Can you help me with my 14 year old pookie?

Question

My 14 year old baby girl has been to the vet twice now and was prescribed Tapazole. The first dose was 1 mL twice daily in liquid. That was hard to get in her and she got diarrhea and was vomiting so much. The second visit I switched to the creme (0.5 mL-once a day) to rub in her ear. She is still vomiting at least twice a day, sometimes 3 times. I think it may be the medication. I heard that you can give cats Pepcid to help calm their tummy. How much would you give? She is so skinny. I plan to take her to the vet once more. Since she is 14, I can't invest thousands of dollars for iodine treatment or surgery because I have other expenses (i.e, new roofing etc.). Hope someone can help me.

Answer 1

Of course this is an issue on which you must work with your vet to find a solution for Pookie.

There are two Yahoo groups that deal with feline hyperthyroidism - one is feline-hypterT and another is hyperToptions. Go to: http://www.yahoogroups.com and search for a thyroid group. You will find a large number of people who are dealing with this issue and they will provide a good place to air your question and find out how many others have dealt with the issue of adverse reaction to the medication.

I recently had radio-iodine treatment for my cat Kinsey. It cost $1400. You have already spent money on the testing and medication. Sometimes the radiation treatment turns out to be the most economical route long term.

Answer 2

Vomiting is a common side effect from Tapazole. This usually happens in the first 3 months. If she seems bright and alert and is eating well and holding down the food and water, you may just have to wait for her system to adjust to the medication. Your vet can definitely prescribe anti vomiting medications for her to help settle down her stomach. The vet should also be monitoring her CBC, T4, and kidney values every 2-3 weeks until she is stable.