Thyroid problem - cat

Gold_Dust_2

50Twuncle wrote: »

I am happy doing this - my wife is not so sure - she thinks that it will affect our relationhip with the overcharging vet! !
ie) they will treat us differently if we buy the drugs on-line rather than through them !!

I was the same until I had to keep forking out hundreds. At that point I thought 'screw it', it's just business to them at the end of the day - they sure don't have a problem charging loads, so I sure didn't have a problem going somewhere cheaper, it's not personal. In fact I felt stupid for having paid them so much for stuff that is very cheap online, as my ignorance and hesitance was costing me serious money. It would be very unprofessional of them to treat you any differently after that (not to mention petty).

I went online at the suggestion of a consultant vet and saved £50 - before I tried to get the prescription fulfilled online I wasn't having any success with the local pharmacies, and did enquire from my vet how much it'd be to get it fulfilled with them - it would have cost me £50 more than it did online. That's too much of a saving for me to be considering the impact on a relationship that is most likely just professional courtesy on the vet's part.

paddypaws101

Firstly.....unless the vet you are dealing with owns the practice, it is not 'money out of his pocket' so, although he would not actually suggest that option, he wont be upset by you buying online either.
Secondly....some vets may offer to price match on some products...However, because of their overheads and their comparatively weak purchasing power compared to the big online retailers, they genuinely cannot match the prices that are offered online.

mrsscattercushion

£90 for a month's supply/ Now that is expensive, at most our vet charged us £36 for a month's supply, on 15mg dose.
Our cat was diagnosed about 4 years ago and remained on tablets for the rest of his days (passing away when he was 20 years old). He was fine on the meds, we ruled out surgery as he was already 16 when diagnosed, plus had epilepsy so we didn't want to risk the operation. He became increasingly sneaky with finding the pills, so had to put it in cheese, corned beef etc as trying to hand medicate him turned him feral!!
It was expensive, in total in those 5 years we probably had vets' bills of £4k +, with the regular check ups, blood tests etc ~ but I'd pay it all again....

50Twuncle

OK update
Our cat has been on VIDALTA for 10 days - to start with, things were looking better - he was eating properly and even started to put a little weight back on
But then 4 days ago, he started to be sick - he couldn't even hold down water - it was coming out as a clear foamy liquid and he wasn't eating a thing
So - we took him back to the vets this morning - the (NOT the same)vet looked up Vidalta in his book and decided to stop the tablets (£90 per month) - on the grounds that his blood reading was only 80 - whereas some cats can be at 200+....
I feel angry about the wasted money but pleased that our cat, maybe not as bad as the previous vet thought....
We hadn't even been warned about any side effects !!
We had stopped giving him the tablets 2 days ago - and assume that they will take a while to clear his system - as he was sick again 10 minutes ago (normal "healthy looking" sick - with food in it)

paddypaws101

paddypaws101 wrote: »

At 11 years old your cat is still relatively young.

Using tablets long term also has draw backs...the ongoing expense of medication and twice yearly blood tests. Also, the the meds can stop working and the cat will soon fade away, or cause serious side effects
The Radio active costs about £1200 I think.....if the cat lives another 6 or 8 years then that will be much cheaper than medication.

The problem with Vidalta is that the doseage is often too high if the cat is just out of normal range as yours is currently. Side effects are also common as I warned in my original post.
Your cat IS still HT though, and will obviously require something to treat that. If this is left untreated he will literally fade away as all his body systems will be on overdrive.

Gold_Dust_2

Blimey, poor thing! Thanks for updating. What else has the vet recommended to help with the vomiting? Is he eating, drinking and peeing properly now since you've stopped the meds?

You should give the vet a call to be sure that they'll take time to clear out of the system, it's not a good idea to just assume these things, especially as it has been two days already. Someone once gave me the tip of raising my cat's food bowl, to minimise the chances of stomach acid affecting the cat's ability to eat - the idea is to get the head above the stomach when they eat as opposed to the usual head to the floor/below the stomach.

Has the vomiting decreased in frequency since you stopped?


I'd be marching back to the vet's office to demand a refund on the rest of the tablets because it's such a waste, and if you need them again you could get them online for a fraction of the price.

50Twuncle

Gold_Dust wrote: »

Blimey, poor thing! Thanks for updating. What else has the vet recommended to help with the vomiting? Is he eating, drinking and peeing properly now since you've stopped the meds?

You should give the vet a call to be sure that they'll take time to clear out of the system, it's not a good idea to just assume these things, especially as it has been two days already. Someone once gave me the tip of raising my cat's food bowl, to minimise the chances of stomach acid affecting the cat's ability to eat - the idea is to get the head above the stomach when they eat as opposed to the usual head to the floor/below the stomach.

Has the vomiting decreased in frequency since you stopped?


I'd be marching back to the vet's office to demand a refund on the rest of the tablets because it's such a waste, and if you need them again you could get them online for a fraction of the price.

Vomiting has now reduced (slightly)
And he is now eating - though in my mind - not drinking enough
We don't know about his waste - he won't go indoors - only outside (he never has)

50Twuncle

We gave up with the original prescribed "VIDALTA"
Our cat appeared to be improving with no drugs
He got worse - so we took him to another vets - who gave us more confidence and prescribed "FELIMAZOLE" for a 7 day trial to see if they have less side effects - so far (3 days in) - no side effects (touch wood) - but if that fails - it will be an operation for our poor putty tat !!

Happibunni

Our boy was diagnosed hyperthyroid 2 years ago. Started originally on carbimazole (Vidalta) which became less effective over time and was swapped onto Felimazole with better effect.
Took a wee bit of fine tuning with Felimazole - 1 a day originally not enough, 2 a day too many, now alternates 1 one day, 2 the next with better effect.
Operation not an option for us - wee man gets stressed when away from home for too long and he is stable at the moment on meds.
Wish you well with your wee man

50Twuncle

Happibunni wrote: »

Our boy was diagnosed hyperthyroid 2 years ago. Started originally on carbimazole (Vidalta) which became less effective over time and was swapped onto Felimazole with better effect.
Took a wee bit of fine tuning with Felimazole - 1 a day originally not enough, 2 a day too many, now alternates 1 one day, 2 the next with better effect.
Operation not an option for us - wee man gets stressed when away from home for too long and he is stable at the moment on meds.
Wish you well with your wee man

Thanks
We almost stopped the FELIMAZOLE yesterday - our baby started vomiting a foamy mixture inc grass - but decided to continue - this morning he is fine
I don't think that yesterday was related to the drugs !
He is on one tablet a day at the moment - 5 days into the trial - no change in his eating or drinking or waking us up at 4am to be let out yet - possible slight reduction in mad running about though !!
Incidentally - our initial prescription of VIDATA cost £90 for 30 tablets - the FELIMAZOLE cost £23 inc a consultation for 7 tablets - so it looks promising !!
Although at the moment - it is very early days
We think that despite the cost - it is worth considering the op - although we too love our clingy baby, and don't want to think of losing him...