Medication with pets : My Levothyroxine dose this... - Thyroid UK

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Medication with pets

Catlover1981 profile image
31 Replies

My Levothyroxine dose this morning fell out of my hand and my cat 10 months old jumped back on my bed. I then saw the 2 tablets and I literally thanked the Lord!

Has anyone else had a near mishap with medication around your pets but I don't think he would have taken it but you never know

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Catlover1981 profile image
Catlover1981
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31 Replies

My cat once ran off with my gold chain hanging from his mouth but never tablets. He did start chewing a pot of chives on the window ledge and they are poisonous to cats 😻

JumpJiving profile image
JumpJiving

Thankfully the bitterness would likely deter a cat from swallowing levothyroxine.

Sparklingsunshine profile image
Sparklingsunshine in reply toJumpJiving

Are your tablets bitter? Mine dont taste of anything much except a slightly sweet aftertaste.

FallingInReverse profile image
FallingInReverse in reply toSparklingsunshine

Me too!

JumpJiving profile image
JumpJiving in reply toSparklingsunshine

They're not the worst tablets that I take, but yes they are slightly bitter and not something that I could imagine a cat contemplating. If wrapped in ham, a dog probably would, but probably not without something disguising it. But then, we have German Shepherds rather than labradors :-)

greygoose profile image
greygoose

I once dropped a T3 pill, and the dog saw it and came rushing up to investigate. After I'd shooed him away, I couldn't find it and assumed he'd swallowed it. In a panic, I gave him a whole litre of milk, which he loved and drank down rapidly.

My next dog, some years later, actually was hypo. So I found out that a 25 mcg pill of T3 wouldn't have had any effect on the first dog because dogs need a hell of a lot more thyroid hormone than we do. He was taking about 400 mcg levo a day!

Ruby1 profile image
Ruby1 in reply togreygoose

I thought you were going to say that after thoroughly enjoying the milk, you found the tablet 😂

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply toRuby1

No, never found the tablet. :)

tallulah100 profile image
tallulah100

My puppy, took my strip of levo when I was in the shower, came out to find it chewed and about 3 or 4 100 mcg gone. I totally freaked out, called the vet who charged me £30 to tell me not to worry, she might be a bit lively for a while but it wouldn't do any harm. And she was fine, I didn't notice any difference in her. But i make sure now they are always well out of reach.

bellk profile image
bellk

I used to have to watch like a hawk when my mother was taking her pills with her wobbly hands as my spaniel waited hopefully at her feet.

in reply tobellk

Dogs will eat anything my Uncles dog ate a whole tub of margarine he left on the counter. The dog was then sick everywhere 🤮

TSH110 profile image
TSH110 in reply to

Mine prefers butter 🤣🤣🤣 it stays down too and she won’t eat just anything she turns her nose up at cooked carrots 🥕 yet most dogs love em

Catlover1981 profile image
Catlover1981 in reply to

OMG. My dog once ate half a packet of the share bag of crisps and I don't have many treats in that I don't smoke or drink but I don't enjoy my crisps lol.

TSH110 profile image
TSH110 in reply tobellk

Omg! Treaties 😱

helvella profile image
helvellaAdministrator

Just looked at a veterinary article and they were dosing a cat with just over 30 micrograms of levothyroxine per kilogram per day.

Which, as with dogs, is much higher than human dosing.

Of course, that doesn't imply we shouldn't be careful - and concerned if anything happened such as eating a tablet. It is just to put into context that, despite being so much smaller, some larger cats could require a dose similar to some humans.

TSH110 profile image
TSH110 in reply tohelvella

Same with cats then, interesting they need so much more - maybe four legs require a lot more power than two! The canithroid pils says if they have an extra tablet in error it soon dissipates away and overdose is not usually a problem as they use it up very rapidly (will not apply to gobbling up the whole packet tho) I have to dose my 7kg dog 125mcg twice daily so 250mcg a day. She got all panting and agitated on 150mcg twice a day in fact she only got it once and I dropped it back down to 125mcg fast. She was ok again by the afternoon dose. I just told the vet what happened and that I’d stopped the increase to be on the safe side bloods were good so that increase was not needed at all.

I didn’t like the look of it I must admit despite the PILS advice but she soon recovered so that bit was true

Tina_Maria profile image
Tina_Maria in reply tohelvella

Dogs and cats have got a much faster metabolism than humans - faster heart beat, they breathe faster and have a higher body temperature, hence the need for more thyroid hormones to keep their metabolism going.

Brightness14 profile image
Brightness14

No I am more careful.

Catlover1981 profile image
Catlover1981 in reply toBrightness14

I am normally I just dropped them yesterday

Brightness14 profile image
Brightness14 in reply toCatlover1981

Everyone makes mistakes including me Happy New Year.

Ruby1 profile image
Ruby1 in reply toCatlover1981

They are fiddly little packets. It's easily done.

Ellie-Louise profile image
Ellie-Louise

I have my Levo in one of those 7 day things, so when I go up to bed I tip that particular days bits out onto my pillow while I open my water bottle.

One of our cats always likes to sleep on the bed and get a cuddle until she disappears halfway through the night. I have to try and stop her curiousity with my pills whilst trying to screw the top off my bottle.

Catlover1981 profile image
Catlover1981 in reply toEllie-Louise

I have them in my 7 day pill container

Astrido profile image
Astrido

🐱 It's hard enough giving pets tablets they are MEANT to take!

TSH110 profile image
TSH110 in reply toAstrido

Mine loves her canithroid tablets - gobbles them up with gusto - so those are easy, good job too have to give them to her twice a day & it’s twice as much dose as I need and she’s a titch of a dog 7 kg they need far more than we do

Catlover1981 profile image
Catlover1981 in reply toAstrido

So true. I wrap my dogs worming and flea tablets in cheese and he takes them good but he wouldn't touch them

TSH110 profile image
TSH110 in reply toCatlover1981

Sausages or chicken does the disguising trick for mine with those but she likes her dog Levothyroxine ones, even asks for them if I’m even slightly late on dosing regimen! Do they know it’s helping or just like the taste? She seems to think they are important and she’s a lot better since taking them

Catlover1981 profile image
Catlover1981 in reply toTSH110

That's good she takes them

TSH110 profile image
TSH110 in reply toCatlover1981

Yes at first she wasn’t very keen and trying to get them in her gob was hellish she won’t let me in her mouth at all but she suddenly decided she was going to cooperate and happily takes them from my palm. Does she know they make her feel better or did she just like the taste of them? Could be a bit of both - who knows, they must have a strong survival instinct to get to where they are now - living in the lap of luxury with minimal effort bar the odd spectacular sprint … in the best case scenario

TSH110 profile image
TSH110

they flavour pet Levothyroxine so they take it readily I imagine human stuff is unattractive to them too bitter and no meaty aroma

Catlover1981 profile image
Catlover1981

I remember my mum back in the 80s pulling our cats mouth open shutting and her massaging his throat and just when we said its gone down he spat the tablet back out!

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