New member need advice on cat with diarrhea

My cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism last year. Now his thyroid is too low. He just went to the Vet last Friday. He developed diarrhea and the vet put him on Flagyl and said to keep giving a probiotic that I have had him on for a while. the probiotic didn't seem to help. About the time he was diagnosed, he started chewing on plastic. the vet did a lot of blood work last week and gave him some iv fluids. After starting the Flagyl his appetite has improved but diarrhea hasn't. He is off his thyroid med till Thursday and then goes back on 1/2 the dose he was taking. He doesn't do #2 in the cat box so i have to watch him and grab him and put him in the box till he does. Has anyone else gone through this? any advice? the vet had mentioned if he didn't improve to put him down. I told him the cat doesn't seem to be suffering and until he does, I refuse to. He didn't do any Xrays . just what he has done is very expensive.

 

I am not sure I can help you as I am not experienced with hyperthyroidism/hypothyroidism but I do think it is certainly premature to be talking about putting your kitty down.
I would be seeking a second opinion if your vet is going to give up so quickly. I can’t believe your vet would be talking like that when he’s hardly tried anything.

What probiotic did you give? S Boulardii is a very good probiotic to give for diarrhoea. Jarrows has a good one. There is a regime to follow with S Boulardii to get the diarrhoea under control
Have you tried plain mashed pumpkin? A teaspoon twice a day to start.
Does your kitty have diabetes? How old is he? And his name? What is his appetite like?

I’m sure there will be others come along who can help. Many are asleep at the moment but I’ll tag a couple .....not sure if they can help or not, but if not they may know someone who can.
@tiffmaxee
@Gill & George
@Christie & Maverick
@Bandit's Mom

 

I am giving him Proviable and did for several weeks with no improvement. he was diagnosed last year with hyperthyroidism. not sure of his actual age, he came up as a stray in 2013 and was an adult. he was so malnourished I thought was a kitten. his name is Lucas. all I have to go on is b/w I did tell them my concern over his suddenly beginning to chew on plastic after he showed symptoms of thyroid issues. I can try the mashed pumpkin in some cat food. I am desperate. he seems to be doing better. his main symptoms are diarrhea and weight loss. he got a steroid shot and some fluids Friday and he perked up after that. I wonder if he has IBS especially after he may have ingested some plastic. I have never had a cat chew plastic and this was so sudden that he started it. i have to take off the loose plastic off of shipping on boxes in fact I put the boxes in another room to be safe. he got under my hide bed and was chewing the plastic that was on the mattress. I removed it and put a zippered cover over the mattress. I am a full-time caretaker now so I sleep in the living room on the hide-a-bed couch. I had to take early retirement to care for my sister and as much as I would love to get x-rays I can barely afford the vet bill just for the exam and the b/w

 

Hi to Lucas. With the mashed pumpkin, you can make it yourself, just pumpkin boiled in water, drained well then mashed. Out in ice cube tray and freeze to use later.
Or you can buy canned pumpkin....just make sure it is the Palin pumpkin with nothing else added.

what are you feeding him?

One of my cats had diarrhoea for many weeks and nothing seemed to help...although the pumpkin did help but it didn’t go away.
I finally changed the food and it went away so I think it was an allergy or intolerance to the food.

I would think about trying the Jarrow S Boulardii

 

he got to where all he wanted was Fancy Feast gravy lovers in chicken, I thought that might be the issue I took him off a few days no difference. He really likes Whiskas in the pouch but boy is it hard to find. I told the vet I had bought some pretty expensive cat food and he wouldn't touch it. He leans toward the gravy for some reason. I really wonder if he has IBS

 

How long has he had the diarrhoea?
Was he ok up until then?
It might be worth trying a novel protein....one he hasn’t had before..... to see if that helps.
Are you feeding him multiple small meals over the day and evening?

 

the diarrhea 1st started when he was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism last year. weird thing is everyone insists a cat with hyper that diarrhea isn't a symptom of that. got better for awhile then came back. especially noticed after he decided to start chewing on plastic . I feed him several times a day. since he went to vet friday , his appetite picked up. his stool is still pretty loose but some consistency in it he has taken 3 days of Flagyl so far.

 

Hang in there, will try and get some help for you.

 

That is not what I have read.
https://www.vettimes.co.uk/app/uplo...ement-of-feline-hyperthyroidism-whats-new.pdf
https://pets.webmd.com/cats/guide/cat-hyperthyroidism#1
I was just trying to see if I can find a more recent publication.
I haven't got personal experience with hyperthyroid disease in cats and we will try and get some help from members experienced with this. I think that Bvit supplementation may help with the GI issues, and from what I have read B12 deficiency is common in hyperthyroid cats. What I am not sure about, is whether that has to be orally or via injection. If the GI issues are related to the hyperthyroidism I'm not sure the probiotics will help.
Just going to tag
@Dyana
Her cat Ginger is hyperthyroid. She may be able to help you with more info.

 

I'm tagging @Sue and Luci whose kitty Luci was recently diagnosed with hyperT and also got the i131 treatment for it.

 

@Mandy & Rex sent me the name of a thyroid group for cats - I'm tagging her to see if she can help you with that information. I have since had Luci treated with I-131 and have not participated in the group so I don't recall the information about it.

Have you tried simple raw meat for your cat? Remove all the pre-processed products to see what may or may not help the diarrhea. Is he digesting the plastic he's finding to chew on? That can't be helping. Try to remove everything plastic from where he can get at it. ForteFlora also seemed to help with Luci's diarrhea, but the biggest help to her digestive system was getting the I-131 therapy. But I'm confused as you said in your first post that your kitty is hyperthyroid and now is hypo thyroid? Is that correct? Did you have the I-131 therapy? How did he get from hyper to hypo? I guess I'm missing something in the condos...?

 

My almost 18-year old civvie, Zen, was recently diagnosed with HyperT. He's actually our fourth HyperT kitty, but he's also our first that has had a hard time adjusting to the medication, so now I am suddenly learning more about HyperT!

He was also having diarrhea and generally upset belly, despite being on a fairly low dose (1.25mg BID), and despite being on a transdermal version of the medication (which is supposed to be easier on them because it bypasses the digestive system). From what I'm learning, if the dose is too high (as it definitely is with your boy, since he went hypO), the rapid change in thyroid levels can cause problems - upset bellies, kidney issues, etc. With the thyroid, it's better to start on a low dose and work up, rather than hit them hard from the beginning. Apparently most vets do start them on too high of a dose - usually 2.5mg BID, and that is just too much for most kitties. The ideal starting dose is 1.25mg BID for most...although for my Zen, even that was too high. He's now ow .625mg BID. His digestive system has settled down now. He goes back for his first recheck this weekend, so we'll see how that dose is working for his thyroid levels. I'm seeing most of his HyperT outward symptoms resolve now.

If your kitty is a good candidate, the I-131 treatment is definitely the "gold standard" for treating HyperT, as it actually cures it for most kitties. But, they do need to be on the meds for a while first, to see if other health issues are being masked by the HyperT.

As I mentioned above, the transdermal version of the meds are generally easier on them because they bypass the digestive system. I've recently learned that these meds come in two forms: gel and lipoderm cream. The lipederm cream is absorbed much more readily than the gel. The compounding pharmacy I use, Hopewell Pharmacy in Hopewell NJ uses the lipoderm cream (pure luck on my part - it's right down the street from me!), and they do ship so it is an option even if you don't live close by.

It sounds like you are somewhat on the right track by stopping the meds for a few days and starting on a lower dose. It is definitely way too early to think about putting him to sleep! There are a couple good Facebook groups for HyperT....I'm generally not a fan of FB groups for these sorts of things, but the HyperT groups do seem to be good.

 

btw, I have a tube of the transdermal if you'd like to try it. Just PM me for details and I'll ship it to you. It's brand new and unopened. I picked it up for Luci and then was told to stop using it prior to the I-131 procedure.

 

My kitty Ginger had hyperthyroid. She got the i131 treatment about 4 years ago. I agree with all of what Amy said above. I followed Hyperthyroid Cats on face book and there's a new one called Hyperthyroid Cats, Kidney Cats, More Cats, and I found them both very useful.
My kitty never had the meds. for hyperthyroid and went straight for the i131, so I do not have first hand experience. I do keep up with the two face book groups, and read all the time about the GI upsets that the meds. cause from too high of a dose.

 

There’s also a good groupsio board for hyper-t. I’ve not dealt with it but know others whose cats had intestinal issues with the pills but did fine with the transdermal.

 

https://groups.io/g/FelineThyroidManagement is the name. I highly recommend this if you are trying to figure out things. It is an email group, unlike this board. You join then email your questions. People will reply by email.

I do wonder how Lucas went hypothyroid from hyperthyroid. Are you giving methimazole? Perhaps you are giving too high of a dose? That could cause diarrhea, I believe. Is it a pill or transdermal?

 

From what was mentioned in the first post, he was on meds when he went hypo...he's taking a few days off and is restarting at half the dose.

 

Thank you, Amy. That is very common for the vet to start the cat on a too high dose. 1.25mg twice a day is recommended. Not 2.5 or 5 mg twice a day.

Had Lucas been tested to see how his levels were recently before you stopped the meds?

 

i didn't see any success with the Proviable but now that he is off the med a few days and on flagyl he is improving. my concern is if he goes off the flagyl. he has been diagnosed about a year. the vet did start him on low dose.

 

He tested him Friday and that is when he found out was too low from the med. he will retest 10 days out by then will have been back on med 5 days. he was on 1ml bid now will be on .5 bid

 

we removed all plastic. he was on too high a dose of med for thyroid. that is how he went hypo. what is I-131? never heard of that.

 

What is i131?

 

what is this again? so many responses I got lost trying to read them all.

 

Here's a general summary about I-131 treatment for hyperthyroidism:

https://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=radioiodine

I have a brand new unopened tube of Methimazole. I am not going to use it.

PM me if you want a photo or specifics please.

 

My sister took that treatment she went from over to under. Lucas is doing better stools getting more solid. I will ask the vet about alternative treatments

 

Just not that the facility doing the I131 treatment may not do preshot BG or any BGs at all or a facility may not even do the treatment on diabetic cats.
"cats with serious non-thyroidal illnesses (heart failure, diabetes, chronic renal failure, etc.) are NOT good candidates for I-131 therapy."
https://vcahospitals.com/phoenix-we...ive-iodine-therapy-for-feline-hyperthyroidism
"Those with clinically significant cardiovascular, renal, gastrointestinal or endocrine disease (eg, diabetes mellitus) may not be good candidates for this approach, especially in the light of the time necessary for isolation after treatment.64"
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1098612X16643252
2016 AAFP Guidelines for the Management of Feline Hyperthyroidism

 

I had to reduce Luci's dose to .5 once a day - because they would not test. It was a token dose and she was eating well...however I did not consider that an ideal situation....but I wanted to get some stability for Luci - the thyroid issues were causing her BG's to be all over the road...not ideal for that...

 

this vet does test. i have to give Lucas it in liquid form it was too hard to get the pill down his throat so it may not be optimum for him getting the med as he should . he has alot of saliva from the liquid.

 

My kitty Ginger, will drool when I give her a liquid med. The past two times, I have had a warmed wet washcloth and have made her sit next to me while I kind of held her head up and stroked her throat with the warmed wet washcloth and that seemed to help her not drool. I'm not sure if it is an answer.

I'm glad the Flagyl is helping with the diarrhea, and that you are going to start again at 1/2 dose for the thyroid meds.

i131 clinics are few and far between, and a lot of people have to travel to get to them. Ginger went to one that was 100 miles away, and I have heard of people traveling 600 miles, and one that drove from Florida to New York to get it done. Some of the i131 clinics are more hands one, and will give your kitty meds, and probably do BG tests. It depends upon the clinic. The one I went to, had a cat come in the same day (as Ginger) with kidney disease, and the owner brought a bag of fluids he needed daily, and individually wrapped meals of raw food. That clinic has had a few 20+ year old cats get the i131.

 

Not sure where you're located but I used this one: https://flvrc.com/services/radiocat/

It's about 10 miles from me.

Best of luck.

 

Eating non food things suddenly is sometimes a sign of anemia. Do you have a copy of his latest bloodwork you could post? Definitely try pumpkin to bulk up the stool. I like to use baby food pumpkin... it's very smoothly pureed, in small containers, and has no other ingredients. I agree with others who suggested using the transdermal methemozole if you are previously giving oral meds. It might not be agreeing with his system.

 

What is the strength of the liquid med you are giving? It should read something like mg/ml.

It takes 3 weeks to see how the medicine is working. 5 days is not enough. I suggest you postpone the test until 3 weeks after you have started the medicine again.