Hyperthyroidism

[Jesse's pigs]

Hi guys,

For once I’m doing my best not to panic! I’ve stalked a few older threads regarding hyperthyroidism but wondered if there was any people recently in my boat or those that have success stories?

Older boar, my lovely stitch has been drinking a little more, and losing weight for a duration. He is an old man, some muscle wastage has occurred with being old and his appetite has remained good so I haven’t been overly worried. Today some of his stools look a little softer (not diarrhoea!) and on his chin rub after giving him a treat I can feel a small lump under his chin. I work in vet med and had a previous boar (Steve) who had a lump under his chin come up. Took him to Simon at Cat and Rabbit clinic and he said Steve’s could possibly be hyperthyroidism…but his verbally went by itself.

Stitch matches a lot of the symptoms and otherwise he seems a happy pig with no other health concerns. Therefore I’m eager to try and manage/improve these symptoms to maintain his QOL if I can. I’ve been reading RE the use of the cat thyroid medication Thyronorm and wondered what doses people have used?

I have contacted Simon and awaiting a reply from him also as literature is limited and my own vets are a little dubious about doses for our piggy friends.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi guys,

For once I’m doing my best not to panic! I’ve stalked a few older threads regarding hyperthyroidism but wondered if there was any people recently in my boat or those that have success stories?

Older boar, my lovely stitch has been drinking a little more, and losing weight for a duration. He is an old man, some muscle wastage has occurred with being old and his appetite has remained good so I haven’t been overly worried. Today some of his stools look a little softer (not diarrhoea!) and on his chin rub after giving him a treat I can feel a small lump under his chin. I work in vet med and had a previous boar (Steve) who had a lump under his chin come up. Took him to Simon at Cat and Rabbit clinic and he said Steve’s could possibly be hyperthyroidism…but his verbally went by itself.

Stitch matches a lot of the symptoms and otherwise he seems a happy pig with no other health concerns. Therefore I’m eager to try and manage/improve these symptoms to maintain his QOL if I can. I’ve been reading RE the use of the cat thyroid medication Thyronorm and wondered what doses people have used?

I have contacted Simon and awaiting a reply from him also as literature is limited and my own vets are a little dubious about doses for our piggy friends.

Hyperthyroidism is not as easy to stabilise and control in guinea pigs as many people think and it is still one of the areas from which you can very clearly see the horizon of veterinary abilities but there have been positive steps in the last 10 years.
However, it is still one of these issues where as a vet you think twice before prescribing. This is what Simon is currently doing. The Cat&Rabbit have been treating thyroidal piggies successfully but it has been a learning curve for all vets who have ever tried it. But still it's not something they will do just routine because it can still go easily suddenly wrong after a few weeks.

My Pili Pala 'Butterfly' developed suspected hyperthyroid on top of her other issues she was dealing with in the last year of her life that were a bit out there already so the Cat&Rabbit decided to rather not add that and potentially shorten her life - but since then they will have gained quite a bit more experience with treating it. Pili died in 2018 when there was still a lot less successful experience with stabilising the gland and many piggies on thyroid medication died not all that long after after a sudden downturn. Pili lived a few months more in the end to just short of 6 years. That is how far my personal experience goes. That is the reason why you won't find much literature. Glands and metabolising organs are still somewhat difficult to treat in guinea pigs and research is lagging woefully behind other pet species.

I am keeping my fingers crossed for handsome Stitch!

 

[Merab]

Just want to offer support

 

[Apples]

What a beautiful boy is Stitch!

Late last summer around the time Anna turned 4 years old her weight suddenly dropped very fast, while nothing else seemed wrong with her. At first I thought my scales were broken during the weekly weight check! The vet suggested testing for kidney failure and hyperthyroidism. Anna possibly had slightly elevated levels pointing towards hyperthyroidism (the vet explained that this is all a bit new for guinea pigs still, so it is not completely agreed upon yet what is considered normal and what is not).

We put her on Thiamazole, also a medicine for cats, to see if that would help, first a small dose that could be increased if necessary while I was keeping a close eye on her to make sure it didn't have any adverse effects (which would be expected if the working hypothesis that she suffered from hyperthyroidism was wrong). There is no set dose that a piggy "should have", more of a trial and error so I had to keep a close eye on her and had a few check-up appointments at the vet in the weeks following. We quickly found a dose that was right for her, on which she slowly gained weight over a few months time until she was back to her normal size.

She did develop some strange additional symptoms later on which are possibly related to the hyperthyroidism but we're unsure if they really are AND there's not that much info on safe doses of thyroid meds for guinea pigs, so as long as her quality of life isn't impacted by these I've agreed with the vet to just continue with the medication as we're doing now.

In the end hyperthyroidism is quite easy to manage in my experience once you've found the right dosage of meds. It's just that it's not a very well developed area of guinea pig vet care yet, so it involved my vet getting in touch with other vets and some trial and error. I think you are taking a really good course of action by asking an experienced vet about their opinion and safe dosages!

 

[YvonneBlue]

I know that Simon recently tested one of the TEAS piggies for this and she is now having treatment. I think that she had to be sedated for the blood test, which of course carries its own risks. Tagging @furryfriends (TEAS) as they may have more information.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

I know that Simon recently tested one of the TEAS piggies for this and she is now having treatment. I think that she had to be sedated for the blood test, which of course carries its own risks. Tagging @furryfriends (TEAS) as they may have more information.

Shelly had been losing weight and was drinking a huge amount, so Simon did a T4 blood test, to check her thyroid levels. He was able to get enough blood by over-cutting a nail. If he hadn't been able to get enough, he would have taken from the gingival vein, which is his preferred way of taking blood. Shelly's levels were incredibly elevated, so she is now on Thyronorm. We started at the 1 mg dose, twice per day, but have now increased to 1.5 mg dose, twice per day. The polydipsia (extreme thirst) has already decreased significantly and her weight has slightly increased. We will keep her on this dose for about three weeks and then review. In addition to the weight loss and extreme thirst, Shelly was very hyperactive, with a very fast heartbeat, and there was a slight swelling in the neck. It's very early days, but I am hoping that we can get this under control and although she will need treatment for life, it won't affect her quality of life.