Hi All-
Back in August I felt a lump in my cat Maeby's throat and immediately booked an appointment. In my mind, best case scenario was hyperthyroidism. When I got to the vet, she couldn't feel it but her thyroid T-4 level came back at 4.1. Vet said they start watching thyroid with T-4 levels over 4 and since she had gained weight and had no clinical symptoms, we set up a follow-up in November.
Last week (mid October) we decided she was showing enough symptoms to take her back early. This time the other vet felt the bump and said it was moveable so she wasn't sure it was thyroid and we might want a scan because her T-4 wasn't alarming (from the first test) and she gained a little weight. However, her T-4 came back at 7.8 this time. A 3rd vet (sigh) called me with the results and said sometimes the thyroid growth can occur in the tissue below the thyroid, but she hadn't felt the lump and couldn't speak to it. Finally, the original vet advised we start her on meds. She said not many cats actually have lumps that you can feel with hyperthyroidism but in her opinion, starting meds and not getting an ultrasound at the moment was the best course of action.
So, naturally, I'm obsessively googling what a thyroid lump feels like in cats and not coming up with much.
Has anyone else had cases where they could feel a lump on their cat's thyroid?
Back in August I felt a lump in my cat Maeby's throat and immediately booked an appointment. In my mind, best case scenario was hyperthyroidism. When I got to the vet, she couldn't feel it but her thyroid T-4 level came back at 4.1. Vet said they start watching thyroid with T-4 levels over 4 and since she had gained weight and had no clinical symptoms, we set up a follow-up in November.
Last week (mid October) we decided she was showing enough symptoms to take her back early. This time the other vet felt the bump and said it was moveable so she wasn't sure it was thyroid and we might want a scan because her T-4 wasn't alarming (from the first test) and she gained a little weight. However, her T-4 came back at 7.8 this time. A 3rd vet (sigh) called me with the results and said sometimes the thyroid growth can occur in the tissue below the thyroid, but she hadn't felt the lump and couldn't speak to it. Finally, the original vet advised we start her on meds. She said not many cats actually have lumps that you can feel with hyperthyroidism but in her opinion, starting meds and not getting an ultrasound at the moment was the best course of action.
So, naturally, I'm obsessively googling what a thyroid lump feels like in cats and not coming up with much.
Has anyone else had cases where they could feel a lump on their cat's thyroid?
