My girl Winnie is 17 now and has been in really good health for quite some time. We noticed some weight loss and an unusual amount of friendless but it wasn't too concerning until the day she started staggering around like a drunken sailor. We immediately took her to our vet where she was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and placed on Methimazole 2.5 mg/2x per day. Her symptoms seemed to improve rather quickly and all was well until we finished the first round of pills and delayed in refilling them. She behaved normally for a couple of weeks and then suddenly, she was walking funny so we got her pills refilled that day. Once again, symptoms disappeared quickly and she seemed better again. This morning my husband noticed she was moving slower than usual and avoiding some jumps she usually makes pretty easily. It occurred to me that I got distracted last night and forgot to pill her before bed. I gave her today's dose about the usual time but her crab walking got worse throughout the day. We called our vet but they had no availability and with tomorrow being Thanksgiving, recommended we visit an emergency vet. After 4.5 hours and hundreds of dollars, we still don't have any idea what's wrong.
The only number they were concerned with tonight was her TH4. Normal range is .8 - 4.7 and hers was 7.8 (after getting both doses of her med today). They determined the TH4 wasn't causing the ataxia so they proceeded to check for clotting issues, and found none. At this point they think it may be something structural in her spine, maybe a cancer, but whatever it is can't be diagnosed without advanced imaging.
My question: Is a TH4 of 7.8 enough to cause ataxia/stumbling/lack of coordination in an elderly cat or should I believe the ER docs that something else is it play? It seems awfully convenient that she's stumbled around twice now when her levels were elevated and that today she is staggering around while her numbers are elevated. We'll obviously be calling our normal vet on Friday and I'm hopeful they will agree to up the dose of Methimazole but I'm really not sure what to think about the cause of these mobility issues. The emergency vet *is* sending our kitty home with some steroids but no real diagnosis.
The only number they were concerned with tonight was her TH4. Normal range is .8 - 4.7 and hers was 7.8 (after getting both doses of her med today). They determined the TH4 wasn't causing the ataxia so they proceeded to check for clotting issues, and found none. At this point they think it may be something structural in her spine, maybe a cancer, but whatever it is can't be diagnosed without advanced imaging.
My question: Is a TH4 of 7.8 enough to cause ataxia/stumbling/lack of coordination in an elderly cat or should I believe the ER docs that something else is it play? It seems awfully convenient that she's stumbled around twice now when her levels were elevated and that today she is staggering around while her numbers are elevated. We'll obviously be calling our normal vet on Friday and I'm hopeful they will agree to up the dose of Methimazole but I'm really not sure what to think about the cause of these mobility issues. The emergency vet *is* sending our kitty home with some steroids but no real diagnosis.