Thyroid gland
It is the most common endocrine disease in cats, and its treatment requires repeated follow-up examinations.
The most common treatment for feline hyperthyroidism is pharmacotherapy with methimazole (thiamazole). However, its use requires regular laboratory monitoring, and the recommended tests include:
Allows assessment of treatment effectiveness and safety, and helps adjust the medication dosage.
Allows for early detection of dangerous hematologic disorders that may occur as potential side effects of treatment (immune-mediated hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, agranulocytosis).
They help to indirectly assess the effectiveness of therapy (liver enzyme activity is elevated in most cats with hyperthyroidism and gradually decreases after treatment begins) and to detect concurrent liver disease or the rare occurrence of drug-induced hepatopathy following methimazole administration.
Allow early detection of renal insufficiency “masked” by hyperthyroidism or monitoring its severity throughout the course of treatment.
It makes it possible to identify iatrogenic hypothyroidism and false euthyroidism in patients with decreased total T4 concentrations.
Adrenal Cortex
This is a commonly diagnosed endocrinopathy in older dogs. Its treatment requires regular laboratory testing.
Trilostane (Vetoryl®, Dechra) is currently the only medication approved for the treatment of hyperadrenocorticism in dogs. Monitoring a patient treated with trilostane involves careful clinical assessment and regular laboratory evaluations, including the following recommended tests:
The test of choice for monitoring trilostane therapy. It allows assessment of the degree of corticosteroid suppression in the adrenal cortex and helps guide adjustments to the medication dosage.
An alternative to the ACTH stimulation test, recommended by other scientific studies.*
Helps assess the degree of suppression of mineralocorticoid activity in the adrenal cortex.
Enable assessment of decreasing alkaline phosphatase activity and improvement of steroid-induced hepatopathy during treatment, as well as detection of concurrent primary liver disease.
Allow detection of renal insufficiency, which frequently accompanies Cushing’s syndrome in older dogs or may develop during iatrogenic adrenal cortex hypofunction.
Help monitor hydration status and detect protein metabolism disorders or inflammatory conditions that may occur concurrently with Cushing’s syndrome.
Enables assessment of the degree of improvement in lipid metabolism during trilostane therapy.
Allows detection of diabetes, which often occurs concurrently with Cushing’s syndrome in older dogs.
* Macfarlane L, Parkin T, Ramsey I. Pre-trilostane and three-hour post-trilostane cortisol to monitor trilostane therapy in dogs.Vet Rec. 2016;179:597.
* Ramsey I, MacFarlane L, Fracassi F, Galac S, Reusch C. The repeatability of various cortisol measurements in clinically stable dogs with hyperadrenocorticism being treated with trilostane. Conference paper. ECVIM Congress 2016.
T4 + complete blood count + ALT, AST, ALP, creatinine, urea, phosphorus
therapeutic profile (methimazole) – basic + TSH
2× cortisol + Na, K
cortisol + Na, K
2× cortisol + Na, K + ALP, ALT, creatinine, urea, phosphorus, total protein, albumin, globulins, cholesterol, glucose
cortisol + Na, K + ALP, ALT, creatinine, urea, phosphorus, total protein, albumin, globulins, cholesterol, glucose
