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klingklang77
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Member since 7/06 11487 total posts
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Hyperthyroidism in cats
Has anyone experienced this?
I had it once with a cat growing up, but it was never officially diagnosed. It was in the records that my sister got ahold of.
Anyway, my cat (12 years old) was diagnosed with it yesterday. I’ve known for a few years that she had a problem with this, but her T4 levels were always OK. I always go in with an explanation (sister was a vet tech and taught me a lot growing up) as to what is wrong. I’m usually correct and they seem to be surprised by this. I can read the blood test results and values, but the elevated T4 didn’t show up until yesterday. This explains the seizure she had a few months ago.
I got pills to give her twice a day for the rest of her life. However, I have read a lot of radioactive therapy. The price doesn’t matter because the health insurance here covers everything (vaccines, too!).
Oh and P.S. : don’t take a cat in a convertible. They hate it. I strapped her carrier in, of course, but she did not like the noise.
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Posted 6/6/18 5:37 AM  |
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StaceyLu
LIF Adolescent
Member since 2/17 572 total posts
Name:
Stacey
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Hyperthyroidism in cats
My cat who passed away last summer had hyperthyroid. He was 15 and he took the medication too. He was always thirsty so he peed a lot. He also was very skinny. We gave him high liquid foods like the broth packets between meals.
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| Posted 6/7/18 1:36 PM |
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PhyllisNJoe
My Box Is Broken
Member since 6/11 9145 total posts
Name:
Phyllis
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Re: Hyperthyroidism in cats
Ok, so this answer may be strange.
I had hyperthyroidism and was on the medication your cat is taking now. It's one med for humans and pets. I cannot for the life of me remember the name but I remember a friend telling me her Cat took it lol I'm answering this post because I had the radioactive iodine treatment for my hyperthyroidism and am now HYPOthyroid and take synthroid for it.
The reasoning behind it is that it's easier and safer to treat HYPO than it is to treat HYPER. HYPER causes issues with your heart mostly because of all the work it does. My heart rate was sky high all the time. I would feel the bed pulsing with the beat of my heart. So scary.
So if it's something your vet would be comfortable with doing to your senior cat - I say go for it.
For me, it was a pill I took one time. I had to stay away from pregnancy people, children and sick people for a little bit while I was radioactive. I had to use my own bathroom because it comes out in your urine. I felt fine. Totally normal. No side effects. Nothing.
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| Posted 6/7/18 1:59 PM |
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klingklang77
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Member since 7/06 11487 total posts
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Re: Hyperthyroidism in cats
Thank you for your answers! I’m going to talk to my vet about the radioactive iodine treatment when I bring her back in.
She just hates pills. Any kind of long term pill annoys her. I have to hold her down for at least 5 mins so she doesn’t spit the pill out. She’s like a hamster and stores it away then will sometimes spit it out later. I even have the pill device and I know to always touch their nose so the tongue comes out and they swallow. It’s not working with her.
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| Posted 6/9/18 6:13 AM |
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SusiBee
. . . . .
Member since 3/09 8268 total posts
Name:
S
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Re: Hyperthyroidism in cats
My Bella is hyperthyroid.
She is on the liquid version of the pills because her dose is so low. She is also on a special low iodine diet, absolutely no seafood.
We have talked about the radioactive iodine treatment, but that means she would have to be quarantined for at least 5 days until she is not radioactive. I can't deal with her being caged for that long.
She tolerates the liquid well, we have a routine to get it in her and she even reminds me when I am running late.
The med cost me about $60 per month.
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| Posted 6/10/18 8:57 PM |
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klingklang77
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Member since 7/06 11487 total posts
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Re: Hyperthyroidism in cats
Posted by SusiBee
My Bella is hyperthyroid.
She is on the liquid version of the pills because her dose is so low. She is also on a special low iodine diet, absolutely no seafood.
We have talked about the radioactive iodine treatment, but that means she would have to be quarantined for at least 5 days until she is not radioactive. I can't deal with her being caged for that long.
She tolerates the liquid well, we have a routine to get it in her and she even reminds me when I am running late.
The med cost me about $60 per month.
5 days of quarantine? In your own home? That is not going to work for my Phoebe. She is like the queen around here. If I could leave her at the vet’s, then I think I’d be OK with that. I don’t want to, but if the treatment works, then I’ll do it. I’m wondering if they will even do that here. They seem to take a natural approach to everything.
That’s a good point about the food. I do feed here food with a salmon chicken mix. I’ll ask when I go to the vet about another food.
I’ll give the liquid meds a try. BF keeps saying it will be easier on her, but I know I have tried it in the past and she just froths it out. I’ve never had a more difficult cat than this one.
I mean don’t get me wrong, she is lovely and a great lapcat. But she is so damn picky with everything. She doesn’t like the feel of certain litters on her paws. I have to get the expensive litter because I’d rather not have to deal with her getting upset and peeing somewhere. She needs to be perfectly adjusted in someone’s arms to sleep with them. If you don’t give her an arm, then she cries. Basically, she will do anything to get her way. I’ve never had a cat that was like this so much. Thankfully, she is very good at the vet’s (she jumps around the counters and tries to take over the room), but she is super strong and they always need like three people to hold her down for a blood test.
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| Posted 6/11/18 7:33 AM |
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SusiBee
. . . . .
Member since 3/09 8268 total posts
Name:
S
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Re: Hyperthyroidism in cats
Quarantine at the animal hospital because she will be radioactive after her treatment and her waste has to be disposed of as hazardous material. That treatment is about $1700, not sure if that includes the room & board. My vet doesn't do it, so I would have to take her to 1 of 2 hospitals on Long Island.
Bella has free range of the house, so would never tolerate being caged for 5 days.
She is good with the liquid. We have a routine - 2 treats, the dropper with the chicken flavored medicine, then a whole bunch of more treats.
Twice a day.
Hill's Prescription Diet is what we feed her. The YD formula is low iodine. Can't get anything "over the counter" to feed her.
It took about 6 months to stabilize her and to get her med level to where we are now. The vet was hopeful that the change in diet might work without meds, but she needs just a small dose to keep her stable. We graduated to every 6 months for blood work to check her levels.
No more throwing up, she's also calmed down a bit and stabilized her weight.
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| Posted 6/11/18 8:38 AM |
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klingklang77
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Member since 7/06 11487 total posts
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Re: Hyperthyroidism in cats
Posted by SusiBee
Quarantine at the animal hospital because she will be radioactive after her treatment and her waste has to be disposed of as hazardous material. That treatment is about $1700, not sure if that includes the room & board. My vet doesn't do it, so I would have to take her to 1 of 2 hospitals on Long Island.
Bella has free range of the house, so would never tolerate being caged for 5 days.
She is good with the liquid. We have a routine - 2 treats, the dropper with the chicken flavored medicine, then a whole bunch of more treats.
Twice a day.
Hill's Prescription Diet is what we feed her. The YD formula is low iodine. Can't get anything "over the counter" to feed her.
It took about 6 months to stabilize her and to get her med level to where we are now. The vet was hopeful that the change in diet might work without meds, but she needs just a small dose to keep her stable. We graduated to every 6 months for blood work to check her levels.
No more throwing up, she's also calmed down a bit and stabilized her weight.
Thank you for that. So it took 6 months to stop the throwing up? Her weight dropped 1 kg since she was last at the vet’s (3 months ago?). She pukes like almost every day.
The cost of the treatment doesn’t bother me because my insurance will pay for it all. I’m also pretty sure that my clinic would do it, but I need to ask at her next appointment. I go to one of the top animal clinics outside of Munich, and they are massive. They offer water therapy, and they have a full separate dental section. I think I’ll give them a call today to find out if they offer this treatment.
I guess I wouldn’t be able to visit her during those 5 days, oder?
ETA: She doesn’t like treats. I don’t know why, but she never goes for them.
Message edited 6/11/2018 9:34:03 AM.
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| Posted 6/11/18 9:16 AM |
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StaceyLu
LIF Adolescent
Member since 2/17 572 total posts
Name:
Stacey
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Hyperthyroidism in cats
I dissolved the thyroid pill in a few drops of water and then mixed it with his food. There was no getting an actual pill in him!
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| Posted 6/11/18 9:33 AM |
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klingklang77
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Member since 7/06 11487 total posts
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Re: Hyperthyroidism in cats
Posted by StaceyLu
I dissolved the thyroid pill in a few drops of water and then mixed it with his food. There was no getting an actual pill in him!
I wish I could do this. She just simply will not touch her food if she smells any hint of medication. She doesn’t even like treats. She likes her dry food and the occasional wet food if she likes the taste. There are some foods she just walks away from (chicken, beef, duck). I have tried so many different foods with her. She’s so picky. She likes her tuna. That’s about it.
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| Posted 6/11/18 9:38 AM |
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SusiBee
. . . . .
Member since 3/09 8268 total posts
Name:
S
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Re: Hyperthyroidism in cats
Nein, auch nicht besuchen.
Bella had gotten down to about 7.5 pounds, which is skinny for her and is now normalized at 10.2 pounds.
The throwing up stopped after a week on medication.
Only side effect is that she rubs her face constantly and has rubbed off all her whiskers. Vet says that is ok. She does fine without them.
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| Posted 6/11/18 10:13 AM |
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klingklang77
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Member since 7/06 11487 total posts
Name:
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Re: Hyperthyroidism in cats
Posted by SusiBee
Nein, auch nicht besuchen.
Bella had gotten down to about 7.5 pounds, which is skinny for her and is now normalized at 10.2 pounds.
The throwing up stopped after a week on medication.
Only side effect is that she rubs her face constantly and has rubbed off all her whiskers. Vet says that is ok. She does fine without them.
Man, es gibt keinen Besuch? Ugh.
She’s been on the medication for about a week. I guess I need to be patient. I have noticed that she is rubbing her face a lot. I called up the clinic and they will get back to me tomorrow. Another problem is that I have a problem with my back ATM (thanks for turning 40 body!) and bending down to clean up all the puke is killing me.
I suppose it will all work out. She’s still her regular self, so that’s good.
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| Posted 6/11/18 11:08 AM |
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klingklang77
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Member since 7/06 11487 total posts
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Re: Hyperthyroidism in cats
OK, so a small update. We went to the vet yesterday. They don’t offer the radioactive treatment, but suggested I go to either Vienna or a university by Frankfurt. It’s about a 7 hour drive to both of them. I have a friend that I can stay with by Frankfurt for the week she is there.
I’m just wondering if this will stress her out more. But I know it will cure her. I can stay for the week, so that’s no problem.
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| Posted 6/27/18 8:47 AM |
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SusiBee
. . . . .
Member since 3/09 8268 total posts
Name:
S
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Re: Hyperthyroidism in cats
Posted by klingklang77
OK, so a small update. We went to the vet yesterday. They don’t offer the radioactive treatment, but suggested I go to either Vienna or a university by Frankfurt. It’s about a 7 hour drive to both of them. I have a friend that I can stay with by Frankfurt for the week she is there.
I’m just wondering if this will stress her out more. But I know it will cure her. I can stay for the week, so that’s no problem.
I was wondering how she was doing.
This is your vest option, since she does not like to take medicine.
I still think about doing this with Bella, but I just feel that the time alone and confined will really stress her too much. Our vet doesn't do this, she would have to go to a larger hospital on Long Island.
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| Posted 6/27/18 10:09 AM |
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klingklang77
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Member since 7/06 11487 total posts
Name:
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Re: Hyperthyroidism in cats
Posted by SusiBee
Posted by klingklang77
OK, so a small update. We went to the vet yesterday. They don’t offer the radioactive treatment, but suggested I go to either Vienna or a university by Frankfurt. It’s about a 7 hour drive to both of them. I have a friend that I can stay with by Frankfurt for the week she is there.
I’m just wondering if this will stress her out more. But I know it will cure her. I can stay for the week, so that’s no problem.
I was wondering how she was doing.
This is your vest option, since she does not like to take medicine.
I still think about doing this with Bella, but I just feel that the time alone and confined will really stress her too much. Our vet doesn't do this, she would have to go to a larger hospital on Long Island.
I think I’m going to try it. I just need to organise it all. I have a friend I can stay with for a week in Frankfurt, so that won’t cost much.
However, her T4 levels were back down, but they wanted to check her kidney levels (they came up a bit high) before she does any sort of treatment. If there is something wrong with her kidneys, there is really not much I can do. I can administer the fluids and that’s it. It just makes me so sad to see her sick  .
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| Posted 6/29/18 4:30 PM |
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klingklang77
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Member since 7/06 11487 total posts
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Re: Hyperthyroidism in cats
She was not cleared for the radioactive treatment. Ugh.
I had a sonogram with her, and her kidneys and pancreas did not look the best (it wasn’t horrrible, but they sensed a problem). She also has high blood pressure. So now she needs blood pressure medication. It’s going to need a few months before she does this radioactive treatment.
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| Posted 7/6/18 6:02 PM |
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SusiBee
. . . . .
Member since 3/09 8268 total posts
Name:
S
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Re: Hyperthyroidism in cats
Posted by klingklang77
She was not cleared for the radioactive treatment. Ugh.
I had a sonogram with her, and her kidneys and pancreas did not look the best (it wasn’t horrrible, but they sensed a problem). She also has high blood pressure. So now she needs blood pressure medication. It’s going to need a few months before she does this radioactive treatment.
Sorry to hear this. Poor kitty.
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| Posted 7/9/18 9:04 AM |
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klingklang77
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Member since 7/06 11487 total posts
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Re: Hyperthyroidism in cats
Posted by SusiBee
Posted by klingklang77
She was not cleared for the radioactive treatment. Ugh.
I had a sonogram with her, and her kidneys and pancreas did not look the best (it wasn’t horrrible, but they sensed a problem). She also has high blood pressure. So now she needs blood pressure medication. It’s going to need a few months before she does this radioactive treatment.
Sorry to hear this. Poor kitty.
I know. It’s so frustrating.
I had more blood work done this week, and I have to wait 4 weeks to see how her kidneys are. She is just in such a daze. She eats, and the puking has stopped. I just need to give her medication twice a day. I’m hoping she will be cleared for the treatment in four weeks.
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| Posted 7/27/18 8:57 PM |
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