country. His blog is basically my hyper-t bible. My cat had I-131 so I'm less knowledgeable about meds. If you scroll down to the bottom of his blog he answers questions the 4th or 5th one is someone saying the meds caused liver failure in their cat and he suggests stopping the meds to see if the failure reverses. Worth exploring with your vet to see if this is the cause.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

kskatt

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jul 31, 2015
Messages
558
Purraise
277
missmimz,, you must be psychic. Thrombocytopenia is so very rare, we really just didn't connect that with the discoloration of his liver. My vet said that in looking back over the blood work, his platelet count had decreased so gradually it was not noticeable, until now. He is off the methimazole right now to see if the platelet count improves. My vet said we can talk about nutrition and natural supplements. While we where talking my vet looked at me and said that jn vet school they teach that if you hear hoofbeats, to think horses, with me she might need to think zebras. The rare things do seem to seek me out.

Your Dr Peterson is very interesting, I look forward to reading more.

. I've been pretty scattered lately. My girl with early renal failure, well her numbers were good and she really needed a dental. The dental was over, she was doing just fine, then she had a stroke and was dead before I could get there.

Going back and rereading my posts, it does seem I've been talking instead of asking questions. Any and all help is what I need. Perhaps the best move would be to start a new thread, titled Thrombocytopenia, or Treating a hyper-t cat through nutrition- help. The second title would be better. Tomorrow.
 

missmimz

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 11, 2015
Messages
2,301
Purraise
365
 
missmimz,, you must be psychic. Thrombocytopenia is so very rare, we really just didn't connect that with the discoloration of his liver. My vet said that in looking back over the blood work, his platelet count had decreased so gradually it was not noticeable, until now. He is off the methimazole right now to see if the platelet count improves. My vet said we can talk about nutrition and natural supplements. While we where talking my vet looked at me and said that jn vet school they teach that if you hear hoofbeats, to think horses, with me she might need to think zebras. The rare things do seem to seek me out.

Your Dr Peterson is very interesting, I look forward to reading more.

. I've been pretty scattered lately. My girl with early renal failure, well her numbers were good and she really needed a dental. The dental was over, she was doing just fine, then she had a stroke and was dead before I could get there.

Going back and rereading my posts, it does seem I've been talking instead of asking questions. Any and all help is what I need. Perhaps the best move would be to start a new thread, titled Thrombocytopenia, or Treating a hyper-t cat through nutrition- help. The second title would be better. Tomorrow.
Wow. I'm sorry to hear about your other kitty and that it was the meds causing the liver issues. The good news, at least from Dr. Peterson's blog, is that it should reverse being off the meds. Unfortunately, controlling hyper-t with food isn't easy. Y/D doesn't control T4 levels long term very well, and if your cat doesn't like it, that's even worse. Have you considered i-131 once the liver issues stabilize? My cat went through i-131, which is how I found Dr. Peterson's blog, doing research about treatments for hyper-t. 
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

kskatt

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jul 31, 2015
Messages
558
Purraise
277
 
Wow. I'm sorry to hear about your other kitty and that it was the meds causing the liver issues. The good news, at least from Dr. Peterson's blog, is that it should reverse being off the meds. Unfortunately, controlling hyper-t with food isn't easy. Y/D doesn't control T4 levels long term very well, and if your cat doesn't like it, that's even worse. Have you considered i-131 once the liver issues stabilize? My cat went through i-131, which is how I found Dr. Peterson's blog, doing research about treatments for hyper-t. 
We do expect the platelet count to improve without the meds. Not sure I could handle any more bad news.

How old was your cat when you had the i-131 done? My vet has reservations about the i-131 and the surgery. We will discuss all issues when we get confirmation it is the meds. I guess there are risks with everything along with the chance it would simply make the cat hypothyriod..

Can't help but be affected by the fact that every surgery has risks, even a "simple" dental. Knowing that is one thing, having an experience right now brings it too close to home.
 

missmimz

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 11, 2015
Messages
2,301
Purraise
365
 
We do expect the platelet count to improve without the meds. Not sure I could handle any more bad news.

How old was your cat when you had the i-131 done? My vet has reservations about the i-131 and the surgery. We will discuss all issues when we get confirmation it is the meds. I guess there are risks with everything along with the chance it would simply make the cat hypothyriod..

Can't help but be affected by the fact that every surgery has risks, even a "simple" dental. Knowing that is one thing, having an experience right now brings it too close to home.
He was 13, is 14 now. He didn't have any other medical issues nor does he have any kidney issues. i-131 is the cure, and is safe and effective as long as your cat is a good candidate, and you have access to a good facility. No anesthesia required for i-131. The two best facilities are on the east and west coast, (AVMI in Southern California, where I took my cat, or Dr Peterson's facility Hypurrcat in New York).  The downside is that it's expensive, and depending on your state they have to keep your cat for anywhere from 3-7 days, typically, my cat stayed for 4 days. i-131 is better than surgery, as it simply kills the tumor and preserves the good thyroid tissue, whereas surgery simply just removes it, and surgery has a higher risk of reoccurrence (tumor can regrow). However, sometimes surgery is the better option depending on your cats individual needs. 
 
Top