Oh Gill,
I’m so sorry to hear this about Misa. As you know, I had two HyperT boys, both Jake and Bailey had it and it was managed with felimazole. I’m really glad to hear about this new way of giving the medication and that Misa is taking it!
I went through hell trying to get pills into my Jake and the transdermal gel just wasn’t effective.
I looked into RI treatment too, I really wanted to go down that route. However, with Jake it wasn’t an option, because when we finally got him stabilised after about 6 weeks, his creatine went through the roof because his kidneys were really bad and the HyperT had been masking it.
It wasn’t an option for Bailey because the Hypert had caused heart problems.
However, they both did well on the meds and lived for years with the condition. But it’s incredibly stressful because over time you need higher and higher doses of meds to keep it at bay, so I really hope the RI treatment is an option for Misa.
As others have said, getting the dosage right is critical. Slow and steady is the way to go with this illness. Bailey was started on too high a dose and it wiped him out.
It’s also vital to keep an eye on Misas kidney function and make sure everything is fine there before doing anything else.
Until T4 gets back into the normal range, there is NO way to tell what’s actually going on with the kidneys. With Jake, his kidney results were always perfectly normal until his T4 came right down, at that point the results for kidney function totally changed and went through the roof. We then had to try and balance the dosage so his T4 was slightly higher than normal to keep his kidneys functioning.
I can’t tell you how important it is that the vet understands HyperT, I was very fortunate to have a very experienced vet, but even he learned a lot from information I picked up from my own research, so it’s great that Gareth is working with you like he is.
Get to understand the numbers from blood test results and keep a note of them and the symptoms. I found that really helpful because I got to the point where I knew before a blood test that T4 was high again.
I take it Misa will be getting regular blood tests? We did fortnightly bloods at first and then 4 weekly when stable. Both T4 and kidney function was checked at every test. Both of mine had T4 that was through the roof at first but it does come down and you’ll start to see improvements after a couple of weeks.
Some of the stuff you’re describing is classic HyperT symptoms. Being more vocal – my God, Bailey howled randomly and wailed at me constantly when he was ill. And the lying in cool spots too. Everything works on a much higher level with the illness so Misa will be overheating.
I’m keeping everything crossed that your lad responds well to meds and is healthy enough to have his RI treatment.
If you’ve any questions, send me a message. I had years of dealing with hypert and was on lots of forums so I’ll help in anyway I can
