We have had a long arduous struggle with our kitty's diagnosis of hyperthyroidism. I would appreciate anyone else's comments!
We have two kitties, siblings, and raised together until their present age of 5 years. The male has had irritable bowel syndrome, so it has always been a challenge to find just the right food for him, that will not give him vomiting and profound diarrhea. We did find the perfect one for him (for now)....a dry food of green pea and rabbit, alternated with green pea and duck. He will get a "treat" every once in a while of the canned form of these, but too much, and it triggers a diarrhea attack.
Our female has always been fine, tolerating the changes in the diet along with her brother, and staying healthy. Until about 4-6 weeks ago, she started losing incredible amounts of weight. We didn't monitor exactly how much she was eating (free feeding), but thought maybe she didn't like the dry food, so we supplemented with quality canned food (separate from the male).
Finally a trip to the vet (a VERY traumatic experience, which we will NOT repeat) revealed high thyroid levels. I got copies of the laboratory work, which showed values of 75. A normal high thyroid is about 50. That particular vet said "we will just wait a couple months and see what happens."
We were unhappy with that vet for several other reasons, so decided to make a change. We found a wonderful vet who makes house calls, so the traumatic car ride and office visit was never to be repeated. When he looked at the lab work and examined her, his thought was that she would be dead in two months if untreated. So he started her on methimazole transdermal gel, which we place in the pinna of her ear twice daily.
My question is this: has anyone had their kitty recently diagnosed with hyperthyroidism? I understand the weight loss (ours has gone from a normal weight of 12 pounds to just over 6!), and the incredible appetite (we are feeding ours at least 4 times daily). But there is also an amazing amount of aggression between the two cats. She has always been a sweet, loving sister cat to her brother, grooming him day and night. But in the past month, we have had to keep them isolated in separate rooms of the house. She hisses and growls and attacks him if they are left alone for even a minute.
Anyone have any idea if this is also the hyperthyroid? And how long before the drug "kicks in"? We have a follow up appointment with the house call vet on April 24.
Help! I would dearly love input from others!
We have two kitties, siblings, and raised together until their present age of 5 years. The male has had irritable bowel syndrome, so it has always been a challenge to find just the right food for him, that will not give him vomiting and profound diarrhea. We did find the perfect one for him (for now)....a dry food of green pea and rabbit, alternated with green pea and duck. He will get a "treat" every once in a while of the canned form of these, but too much, and it triggers a diarrhea attack.
Our female has always been fine, tolerating the changes in the diet along with her brother, and staying healthy. Until about 4-6 weeks ago, she started losing incredible amounts of weight. We didn't monitor exactly how much she was eating (free feeding), but thought maybe she didn't like the dry food, so we supplemented with quality canned food (separate from the male).
Finally a trip to the vet (a VERY traumatic experience, which we will NOT repeat) revealed high thyroid levels. I got copies of the laboratory work, which showed values of 75. A normal high thyroid is about 50. That particular vet said "we will just wait a couple months and see what happens."
We were unhappy with that vet for several other reasons, so decided to make a change. We found a wonderful vet who makes house calls, so the traumatic car ride and office visit was never to be repeated. When he looked at the lab work and examined her, his thought was that she would be dead in two months if untreated. So he started her on methimazole transdermal gel, which we place in the pinna of her ear twice daily.
My question is this: has anyone had their kitty recently diagnosed with hyperthyroidism? I understand the weight loss (ours has gone from a normal weight of 12 pounds to just over 6!), and the incredible appetite (we are feeding ours at least 4 times daily). But there is also an amazing amount of aggression between the two cats. She has always been a sweet, loving sister cat to her brother, grooming him day and night. But in the past month, we have had to keep them isolated in separate rooms of the house. She hisses and growls and attacks him if they are left alone for even a minute.
Anyone have any idea if this is also the hyperthyroid? And how long before the drug "kicks in"? We have a follow up appointment with the house call vet on April 24.
Help! I would dearly love input from others!