Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Homeopathic treatment shows no benefit for hyperthyroid cats in trial
By Bodey, A L et al.·Published in The Veterinary record·2017·The Hyperthyroid Cat Centre, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Double-blinded randomised placebo-controlled clinical trial of individualised homeopathic treatment of hyperthyroid cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 12-year-old cat with hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid) was part of a study to see if homeopathic treatment could help manage the condition. The cat received either a homeopathic remedy or a placebo for 21 days, but there were no noticeable improvements in thyroid hormone levels, weight, or heart rate between the two groups. Afterward, all cats were treated with a standard medication called methimazole, which successfully lowered thyroid hormone levels and improved weight and heart rate for both groups. This study found that homeopathic treatment did not effectively manage hyperthyroidism in cats.
People also search for: cat hyperthyroidism treatment options · homeopathy for cats · methimazole side effects in cats
Abstract
Feline hyperthyroidism is a common endocrine disorder in older cats for which homeopathic treatment has been advocated. A double-blinded, placebo-controlled randomised trial was performed to look for evidence of efficacy for the use of individualised homeopathy in the treatment of this disease. Using a case definition of a concentration of the thyroid hormone T4 >66 nmol/l, cats were randomised into two treatment arms. Either a placebo or a homeopathic treatment was given to each cat blindly. After 21 days, the T4 levels, weight (Wt) and heart rate (HR) were compared with pretreatment values. There were no statistically significant differences in the changes seen between the two treatment arms following placebo or homeopathic treatment (T4 P=0.96, Wt P=0.16, HR P=0.36) or between the means of each parameter for either treatment arm before and after placebo or homeopathic treatment (all P values >0.13). In a second phase of the study, patients in both treatment arms were given methimazole treatment for 21 days and T4, Wt and HR determined again. Again there were no statistically significant differences between the groups, but there were statistically significant reductions in T4 (P<0.0001) and HR (P=0.02), and a statistically significant increase in Wt (P=0.004) in both groups compared with their pre-methimazole treatment levels. The results of this study failed to provide any evidence of the efficacy of homeopathic treatment of feline hyperthyroidism.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28077754/