Four year old losing weight (big thread inside)
- Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
I tried to get a refill of the milk thistle... Is this a prescription product? Looks like it is sold as a supplement that you could buy. Also looks like there can be mixed results as to how effective it might be - and there are some cautions in humans.
https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/milk-thistle
https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/milk-thistle
They wrote back. Of course they want to see him for a recheck soon, but they said tbey will refill it if needed. He was put on it twice a day at 0.03 back in August-September. I would have still had it, but of course one day when I was giving it to him, he decided to headbutt the bottle, and down it went all over.
From his medical record back in August: -
From his medical record back in August: -
- Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
I transcribed your image so it's a little easier to read and will be searchable. Glancing over the ingredient list, it seems to me Critical Care by Oxbow has better ingredients (but I haven't tracked down the CC for comparison).RX
Metacam 1.5mg/ml - Give 0.2ml (0.5mg/kg) by mouth once daily as needed for pain and inflammation. This is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication.
Continue as previously prescribed
Emeraid Herbivore - mix with water until a smoothie consistency. Feed up to 20ml 2 to 3 times per day if not eating well. Feed slowly to avoid aspiration. Can also be offered in a bowl.
Milk thistle 333mg/ml - Give 0.03ml (15mg/kg) by mouth every 12 hours. This is a liver support supplement.
Just an update, and it's not a good one. He dropped down to 674, so I took him to The Schwarzman Animal Medical Center in NYC. By then, he had dropped more. He's still eating insanely. She redid his blood because she said if some of his levels were as high as they were, his heart would have stopped. Thankfully they were much normal when they did it, though his liver was still elevated. She sent out a T4 to an exotic vet in Miami (still waiting for results), since the other two blood works (even the exotic vet I originally had gone to) were done for cats and dogs.
His dose of the medication was increased because she said even if it was only five months, he did respond to it, so she was looking at that as a good sign. She said it's rare in guinea pigs (though I keep seeing a lot of them recently coming up with it?) and sadly if he is diagnosed with hyperthyroid, the research is that they never make it past 28 months, and I told her that I've been preparing for this ever since he got sick.
He has a CT scan next week because she wants to know if it's indeed the thyroid being hyper, or if the muscle itself is dying. After that, we're not going to pester him anymore. He's been through a lot, but I wanted to make sure in the end, I did everything I could. Also, I posted this because I know we all learn off of each other.
His dose of the medication was increased because she said even if it was only five months, he did respond to it, so she was looking at that as a good sign. She said it's rare in guinea pigs (though I keep seeing a lot of them recently coming up with it?) and sadly if he is diagnosed with hyperthyroid, the research is that they never make it past 28 months, and I told her that I've been preparing for this ever since he got sick.
He has a CT scan next week because she wants to know if it's indeed the thyroid being hyper, or if the muscle itself is dying. After that, we're not going to pester him anymore. He's been through a lot, but I wanted to make sure in the end, I did everything I could. Also, I posted this because I know we all learn off of each other.
She doesn't want to push for a CT because he's gaining (he was 623 when I took him, he's now 707), and said our main goal is to keep him from losing, but she does want to retest next month. He is, however, a hundred percent hyperthyroid. Finally a vet that was able to get the right test.