Hyperthyroid in Cats
By Ailina
@Ailina (180)
United States
April 20, 2008 11:28am CST
My youngest cat had this diagnosis in the last two years. He was on the standard meds protocol and did well until 5 months ago. He lost more weight and was over active.
I got a blood draw and found him to be getting worse. So I looked at the options. The vet I saw for the blood draw was not that well versed in the options. I have since done research and found the best option for him. He is not past the disease stage!!
That made me wonder if other cat owners out there are dealing with this too. Do you have a cat with this condition?
DO you know what your options are?
1 person likes this
3 responses
@whiteheron (4222)
• United States
20 Apr 08
I do not have a cat with the condition but am interested in hearing how Tiger Woods is doing...
I have recently heard on NPR that some cats are developing this problem, oddly enough from a chemical that is found inside the cans containing canned cat food.
There is also some speculation that chemicals in the stainguard in carpets and on furniture could also cause some problems.
The radio broadcast that I heard said that cats have much more mercury in their bodies from having fish than humans do and much more other chemicals that have been found in lower ammounts in human beings.
They are so low to the ground that they get things from the carpet on their fur and then they lick their fur.
I was surprised to hear that the experts were studying this.
@whiteheron (4222)
• United States
20 Apr 08
It is possible that the "experts" are sometimes wrong too.
Hoping that your cat makes a good recovery.
@Marg12 (329)
• United States
20 Apr 08
I have two cats with hyperthyroid. Do you know what the blood test showed, in other words, what the count was?? The cat that was recently diagnosed, was in the high four range and I think the normal range is below 3.
Both my cats get a human medicine that is called methimazole. My older cat gets a half a pill twice a day, and that ends up being 5 mg a day. The cat that was just diagnosed gets a whole pill twice a day. And there is also a way to get it liquidfied, so to put it in the ears.
I am sending a friends request, and then I will give you my email. Be glad to try to help you any more that I can.
@Ailina (180)
• United States
20 Apr 08
That is the same meds my cat was on. I gave it to him 2 times a day, half a pill as well. The blood test showed the high 4 range and the liver was showing a decline from the medication.
The options I found were these:
1: Surgery to remove the tumor on the thyroid
2: Radiation drip to the tumor.
Both have some good outcomes. The surgery does not always get the tumor out. The radiation is a better gamble or return on investment I am now saying.
1 person likes this
@Marg12 (329)
• United States
21 Apr 08
I think that if given the choice I would go with the radiation depending on what that treatment is going to do to the cat. What are the after effects of the radiation?? How old is your cat???
I don't have very much money so I wouldn't be able to do that.
And the vet thinks that the liver is getting bad because of the medication, is that correct???
One of my cats is on a whole pill twice a day and I thought that sounded like a lot. Will have to call my vets about this.
Glad you started this discussion.
Good luck with your cat.
@Ailina (180)
• United States
24 Apr 08
You know what, I think I had a typo in my original post. Lead you to think I was not getting good care. I do have a good vet now and my cat is disease free!! I did depend on 1800petsmeds to help before the procedure. That was a God-sent for cost savings since I did not have to go into the vet's offce as much.
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
20 Apr 08
Our cats do not have this, but my husbands cat that live at his Moms has this. After being mistreated by one vet we paid for this cat to be re-tested by our vet and they came out with a completely different diagnosis. If I were you I would find a different vet to take you cat to, you definitely need a second opinion.
