Herbal Medications and Other Natural Cures for Hyperthyroidism in Cats

Will Herbal Therapies and Homeopathy Help a Hyperthyroid Cat?

"Hello there, Dr. Mark. I am wondering if you could help my cat, Selene. He is a 10-year-old black male cat with IBD (controlled). I noticed about a month ago that he was eating a lot, losing a little bit of weight, and drinking loads.

Well, he was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism 3 weeks ago. His result was a T4 of 160, and then a few days later, with stage 2 kidney disease. He was put on 2.5 ml of Thyronorm twice a day. This made him extremely lethargic and sick for a few days, so with the agreement of his vet, I reduced this to 1.25 mg twice a day.

He was still very lethargic and not purring and not his usual self. I stopped the treatment last night because he had started to scratch his head an awful lot in the last few days on top of the lethargy, and I thought he was not doing well on this medication. He has an appointment at the vet's this week, and I will tell them what I have done. Do you think it is worth trying a herbal medicine?

I am in despair as to what to do as hyperthyroidism affects the heart, as you know, and he has a grade 2 heart murmur already because of the speeding up of his metabolism. His diet is Royal Canin Sensitive because of his IBD. I did try the renal variety to help his kidney issue, but I think it gave him loose stools. This is something I try to keep on top of with his veterinary food and a small amount of cooked turkey mince. Please can I have your thoughts? Thank you so much."—Karen and Selene

Start With the Diet

The first thing I would do to help Selene is to change his diet. A balanced raw food diet is one of the few alternative hyperthyroid treatments that has been shown to be effective in cats, and the linked article details a diet that you can make up at home that might help him.

The diet I outlined in that article should not bother a cat with IBD,, but I can not guarantee he will not have any problems switching over. I usually recommend that pets be switched over gradually to avoid any GI upsets.

We also used to believe that kidney diets needed to be low-protein. They do not. The moist raw food outlined in that article will be fine for that problem, too.

Be sure to get a water fountain so that he has adequate water intake.

Alternatives to Medication

Your cat is not the only one who has trouble with that medication, so there is plenty of research on alternatives. The side effects are usually vomiting and loss of appetite, but scratches on the face occur in about 2% of cats. (1)

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Unfortunately, there are not many good alternatives. The diet is the best option, but a homeopathic remedy is a possible option. One study reported success in 1 in 4 cats (25%) (2) and in another 8 out of 13 (61%) (3) returned to normal levels. The cats in this study that did well were about Selene´s age. Although I have not had any success with this therapy, you might consider it since he is not doing well with the medication.

These are the only studies I know of showing that this sometimes works, but hundreds of other studies show that homeopathic medicines are not effective. You will need to decide if this is worth trying, but I do suggest you look at other alternatives.

Herbal Medicine

Herbal medicine is worth trying, but I do not want you to think of it as a cure; if he is having problems with the prescription, then look at herbal alternatives.

There is one treatment called Resthyro and another called Hyperthyroid Support Herbal Tincture, which contain bugleweed and lemon balm to control your cat's thyroid hormones. Resythro also contains hawthorn to help with heart function.

According to Dr. Mark Peterson, a veterinarian who specializes in endocrine problems like hyperthyroidism in cats, those ingredients will lower the TSH, but that is not the problem in cats. If he has a tumor causing his hyperthyroidism, the herbal treatment is not going to help, but there have been reports of improved symptoms. (4) He will still have high T4, but the herbal medication may be enough to keep Selene comfortable.

Radioactive Iodine as a Last Resort

If you do try the herbal therapy and it does not help much, you can discuss the radioactive iodine alternative with your vet. It is the only cure besides surgery. Radioactive iodine is not available everywhere, so he or she may need to refer you to your state's veterinary college.

Let us know how things turn out. I hope things get better for him.

Sources

1. Lécuyer M, Prini S, Dunn ME, Doucet MY. Clinical efficacy and safety of transdermal methimazole in the treatment of feline hyperthyroidism. Can Vet J. 2006 Feb;47(2):131-5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1345727/
2. Chapman SF. Homeopathic and integrative treatment for feline hyperthyroidism--four cases (2006-2010). Homeopathy. 2011 Oct;100(4):270-4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21962203/
3. Peter Dobias, DVM, HMC. Homeopathic Treatment of Feline Hyperthyroidism. World Small Animal Veterinary Association World Congress Proceedings, 2006. https://www.vin.com/apputil/content/defaultadv1.aspx?pId=11223&meta=generic&catId=31450&id=3858944&ind=45&objTypeID=17
4. Peterson, Mark. Alternative medical treatments for hyperthyroid cats, Conference: North American Veterinary Conference (NAVC) Conference 2012: Small Animal & Exotics ProceedingsVolume: pp. 852-858. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259293853_Alternative_medical_treatments_for_hyperthyroid_cats

This article is not meant to substitute for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, prescription, or formal and individualized advice from your veterinarian. Animals exhibiting signs and symptoms of distress should be seen by a veterinarian immediately.

© 2024 Mark dos Anjos, DVM