Do~si~do, Do~si~don't?
Got a bit of a scare last night. Boyfriend reported copious kitty vomiting, & was unsure as to whether the dark matter in the vomit was digested food or blood; we hightailed it over to the vet's.
Fortunately, the vet found nothing; and so she took the blood sample needed for this week's thyroid testing. We agreed the best thing for now is to halve the dosage of medication until we get the blood test results back {which should be some time later today}.
I didn't pill the The Old Man last night; that was a judgement call on my part. The vet was very clear about not wanting to stop the medication completely, and she said it would be okay to give him a half of his usual half~pill that evening. And I agree with not stopping; but if we're halving the dosage because it might be too high, then it stands to reason that he should be allowed a brief reprieve in order to recouperate.
Various informative sites have differing biases re: missing a dose. Sites promoting radiotherapy claim that missing even one dose is asking for trouble, whereas the sites that discuss management vs. cure* say a missed dose is not the end of the world; I'll side with the latter in this one instance.
Heaven forfend it's not the dosage but a sensitivity to the medication itself... I am trusting that the vet will know the difference. Hopefully the test results today will give us a clue.
He was behaving as if he wanted breakfast this morning; I was awoken at 6AM by his sitting on my chest {the Gargoyle Stare routine} which he doesn't do if he's not hungry. And he did eat most of the food in his dish. I'd like to think it was because he was feeling better, but more likely it was due to the reincrease of thyroid.
I was of two minds whether to quarter~pill him this morning; he had vomited on an empty stomach, and he was still averse to the kitty treats, so he's evidently not feeling better yet... but I didn't want to completely contravene the vet's instructions, so, quarter~pill him I did.
Hope he's able to keep his breakfast down...
~ ~ ~
* According to some sources, a cat with renal problems actually benefits from being mildly hyperthyroid ~ look here, near the bottom of the page, for an explanation of how that works.
Note to self: When they contact me to inform me of the test results, I must remember to ask them if they've checked up on his kidney function...
Posted by edgar at November 25, 2003 10:15 AM