Temporary suspension of carbimazole treatment

[stargate4004]

Hi,

I’m new to CatChat, and hope that its members can help me with a conundrum…

Our cat has recently been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and is now taking carbimazole.

When we go on holidays we have a neighbour come in and feed her. This is much less stressful for her (and our bank balance!) than going into kennels. We’re about to go on a short break and although the neighbour is also a cat owner we don’ think it fair to ask her to administer the tablets (the cat can be quite fierce!)

We asked the veterinary nurse whether it would be OK for the cat to go three days without the carbimazole but she was totally uncompromising, basically saying that if the neighbour couldn’t give the tablets then we’d have to either put the cat in kennels (regardless of the stress this would cause her), or cancel our holiday.

Is continuity of carbimazole treatment really that critical? The manufacturer's datasheet says: “…cessation of treatment with carbimazole will result in a rapid (within 48 hours) return to pre-treatment thyroid hormone levels”. But presumably once treatment is resumed the hormone levels will reduce again, with no long-lasting adverse effect?

For what it’s worth, my doctor says that patient leaflets for (human) drugs are drawn up by lawyers to protect the manufacturers’ backsides, and are always grossly over-cautious. And for a human comparison http://www.familydoctor.co.uk/unassigne ... s-thyroid/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; says: “The occasional missed tablet is not the end of the world. Indeed symptoms of hypothyroidism caused by lack of thyroxine are not usually felt for 2 to 3 weeks after stopping the tablets so it would still be possible to enjoy a 7- to 10-day holiday if you’d inadvertently left your medication at home.”

So perhaps the “48 hours” in the manufacturer's datasheet is just an alarmist attempt to protect their profits and their reputation…

Does anyone have experience of temporarily withdrawing their cat from carbimazole, and if so, can you please give me the benefit of your experience?

Many thanks,

Willow.