My cat is on methimazole. What does his USG mean for health?

That would depend on the hydration status of Woody and the blood values BUN and CREA (that are essentially elevated in kidney failure). If BUN and UREA are normal and USG is 1.018 means that kidneys are working absolutely normally. Hope that makes sense, if not please post another question on the forum or request a consultation with us.

Hello. It is difficult to comment on Beau's kidney function because there is some vital information missing. I would need to see his BUN value, an SDMA analysis, & a urinalysis. SubQ fluids are always a good idea for cats with kidney insufficiency, but without the urinalysis, I cannot say if there is any azotemia ( a term used to describe kidney function abnormalities ). The same goes with the Azodyl, which may help pets with azotemia. With a creatinine of 2.5, & according to the International Renal Interest Society ( IRIS ), Beau's kidney insufficiency is a class 2, or mild, but we really need to see the SDMA to truly classify things. If his T4 is indeed 1.0, I would definitely decrease the methimazole, only you do want to keep the doses the same morning & night. Your vet should recheck the T4 in 2 weeks to see if the Methimazole needs to be decreased further. If the prednisolone is helping the bronchitis, then it is not necessary to stop it. His liver is perfectly fine, & depending on the dose, it too may be titrated down to the very lowest dose to keep him comfortable & control his symptoms. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

A higher fluid diet should result in a lower specific gravity (she should be excreting more water than when on a drier diet). Test strips are poorly accurate for specific gravity and this should be cross-checked with a refractometer to determine the exact value especially if she has any history of urinary issues. Monitoring of the pH would be recommended as a slightly acidic urine is normal (fresh samples are required as it will change over time/storage); acidic urine helps to provide a natural barrier to infection.

Luv Bug is so very fortunate to have you as an owner. I am sure that you are one of the main reasons that she is going strong at 17 years of age. Kudos to you for your consideration and compassion for your pet. In terms of hyperthyroidism in cats, there are only three real treatments on the market today. These are methimazole treatment, thyroidectomy surgery, and radioactive iodine treatment. It is believed in the veterinary community that radioactive iodine is the gold standard treatment today. With the information you have provided, I can offer you a few possibilities for future treatment: 1. Perhaps you can get the math him is all in a tablet form to crush it into a fine powder and then mix it with any palatable substance that she likes and then squirt it in her mouth with a syringe. This, however, may cause some behavior problems because she may not like this either. 2. If you are willing to accept the costs and all of the different parts that go with the radioactive iodine treatment, I say go for it because the success rate for that specific treatment is excellent. Thank you very much for your question and I know you will make the right decision on her behalf. Have a great day.

Steroids interfere with antiduretic hormone which normally is responsible for resorbing water in the kidneys. Thus more water is lost in the urine making it much more dilute. This is likely why you are getting low readings for usg. If you are still concerned you could have your vet run an SDMA check on blood for early signs of kidney problems

Every lab has different reference ranges, so according to the lab that your cats blood was run in, the BUN and CREA are considered to be mildly elevated. However, unless your cat has a low specific gravity (concentrating ability of the kidneys), we have to assume that the BUN and CREA levels are not indicating any kind of kidney failure. In other words, if the kidneys are concentrating normally, and the pet is asymptomatic, then the BUN and CREA levels should simply be rechecked at a later date or another more sensitive test called the SDMA test should be done to clarify what is really going on with your pets kidneys. So based on the information you have provided we cannot say if Frodo has true kidney disease, but if his urine test was negative for bacteria then no infection is present. Ask your vet about Frodo's specific gravity and if that was normal or not. If it was normal, then go forward with the SDMA test to confirm that the kidneys are ok. If you need further help regarding your pet Frodo's case, since this can be a bit complicated to explain on the forum, please feel free to request a private consultation with either myself or another expert here and we will be more than happy to assist you further. I hope that this helps and best wishes with your pet Frodo moving forward! Take care: )

I would not recommend leaving iodine salt out of a diet - while diets that are severely restricted in iodine can help lower T4 levels it is difficult to keep everything else balanced and it sounds like methimazole is working for Beau. While dark meat chicken has less phosphorus than ground beef, I would encourage you to use a board certified nutritionist when formulating a diet, especially for kidney disease. It can be difficult to get everything balanced appropriately. BalanceIT is a good resource: www.balanceit.com