Hyperthyroidism, Ibd, Lymphoma? What?

Hello all, this is a fantastic site. I have been lurking off and on for a while. I'm looking for some suggestions, or maybe just venting since my wife isn't sure what to say anymore.

My family consists of 4 fantastic cats. 3 females and 1 male Kuro. (tuxedo)
Kuro has always been a small framed cat, hovering around 7-8 lbs. He is around 9-10 years old, not sure exactly.
About 3 weeks ago he stopped eating and started vomiting clear fizzy liquid and had some diarrhea. He was also week and didn't move much. I took him to the vet and they did a CBC. It came back that he had hyperthyroidism. His thyroid levels were elevated, but the rest of the blood "looked ok". We put him on oral Methimazole 2.5mg twice daily. The ultimate goal is to do Radioactive Iodine in the future. He went back to his normal self for about 2 weeks, then he threw up his dinner and stopped eating again Sunday 11/12/17, back to the clear vomit, but no diarrhea.

Went to the vet Tuesday and they gave him some fluid and anti vomit. They also took more blood to see if his thyroid levels went down. Which they did! (yay). But he started to drool that night into Wednesday, I assumed from being nauseous. He eventually stopped, and went back to the Vet Wednesday 11/15 for radio graphs. We took him off the oral Methimazole and started trans dermal and Pepsid AC. The vet suggested he didn't take well to the pill form. Later that day the vet said his x-rays looked fine, but will have the radiologist look at it.

So today 11/17 the vet said the radiologist thinks his GI Tract looks swollen/inflamed. She said it could be possible IBD or Lymphoma. Suggested an Ultrasound and or biopsy. At this time I am letting him relax, eat, rest and run with the trans dermal Methimazole and recheck thyroid in 2-3 weeks. He's eating the Science diet a/d and dry food. Not his normal food yet though. I think it may take him a couple days to get his regular appetite back.
Since hes been through so much stress, did I make the right choice? I mean what the heck is going on? This is ridiculous.

Below picture is him with his large Calico sister doing what they do best play and drink in the sink.

There’s another thread I just joined because my cat was just diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, too.
If you’re interested to know a little more you could check that thread-“cat thyroid medicine”.
I suggest another thing to consider is getting liquid compounded meds rather than a pill- I so hate pilling mainly because the pill could get stuck in the throat-think of it like us trying to take a tablet without water.
Did you get a copy of the labs and if so, what was his thyroid measurement? My cat will be 14 in the spring sometime 2018.
I can’t be of more help because I’m also new at the thyroid issue.

It does sound as if your vet is through and caring, so that's very much to the good! Insofar as did you make the right choice? You made the choice that seems best for your cat at the time, and that is all anyone can do. SIGH...I'll have Kuro on my candle list for extra prayers! If it should be determined that what he has is IBD, we have several members who are managing cats with IBD, and I'll get at least one of them in touch with you.

I won't say "Welcome," as you have been lurking, but WOW, it's lovely that you've come out into the sunlight! Just sorry it is for such a worrisome reason.

gloriajh said:

There’s another thread I just joined because my cat was just diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, too.
If you’re interested to know a little more you could check that thread-“cat thyroid medicine”.
I suggest another thing to consider is getting liquid compounded meds rather than a pill- I so hate pilling mainly because the pill could get stuck in the throat-think of it like us trying to take a tablet without water.
Did you get a copy of the labs and if so, what was his thyroid measurement? My cat will be 14 in the spring sometime 2018.
I can’t be of more help because I’m also new at the thyroid issue.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. he is on compounded meds right now. We just started last night.

Mamanyt1953 said:

It does sound as if your vet is through and caring, so that's very much to the good! Insofar as did you make the right choice? You made the choice that seems best for your cat at the time, and that is all anyone can do. SIGH...I'll have Kuro on my candle list for extra prayers! If it should be determined that what he has is IBD, we have several members who are managing cats with IBD, and I'll get at least one of them in touch with you.

I won't say "Welcome," as you have been lurking, but WOW, it's lovely that you've come out into the sunlight! Just sorry it is for such a worrisome reason.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the welcome! Great info around here!

I know that the medication is something that will upset a cat's tummy When my cat Scooter first tried the medication, he completely stopped eating and was so lethargic, it was difficult to rouse him from sleep. I ended up having to syringe feed him for several days and completely stop the medication. I didn't try it again for quite some time, and the vet suggested we try it again at a much, much lower does, let him get used to that for 3 weeks, and then up the dose again for month. For three weeks he was on a 1/4 tab twice a day and now it's 1/2 tab twice a day (but in liquid form). He's very sensitive to it. Last night, he vomited the medication and then wouldn't eat (which is a terrible thing when they are thin anyway from the disease). So this AM, I let him eat some of his breakfast first and then gave him the medication. Much better!

But I wonder if a cat is sensitive, if their entire GI track shows evidence of that? I'm sure though the vet can best answer that.

Oh Laura Mae, I think we have the same cat! haha. It's so upsetting to see him all conked out. We were trying 1/2 tab a day for a couple weeks, and it caught up with him. Hopefully the compounded transdermal will help.

I just remembered something when Mr. Grimsby was being treated for an infected tooth. He kept throwing up the medication, so his vet prescribed some sort of medicine to settle his stomach before he got the antibiotic. It worked perfectly and he didn't mind it so much. It was a liquid that I gave him orally with a syringe. You might ask your vet if he can recommend something like that for your fellow. Good luck with the meds.

Mr. Grimsby had to have the radioactive iodine injection because he couldn't tolerate the meds in any form - not even rubbed on his ear. It was really expensive, but I'd do the same again with either of my other two cats.

Wow!! We are going through this SAME THING! Just got the hyperthyroidism diagnosis, 2 weeks in the pills and my cat couldn't handle it.. Vomiting for days, went to the vet for anti nausea meds and now waiting on the transdermal gel for the ear. It has been a stressful few days, but I think my boy has finally turned a corner and is on the mend.. No more pills for now and he FINALLY ate today and kept it down. I hope the gel works and doesn't make our cats sick

Kjl said:

Wow!! We are going through this SAME THING! Just got the hyperthyroidism diagnosis, 2 weeks in the pills and my cat couldn't handle it.. Vomiting for days, went to the vet for anti nausea meds and now waiting on the transdermal gel for the ear. It has been a stressful few days, but I think my boy has finally turned a corner and is on the mend.. No more pills for now and he FINALLY ate today and kept it down. I hope the gel works and doesn't make our cats sick

Click to expand...

Interesting! I hope your boy feels better! We will need to compare notes!

I think an ultrasound is a great idea. It is a non-invasive procedure, but your cat's hair on the abdomen will have to be shaved-it will grow back.

Sometimes the results of things like ultrasounds and biopsies can be inconclusive, but I think it is worth doing anyway just in case they are able to see something and give you peace of mind.

Dilutetortislave said:

I think an ultrasound is a great idea. It is a non-invasive procedure, but your cat's hair on the abdomen will have to be shaved-it will grow back.

Sometimes the results of things like ultrasounds and biopsies can be inconclusive, but I think it is worth doing anyway just in case they are able to see something and give you peace of mind.

Click to expand...

I'm too scared...

I understand, but the first step to fixing it is knowing what it is. It may well be something fairly simple to deal with, but either way, it will get harder to either fix or manage the longer it takes to know for sure what you are dealing with!

For Kuro:

Kuro has been doing a little better. Kinda. He eats and drinks, pees and poops. I talked with the vet today and told her my concerns and described his activity.
He's still active, jumping up on the sink to drink water, and eating.

What has me concerned is he ate last night (11/19) about 11:30pm. Wet and dry food. I put him to bed with only a tiny bit of dry food. He woke up at 7 and threw up, it didn't look like the food was digested from 7 hours earlier. It seemed like a lot, but I wasn't really sure. He could have at the dry food and it just came up and looked like a lot. Or I'm in denial. So I started a diary. He just ate a little bit a while ago. Lets hope he keeps it down.

I'm waiting until about Thursday this week to see if I take him for an ultrasound. They will be able to look at his lymph nodes and the intestine for signs of IBD or lymphoma. Then we can try a diet and steroids.

Well little Kuro will be going in for an ultrasound tomorrow. I hope all goes well. Hoping for IBD. It's manageable at least. He doesn't seem to be digesting food that well. I hope a special diet will clear it up. He has always had extremely stinky and soft poop.

I'm so sorry I wasn't here yesterday! What did the ultrasound show?

Well good news. The ultrasound was "unremarkable" They found no signs of IBD, or Lymphoma. So the plan now is to treat his HyperT without Methimazole and just go with Hills y/d. So good news, and confusing news. He actually seemed better today. Lets hope the diet food helps. Since we have 3 cats I have to be strict with feeding times and leaving food out.

The Vet is fantastic. She said we could keep him on the transdermal with IBD supporting treatment, or take him off the RX and try y/d diet only. Very compassionate and understanding. Kudos to them! I went with the y/d diet to see where he goes from there. Thank you everyone!

Kuro is going to get his I-131 treatment Feb 5. Wish us luck!

Is that the iodine treatment? My guy can't even tolerate the transdermal gel...started vomiting again Thursday, had a brief reprieve yesterday and back to vomiting again today. Trying to get him in to the vet tomorrow to see what we can figure out. Sadly, with his heart murmur, we may be running out of options