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Expert: - 2/6/2012


Question
Good morning
My 10 year old cat has developed hyperthyroidism.  After 2 and a half weeks  she has started. one or two bouts of  vomiting.  between  3 and 4 am  only bringing up foamy spit, not food.  She eats at 5 am and 5 pm and i put 2.5 mg in each feeding.  I tried no med one evening still had issue. Started some hair ball med yesterday to see if thats the problem?  
My vet said just stop and we will try ear  absorption ,but i have been researching and I see so many opinions , some say stop then start smaller doses, and I dont see this as a severe enough reaction to just give up on it.. Everything else is normal, with my Annamae. Also read about new canned food . I do not want to do surgery , and radioactive treatment too costly. Thank you for any advice.   Gina Piche

Answer
Vomiting is the most common side effect of this medication. Even one night without it won't stop the vomiting because it takes more than one night to remove the drug from the bloodstream.

Ear absorption is fairly good and there are usually less side effects from that then there are from the pills.

I doubt if she is having hair-ball issues- so don't complicate things by pushing a bunch of that down her. I don 't know which food you are referring too unless it's the Hills brand food.

I would just go with what your vet is telling you and do the ear gel.

That will probably help a lot to curb the vomiting.  

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Jana Connell RVT, CVT

Expertise

PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING TO ME: I am NOT a vet and do NOT diagnose diseases. That is only for a licensed Veterinarian to do. I will give you suggestions and steer you toward calling your vet for help. You can call the vet's office and talk to the technician there or the vet at times. Don't be afraid to call them! If you have a serious issue with your pet please post it to one of the veterinarians in here- I will tell you the same thing in my answer. IF your pet is injured or in an emergency situation, CALL YOUR VET- Do not wait and post in here. Just call the vet's office and get them in to see the vet right away. Critical treatment time is lost if you seek answers here when you should have your precious pet at the vets!! Don't sit at home waiting for an answer when your pet is critically ill or injured!! I can answer most questions about small animal and wildlife care as well as small animal nutrition. I can also answer questions about all phases of dental care for small animals. I DO NOT answer questions about birds (unless it is wildlife or songbirds) or HAMSTERS/GERBILS/CHINS/GUINEA PIGS/REPTILES/FROGS/RABBITS/PET BIRDS OF ANY KIND so please submit these questions to the appropriate sections. I, as well as other experts in here, do NOT do homework questions- that is for YOU to do! Please respect these rules for all of us. Thanks!

Experience

I have over 35 years experience in the field of veterinary medicine. I specialized in small animals and did wildlife rehab for over 25 years, mostly raptors, squirrels and opossums. I am a Small Animal Nutritional Consultant with 6 certificates from Hills Pet Foods, CNM and Purina. I also specialized in Small Animal Dentistry which is a field I truly love.

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Audubon,World Wildlife Federation, American Society of Veterinary Dental Technicians.

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Licensed with California and Oregon, RVT and CVT. Certified Veterinary Dental Technician Have over 500 logged hours of Continuing Education Credits(that means I keep up to date!).

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Nominated for Expert of the Month for the last 5 years.

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