Hi all,
T'ai is my 16.5 year old (ex) Tom cat. At 16.5, he is quite vital. He is an indoor/outdoor cat now that we've moved to the "country" and he is extremely territorial. He loves walking his domain and marking and spraying the heck out of it. He's gotten into a few scrapes with the neighborhood cats but has only had one injury/abscess - which his body healed. His blood work was so good that we recently decided to put him under for dental surgery (his teeth were always terrible) and he now has only 2 canines and a few back teeth remaining.
He has had a series of health issues and injuries for the past year and a half (ever since my dog, Sierra, died) He is definitely hyper-thyroid and has been on and off methimazole for almost a year. T
I heard from a vet tech that going off methimazole cold turkey is really, really bad but I actually had to do it one other time (Last November. He was off it from Nov - Feb) By Feb, he'd lost an enormous amount of weight and was very sick. We went back on the methimazole and his thyroid levels were normal in April. However, now the issue is money. I have to wait until payday to order the new meds.
In the meantime, I have a homeopathic thyroid support medicine that I am giving him but I want to know from anyone who has treated their cat holistically for hyper-thyroidism. I am still debating doing the surgery - cost and keeping him in a cage for a week due to radiation vs. cost of a lifetime of meds.
Also, the past few days, his ears seem to be bothering him. I looked at them today and they were both kind of dirty with a dark, waxy substance. I did not smell it. I cleaned it out with diluted ACV (the same thing I do with my dogs) but I know nothing about ear mites etc in cats. Would that make him feel bad other than the ears?
I truly prefer alternative, home care for me and my pets but I also go to the vet regularly when I feel I am out of my comfort zone. The first abscess we went to the vet. Now that I know all about them, I feel like I can handle it at home.
Does anyone else try to treat their elderly cats with holistic medicine or home care? Does anyone have experience going off methimazole for 2 weeks? There is a small chance I could ask my vet for a small dose but I still owe them a balance for the dental surgery.
FYI - in another thread, I will post about my experience losing my job due to health issues. I used to have credit cards to run up vet bills. Now, I do not and it makes owning pets, especially an elderly pet, very difficult. Though I would never, ever do this, I am starting to see why people surrender their pets to the shelter when they get old and sick. It seems cruel (and is cruel) but there are no programs that I know of to help pet owners. When I applied for aid, I was asked if I have children ( I do not) but pets do not count
Anyway, thanks for reading and responding
PeacE, Maria B
T'ai is my 16.5 year old (ex) Tom cat. At 16.5, he is quite vital. He is an indoor/outdoor cat now that we've moved to the "country" and he is extremely territorial. He loves walking his domain and marking and spraying the heck out of it. He's gotten into a few scrapes with the neighborhood cats but has only had one injury/abscess - which his body healed. His blood work was so good that we recently decided to put him under for dental surgery (his teeth were always terrible) and he now has only 2 canines and a few back teeth remaining.
He has had a series of health issues and injuries for the past year and a half (ever since my dog, Sierra, died) He is definitely hyper-thyroid and has been on and off methimazole for almost a year. T
I heard from a vet tech that going off methimazole cold turkey is really, really bad but I actually had to do it one other time (Last November. He was off it from Nov - Feb) By Feb, he'd lost an enormous amount of weight and was very sick. We went back on the methimazole and his thyroid levels were normal in April. However, now the issue is money. I have to wait until payday to order the new meds.
In the meantime, I have a homeopathic thyroid support medicine that I am giving him but I want to know from anyone who has treated their cat holistically for hyper-thyroidism. I am still debating doing the surgery - cost and keeping him in a cage for a week due to radiation vs. cost of a lifetime of meds.
Also, the past few days, his ears seem to be bothering him. I looked at them today and they were both kind of dirty with a dark, waxy substance. I did not smell it. I cleaned it out with diluted ACV (the same thing I do with my dogs) but I know nothing about ear mites etc in cats. Would that make him feel bad other than the ears?
I truly prefer alternative, home care for me and my pets but I also go to the vet regularly when I feel I am out of my comfort zone. The first abscess we went to the vet. Now that I know all about them, I feel like I can handle it at home.
Does anyone else try to treat their elderly cats with holistic medicine or home care? Does anyone have experience going off methimazole for 2 weeks? There is a small chance I could ask my vet for a small dose but I still owe them a balance for the dental surgery.
FYI - in another thread, I will post about my experience losing my job due to health issues. I used to have credit cards to run up vet bills. Now, I do not and it makes owning pets, especially an elderly pet, very difficult. Though I would never, ever do this, I am starting to see why people surrender their pets to the shelter when they get old and sick. It seems cruel (and is cruel) but there are no programs that I know of to help pet owners. When I applied for aid, I was asked if I have children ( I do not) but pets do not count
Anyway, thanks for reading and responding
PeacE, Maria B