Thoughts on Thyroid Meds for Pigs

[CJPigMom]

Hi All,
So glad to have a forum for this. My older piggy, Oliver (5) was ill last fall with a respiratory infection. As a result, he lost a bit of weight. He used to be a chonk and weigh 1200-1300 grams. He is EATING, DRINKING. POOPING and all the regular guinea pig things, he doesn't seem to be gaining all the weight back. I'm weighing him regularly and although less than he was in his younger years it's staying the same. My VERY good vet has suggested testing him for thyroid issues and possibly starting meds if necessary, saying that you have to "play around a bit" to find the right dose. Has anyone done thyroid meds for their pigs and has it helped? He seems like himself, just thinner. That seems like a lot to put an otherwise happy five-year-old pig though. I know he can have other test done, so please don't tell me I'm a "bad owner" or other judgements. I'm asking specifically about thyroid. Thank you!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

None of us would ever tell you you’re a bad owner. We are a supportive forum and offer help, not judgement.

How much weight did he lose while unwell?

It is actually very normal for an older piggy to never regain the weight they lost when unwell. They almost never go back to the weight they used to be when younger, particularly if they lost a lot, and instead just maintain at a new lower level. It does not necessarily mean thyroid issues are present, and the fact he is now maintaining his new weight is encouraging.

Equally it is also normal for older piggies to lose some mass anyway even if they are not unwell - one of my boys was 1550g all his life but went down to around 1150-1200 from around 5 years old and passed away weighing around 1100 at almost 7 years old and that was all without him ever being unwell).

Of course if your vet has suggested a check then it is good to do so.
If he does have thyroid issues, then yes it is a case that meds have to be adjusted to get the dosage right. Thyroid issues don’t come up often but you may find threads on the subject if you use the search facility on the forum

The first guide I have linked in below explains a bit more about weight in elderly piggies.
The second guide is our general weight management guide

I hope that helps

Journey through a Lifetime: The Ages of Guinea Pigs
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support Levels

 

[Merab]

Welcome to the forum.
Sorry that your piggy isn’t well.
Offering you support

 

[Freela]

I have had a hyperthyroid pig in the past, my girl Tomie. She was on methimazole a couple of years ago. I'd be happy to answer any questions about what I learned from my experiences with her.

That said, I would get the blood work done first before panicking. It's really not uncommon for older pigs to have a hard time putting weight back on after an illness. So it's very possible his thyroid bloodwork will come back fine. It's also normal for older pigs to thin out some because they lose muscle mass with age- I usually see this around age 5. So he could very well just be experiencing normal aging.

In Tomie's case, at about 2.5 years she started continually losing weight despite eating well and behaving normally, coupled with SO MUCH DRINKING. We actually thought she could have had diabetes because of her severe polydipsia. She drank so much that we were refilling the water bottle sometimes twice a day and we had to switch beddings because our fleece could not keep up with how much she peed. She had blood work and although her blood sugar was fine, her thyroid levels should have been around 5 and instead they were 12. So she clearly had something very much not right with her thyroid. We still don't know why... she didn't have a palpable mass that the vet could feel, but apparently that doesn't mean that there wasn't a tumor of some kind involved. Or there are also benign causes of hyperthyroidism too. We'll never know for sure. Anyways, she started on methimazole (the brand name was Tapazole) twice daily 12 hours apart and we started playing around with the dose for several months. We did eventually get to a dose where she was maintaining and even gaining some weight, which was good. Unfortunately when she was about 3.5 years she developed laboured breathing. She was treated for a respiratory infection and appeared to be recovery well when she suddenly collapsed and passed away. It's impossible to say if it was connected at all to her thyroid- our vet said it was possible that her heart was weaker than it should have been because her heart rate was elevated for such a long time because of her hyperthyroidism... it's also possible that she DID have a tumor causing her issues and that it eventually metastasized to her lungs, causing her respiratory distress in the first place. We didn't want to do a post-mortem so we'll never know for sure. That said, we were able to manage her condition with meds and bought her six or seven months of feeling good and living her best life, and if I ever had another hyperthyroid pig I wouldn't hesitate to try the same regimen again.

I hope this helps a bit and definitely feel free to ask me any other questions you might have! I'm always happy if Tomie's experience can help other pigs with similar issues, but I also think that it's very possible your pig will never even get this diagnosis and need to worry about this and I hope that's the case for you!

 

[Jesse's pigs]

I have had a hyperthyroid pig in the past, my girl Tomie. She was on methimazole a couple of years ago. I'd be happy to answer any questions about what I learned from my experiences with her.

That said, I would get the blood work done first before panicking. It's really not uncommon for older pigs to have a hard time putting weight back on after an illness. So it's very possible his thyroid bloodwork will come back fine. It's also normal for older pigs to thin out some because they lose muscle mass with age- I usually see this around age 5. So he could very well just be experiencing normal aging.

In Tomie's case, at about 2.5 years she started continually losing weight despite eating well and behaving normally, coupled with SO MUCH DRINKING. We actually thought she could have had diabetes because of her severe polydipsia. She drank so much that we were refilling the water bottle sometimes twice a day and we had to switch beddings because our fleece could not keep up with how much she peed. She had blood work and although her blood sugar was fine, her thyroid levels should have been around 5 and instead they were 12. So she clearly had something very much not right with her thyroid. We still don't know why... she didn't have a palpable mass that the vet could feel, but apparently that doesn't mean that there wasn't a tumor of some kind involved. Or there are also benign causes of hyperthyroidism too. We'll never know for sure. Anyways, she started on methimazole (the brand name was Tapazole) twice daily 12 hours apart and we started playing around with the dose for several months. We did eventually get to a dose where she was maintaining and even gaining some weight, which was good. Unfortunately when she was about 3.5 years she developed laboured breathing. She was treated for a respiratory infection and appeared to be recovery well when she suddenly collapsed and passed away. It's impossible to say if it was connected at all to her thyroid- our vet said it was possible that her heart was weaker than it should have been because her heart rate was elevated for such a long time because of her hyperthyroidism... it's also possible that she DID have a tumor causing her issues and that it eventually metastasized to her lungs, causing her respiratory distress in the first place. We didn't want to do a post-mortem so we'll never know for sure. That said, we were able to manage her condition with meds and bought her six or seven months of feeling good and living her best life, and if I ever had another hyperthyroid pig I wouldn't hesitate to try the same regimen again.

I hope this helps a bit and definitely feel free to ask me any other questions you might have! I'm always happy if Tomie's experience can help other pigs with similar issues, but I also think that it's very possible your pig will never even get this diagnosis and need to worry about this and I hope that's the case for you!

Hey lovely can I jump in and ask how dosing worked for you?

As in how much did she weigh and what was little one on? There isn’t much literature surrounding the dosing rate and my boy is potentially going to trial this medication to see if eases his symptoms…amongst which is drinking more. They suspect hyperthyroidism but blood testing is virtually impossible. I just wanna check they don’t overdose of give ridiculously low. I work in veterinary and my own vets aren’t very piggy savvy so am in contact with the piggy guru as I call him Simon at the Cat and rabbit clinic but awaiting reply and anxious

 

[Freela]

Hey lovely can I jump in and ask how dosing worked for you?

As in how much did she weigh and what was little one on? There isn’t much literature surrounding the dosing rate and my boy is potentially going to trial this medication to see if eases his symptoms…amongst which is drinking more. They suspect hyperthyroidism but blood testing is virtually impossible. I just wanna check they don’t overdose of give ridiculously low. I work in veterinary and my own vets aren’t very piggy savvy so am in contact with the piggy guru as I call him Simon at the Cat and rabbit clinic but awaiting reply and anxious

Hmmm... it's been a couple years and I don't have the old bottles or anything around anymore. I know we started low and titrated up. I believe we finally ended up on 0.4 twice a day, but I don't remember how the syringe was calibrated anymore. I do know we started low and titrated up based on results. I believe it's safer to start low as rapidly switching over to hyperthyroid is extremely dangerous in its own right. Sorry I couldn't help more, I hope that Simon has some answers! We did do the blood work because the degree of thyroid dysfunction can vary too... our vet told us that a normal value maxed out at 7 and Tomie was a 12 when first assessed so her thyroid was clearly not working properly. We didnt do followup bloodwork to check her levels because getting the blood was so stressful for her so we really just monitored her weight to try to stabilize it.