Experiences with Hyperthyroidism in Cats?

[Louise]

My Becky Cat was just diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. She’ll be starting methimazole and will go to Cornell for radioactive iodine treatment in a couple of months.

I love all four of my cats, but, truth told, Becky is special. She is my heart cat, and her piece of my heart is just a little bit bigger. So, of course, being a worrier, I’m now very nervous and a little scared, even though I know that it’s a pretty common thing for a cat to get.

She’s a very timid cat, and the trip to Cornell has me particularly scared because she’ll have to be away from me for four or five days. I’m the center of her universe and I’m very worried about how she will deal with the separation. But, I’ll deal with that when the time comes. Right now, I could use some stories about your cats that have had similar treatment, hopefully with good endings.

Here’s a picture of my sweet Becky

[GoForAGallop]

It’s not such a big deal, promise.

My Fred cat is 18, been on the methimazole pills for over a year now. He’s on the highest dose my vet feels comfortable with in order to keep it in check, but seems happy and content. He takes his pills twice a day like a good egg. He’s also got some sort of weird neurological thing that popped up in the last 6 months, which he gets prednisone for.

We decided against the idodine treatment. My vet quoted me about $3000, all said and done, and even though that’s a ton of money I would have considered it except that he HATES being at the vet and is a complete homebody, so I figured at 18 years old it was better to keep him as happy as possible.

The most important thing is to make sure that they keep eating, and keep their weight up. My guy has dry available 24/7, and I give him a spoonful of wet food everytime he asks for it. (Which, since I think he’s slightly senile, is about ten times a day. :lol: I just keep a can covered on the counter and pop a spoonful in his dish.) On a good day, which is most days, he’ll go through two regular cans of cat food. On a bad day, it may just be a single tiny can of Fancy Feast. He is picky picky picky so I regularly bring home different brands and varieties for him to try.

Everyone in my household eats grain free, but he is an old man set in his ways and turns his nose up at any of the grain free I’ve ever put in front of him. He likes the junky Friskies and Fancy Feast, and at this point in his life, I’d rather eat than have a battle of wills with him and watch him waste away.

I also make sure he has fresh water in front of him all the time; I rinse and refill his little bowl almost every time he gets the wet food. He’s creaky and old anyway, so I make sure that everything is in easy reach for him; your mileage may vary if your cat is still younger and frisky!

Deep breaths…it’s not a death sentence, and my vet told me that the iodine is basically a cure, so that’s fantastic that it’s an option for your kitty!

[Louise]

Becky is just turned 13 and still a little on the chunky side, even with the weight loss. Her appetite is voracious, and it’s no problem feeding her extra. I have to sneak into the bathroom with another of my cats, whose ability to digest food has decreased due to age, several times a day to give her extra, and Becky can just start coming with us. I can’t leave food out all the time, because yet another of my cats eats himself sick if I do.

My vet quoted me $1,200 to $1,500 for Cornell. I will spend it, gladly, if it cures her.

[littleum]

Tally was diagnosed 2 years ago at 16. She’s also my heart kitty.

She has been on topical ear cream and now liquid. It controls her numbers but doesn’t have her “normal”. For various reasons (not the least of which are somewhat iffy kidney values and her advanced age) we’ve decided to not pursue the radioactive treatment with her.

She eats like a pig and is very vocal, and keeping weight on her is a chore (always has been) but otherwise is fine. If she were younger and her kidney values didn’t make the vets pause, squint and do some mental math we’d have the iodine done.

[pony_baloney]

My late cat died back in 1999 and she was on a pill called Tapazol. What is the advantage of the iodine treatment over just pills? She lived to 19 and didn’t seem to suffer any ill effects from being on the pills for about 4 years.

[Louise]

Tapazole and methimazole are the same thing, with different names. I’m certainly no expert but, from what the vet told me, long term, the drug can lead to heart problems. The iodide treatment is a cure. Since Becky, at 13, is still relatively young, the use of the drug long term could prove to be iffy. But, it is really good to hear of these cases where the problem was under control for so many years.

@pony baloney;6455640

My late cat died back in 1999 and she was on a pill called Tapazol. What is the advantage of the iodine treatment over just pills? She lived to 19 and didn’t seem to suffer any ill effects from being on the pills for about 4 years.

[Peggy]

My cat Loki got the radioactive iodine treatment about 5 years ago. She’s 16 now and her blood work has come back normal ever since. Well worth the ~$800 it cost me back then. One piece of advice I was given wad to get all the preliminary work done at the regular vet. This included a full-body radiograph. The only glitch was that my vet provided the radiograph in the wrong format so it couldn’t be manipulated. Not only do they have to spend the days at the clinic but you have to limit contact once they’re home because of residual radioactivity. And the litter has to be flushed for the same reason. The place I took Loki now offers a cat cam so you can see your cat while they’re away.

[Horsegal984]

Basically tapazol is to control the symptoms while radioactive iodine is curative.

Another new option is the hills yd diet for hyperthyroid cats. I was skeptical at first but it seems to really work well an saves havi to medicate the cat everyday, plus has less side effects than methinazole

[lewin]

We had a kitty who was diagnosed at 13 and was on pills until she passed away at 17. We did not do the radioactive iodine as she had heart and kidney trouble as well. She took the pills like a trooper and we fed her all kinds of food to keep her weight up and she remained an opinionated and active cat until about 3 months prior to her passing.

[Claddagh]

I was just reading something on the vet news site and there was a link to this article about hyperthyroidism in cats. I’ve never had a cat with this problem myself but thought those who have or are experiencing it with their cats might be interested.

http://www.askavetquestion.com/news/2012/something-thats-in-your-house-could-be-causing-your-cats-hyperthyroidism/#more-823

[Canaqua]

I haven’t had a hyperthyroid cat myself, but I found one last summer. She was wandering on a busy road and looked terrible, very thin and a dry coat. I thought she was starving and/or had parasites and took her to my vet…nope, she was healthy, but hyperthyroid. They gave me meds for her while I hunted down the owner. It took two weeks to find the owner and the cat had been missing for several weeks before that, so that’s how long she’d been off her meds.

Turned out she was 19 and had been hyperthroid for 5 years. She was otherwise very healthy and was friendly and full of energy, despite her old age. She was an indoor cat who had escaped, followed someone and gotten lost.

Lesson learned on my part…chip and tag all animals, even indoor cats! I would have found the owner much faster if she’d been chipped and/or tagged and there’s no guarantee that a cat with medical needs will get picked up by someone who will bother to (or can afford to) take it to a vet right away. I’d initially consulted animal control who said that the local shelters were full and wouldn’t be able to adopt out a sick cat (we thought she was sick when I found her), so my choices were 1) keep her or 2) take her to a shelter in NH which would most likely euthanize her when they saw her. I kept her, got her on meds and spent all kinds of time hunting down the owner. Made me worry about my own cat, he only has one eye and is in all the time, but he occasionally tries to escape, so if he were to be permanently lost, I’m not sure he’d find a good home from a shelter. He does have a chip but will not keep a collar and tag on.

[GoForAGallop]

[QUOTE=Claddagh;6456094]
I was just reading something on the vet news site and there was a link to this article about hyperthyroidism in cats. I’ve never had a cat with this problem myself but thought those who have or are experiencing it with their cats might be interested.

http://www.askavetquestion.com/news/2012/something-thats-in-your-house-could-be-causing-your-cats-hyperthyroidism/#more-823[/QUOTE]

Interesting theory, but not sure it holds true for my kitty. I have severe asthma triggered by perfumes and chemical scents, so everything in my house has always (for the entire lifespan of this cat, as I pre-date him :lol:) been as natural as possible. We sought out couches/mattresses/pillows/rugs/clothes that specifically weren’t treated with the flame retardant.

Also, he’s always been a very dirty cat…from the very beginning we’ve had to give him towel baths 'cause he’s lax about cleaning himself. And it doesn’t help that he’s all white. :lol:

I don’t doubt it’s the chemicals though. And like I said, even when this cat was feeling well, he had no interest in the “healthy” foods…just Friskies/etc, which I’m sure are loaded with all sorts of junk, makes me a little sick. But I can only get him to eat grain-free dry, not wet.

[Louise]

First feeding of the meds this morning went very well. Becky ate the tiny bit of food (Wereva) with it mixed in, right down. She then hoovered the rest of the food down, also. Hopefully, that will continue.

This, coincidentally is my first day of switching to Wereva. Becky did love it, but one of my other cats didn’t seem to recognize that it was food because it’s not pate and she wouldn’t even touch it. Sigh, she’s one of my two piggies.

That Hills diet looks interesting, but, with the four cats, I’d have a devil of a time segregating Beck to the extent that she didn’t get a bit of the other food. And, the dust theory is intriguing, but, in my house, I doubt if I have a single bit of furniture that is new enough to have any impregnated flame retardant. I think that my “newest” piece of furniture is about 50 years old. Nothing has even been reapholstered in the last 25 years or so.

[3020HV]

My Caspar kitty, long since gone to his reward, was diagnosed at 11 years old. I, too, fretted about the time he’d have to be at the vet - and apparently, he decided he would rather not. So, on a chilly and damp evening, the day before I was to tote him to the center for the radiation, he disappeared. After checking with the shelters and posting signs, I was sure I’d never see the silly white cat again… then, a week after his disappearance, a call from a young woman came. She said the shelter had asked her to call me - although her stray wasn’t white. I asked her another question - then I heard this terrible, Siamese style meow and knew my kitty was safe. He had gotten into some clay and rolled in it (attempting to disguise himself as an orange and white kitty, I believe!). After we retrieved him, we took him to the center and 5 days later went to pick him up - much to the staff’s delight.

Apparently, he had meowed the entire stay (and Caspar had one annoying, nasal, echoing meaow!). He was, natch, delighted to get home; promptly gained about 6 lbs, decided going outside held NO interest for him any longer, and died of an embolism five years later with a grin on his face. BTW - I want to end up like he did - laying in the sun, full belly, and loved.

I was so glad we decided on the radiation for him. He returned to being a very content and sweet kitty until his last day.