Anyone else got a hyperthyroid pussy cat?

[wandell1]

My poor little man has just been diagnosed as hyperthyroid... Off to the vets tonight for his new meds and his first B12 jab... Just thought someone else might have gone through the same thing and may have some advice

(Will obviously also go on a pet forum but i know how helpful and knowledgeable you guys are!)

[PinkNinja]

I'm afraid I've not been in this situation so I can't really help, but your cat will most likely get better treatment than most humans

Carolyn x

[Clarebear]

I did have a cat that was hyperthyroid but she died about 15 years ago I used to grind up her pills and mix them in with her food as I lived on my own at the time and just couldn't manage to give them to her properly.

I understand that there is a cat food now especially for hyperthyroid cats - I think it is made by Hills and contains no iodine so that it is difficult to make thryoxine. This wasn't available when I had my cat so I don't know much about it, so it might be worth asking your vet. xx

p.s my cat eventually died from kidney failure and not thyroid problems

[wandell1 in reply to Clarebear]

The vet mentioned the hills diet, the problem is that i have two cats and even if Wupert does like the diet my concern would be that it might be too difficult separating his and Wandells food as they should have no iodine in the diet. I am going to change to filtered water though (even though the waterfall has a filter in it) and will trial the biscuits with them too. I am going to Australia at christmas so will consider sending wupert for radioactive iodine treatment, i doubt i could send him now as it would be too much sending him away for a few weeks now as he still isn't 100% x

[lisabax]

my cat was hyperthyroid and had two operations to remove parts of her thyroid. She was not on medication for long as we couldn't get a tablet down her! However she lived for at least three years after the first op and died aged 17 of natural causes. hope this helps. L

[wandell1 in reply to lisabax]

Thats good to hear, i was so worried that it would shorten his lifespan but it sounds as though it hopefully wont

[Hidden]

Here's a previous post (btw if you type Vet in the search box there's loads of posts)

thyroiduk.healthunlocked.co...

My cat is always ravenous but skinny & doesn't sleep enough like other cats I've had, maybe a visit to the vet will help me too (although I'm the opposite!) J

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

OK - I tried but couldn't resist sharing... here she is.... (sorry Admins but you know what I'm like)

youtube.com/watch?feature=p...

[LouiseRoberts in reply to Hidden]

No probs!

Louise

x

[wandell1 in reply to Hidden]

Hahaha clever cat

[wandell1 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you

[janiebell]

Hi, my lovely old Siamese (17 years when she died) ) became hyperthyroid around 15 -16. I wish I had known that it is a very simple op to remove their thyroid and then they don't need meds which eventually wear out their kidneys. The meds improved her blood levels but she never got over the chronic diarhrea and was so skinny. Please talk to your vet about the op.

[wandell1 in reply to janiebell]

So far he is taking his tablets easy enough hidden within a treat, i will wait for a few blood tests, if there is no improvement i will consider other treatment

[valerie in reply to janiebell]

I don't think thyroid meds "wear out their kidneys". I think the mere fact that their thyroid functions better when treated means that their kidneys are put under more strain. Both my cats developed Chronic Renal Failure about 6 months after treatment for hyperthyroidism, one cat having surgery and no thyroid medication and the other cat having just thyroid medication(Felimazole)....Val

[valerie]

Hi, My cat has been hyper for 2 or 3 years now and about 6 months after starting medication for her thyroid the latent kidney problem showed up. This is very common in cats as getting the thyroid back to "normal" means that the kidneys start working more and they get chronic renal failure especially if they are fairly old. She is also on a special medication for her kidneys plus a special kidney diet. She is nearly 19 and is better than she was 3 years ago. I also have my daughters cat as she has emigrated and a year ago he was able to have a partial thyroidectomy for hyperthyroidism(he couldn't treat his thyroid with drugs as they drastically lowered his blood platelet count) but after about 6 months he started with chronic renal failure too and is on drugs for that. So please make sure that every so often you get your cat's blood and wee tested for kidney problems as it is soooo common in cats (I believe 6 out of 10 cats die of renal failure after the age of about 8)....Val

[wandell1 in reply to valerie]

My vet did warn me about latent kidney problems, i think he will get more regular testing than me!

[valerie]

Hi Wandell1, Good then be particularly alert after about six months. Yes our pets certainly get better treatment than us sometimes but then the vet's fees are pretty high for the privilege. My cat has been going frequently to the vet for years and has had half her bladder removed and tons of investigations (which quite honestly I think should have been substituted with a thyroid check) and although she is nearly 19 she looks younger every day. We did loads of tests for her loose stools all of which proved negative and it wasn't until her thyroid was checked and treated that all her symptoms disappeared. Yet another case of everything being down to a thyroid problem. I've never seen a T3 test done on her however. Funny house mine, I have Hashimoto's and my husband has Amiodarone induced hypothyroidism. Both cats are are hyperthyroid, my brother and sister have/had Hashimotos, my daughter has thyroid problems (no antibodies yet), my daughter-in-law is self treating with levothyroxine and I'm trying to get my son to get checked out as he falls asleep all over the place. If we had a dog that would probably be Hypo too...Val