Hyperthyroid Cat Is Hungry, But Won't Eat Dry Food

Jtsousa

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We adopted a sweet senior male cat when his owner (my father-in-law) passed away. He had been free fed inexpensive dry food his whole life (along with many table scraps) but no wet cat food. I tried to change his diet for the better, so I bought high quality grain-free kibble, and slowly transitioned his diet by adding a little bit at a time to the old food. But immediately he started eating far less. He lost so much weight that I started to panic (part of that has turned out to be hyperthyroidism--he's on meds now) and bought some Friskies wet food for him and started feeding him 1 can a day. I tried a different brand of grain-free kibble, but he liked it for exactly 2 days and then stopped eating it.
Fortunately he loves the wet food, but still barely eats any of the dry food even though the hyperthyroidism makes him hungry constantly. He will be following me around, crying for food, and the bowl of kibble will be just sitting there untouched.
Has anyone run into this problem before? Am I overly worried about it? TIA for your input!
 

verna davies

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I have three cats and none of them like grain free food. Maybe that's the problem with your cat. You could try a good quality dry food that is not grain free and perhaps it will work.
 
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Jtsousa

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Huh! It never occurred to me that grain-free would be the problem. I will try a different one next time. Thanks!
 

Dilutetortislave

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Keep trying as many foods as you need to. Never give up until you try Fancy Feast dry. Royal Canin makes a line called Selective, try Savor Selective & Aromatic Selective. Wellness, Famina N & D, Orijen, those are popular dry foods.

If he won't eat dry food ever again, feed more canned.

Make sure he gets the full dose as directed of the hyperthyroid medication & be sure to take him in to get his thyroid level rechecked as directed by your vet.
 

duckpond

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cats can be picky, with both wet and dry. there are several brands of dry mine will not touch. anytime i try a new food i try to find the small bags, to see how it goes.
mine love
Dr. Elsey's cleanprotein Chicken Formula Grain-Free Dry Cat Food
Farmina Natural & Delicious Chicken Grain-Free Formula Dry Cat Food, 3.3-lb bag

Many stray or rescue cats can be stubborn if you try to feed them a " better brand" or grain free, from my experience.
I have never had one turn down
Purina Pro Plan Savor Adult Shredded Blend Chicken & Rice Formula Dry Cat Food
or
Cat Chow Naturals Original with Real Chicken & Salmon Dry Cat Food
 
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Jtsousa

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I ended up getting some free samples from the local Pet Valu and we seem to have found one he likes. It’s not grain free but at least it’s high protein and better than what he used to eat.
 

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Halo Brand Spot's Stew makes a couple of dry foods that are not horrible for them. Personally I'd stay away from fish based foods and stick with Poultry. You can buy Halo online or at some Whole Foods stores (but very pricey there). There is Halo Spot's Stew Turkey for sensitive stomach, and all of our 12 kitties like it. They range in age from 11yrs to 8 mo.
 

AL MO

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We adopted a sweet senior male cat when his owner (my father-in-law) passed away. He had been free fed inexpensive dry food his whole life (along with many table scraps) but no wet cat food. I tried to change his diet for the better, so I bought high quality grain-free kibble, and slowly transitioned his diet by adding a little bit at a time to the old food. But immediately he started eating far less. He lost so much weight that I started to panic (part of that has turned out to be hyperthyroidism--he's on meds now) and bought some Friskies wet food for him and started feeding him 1 can a day. I tried a different brand of grain-free kibble, but he liked it for exactly 2 days and then stopped eating it.
Fortunately he loves the wet food, but still barely eats any of the dry food even though the hyperthyroidism makes him hungry constantly. He will be following me around, crying for food, and the bowl of kibble will be just sitting there untouched.
Has anyone run into this problem before? Am I overly worried about it? TIA for your input!
--------------------

From what I have been reading wet food is much better for cats. I'm trying to switch mine now, and its been a real pain, they are addicted to dry food. If ever i get another kitten, i will surely start with wet also.
 

Franlow

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Hi Guys,
I have had 6 hyperthyroid cats - the last one Poppy had radioactive iodine therapy end of November 2017.
You have to understand how hyperthyroidism works. It affects the metabolism of your cat. Everything - and I mean everything, speeds up. Constant diahorrea, because the food does not stay in the large intestine for long enough - this is where the water is removed.
It causes damage to the heart & kidneys. They are constantly hot & usually thirsty. Now, imagine a thirsty cat being fed kibble. It makes perfect sense that he won't eat it. He should be fed as much wet food as he wants as often as he wants. He is literally starving from the inside out.
The medication that he is on, actually doesn't cure the problem, it just masks the symptoms. Hyperthyroidism is caused by a tumour on the thyroid gland, usually benign, but, if left with just the medication, can lead to Carcinoma - and yes, one of my guys had this too - it is very rare.
Please, once your boy is stabilised on the medication, either, get the thyroid removed,( This is an operation done under general anaesthetic) or, better still radioactive iodine (this is just an injection in the neck). I know it does depend on money. Don't give him any dry food until he is stable - I personally wouldn't even then.
Next, my idea of senior & yours are maybe a little different. My cats live a long time :)
Poppy the one who had the treatment last year was the youngest I have ever had with thyroid problems, she is now just 14
Data had his first thyroid removed at 15, the second at 16 & radioactive iodine at 17 1/2 - he had carcinoma & sadly died whilst having treatment.
Bisto was 17 when she had her thyroid removed Died at 19 1/2
Mitens was also 17 Died at 23
Bilbo was 18 Died at 21
Trio was 19 died at 22
I used to feed all my cat dry food. One of my cats became ill with ibd - lots of vomiting, one got bad skin allergies. I canged all to wet food & have now changed Poppy & the others on to raw. She is a totally different cat, has put all her weight back on & her fur is incredible!
Good luck with your guy
 
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Jtsousa

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Hi Guys,
I have had 6 hyperthyroid cats - the last one Poppy had radioactive iodine therapy end of November 2017.
You have to understand how hyperthyroidism works. It affects the metabolism of your cat. Everything - and I mean everything, speeds up. Constant diahorrea, because the food does not stay in the large intestine for long enough - this is where the water is removed.
It causes damage to the heart & kidneys. They are constantly hot & usually thirsty. Now, imagine a thirsty cat being fed kibble. It makes perfect sense that he won't eat it. He should be fed as much wet food as he wants as often as he wants. He is literally starving from the inside out.
The medication that he is on, actually doesn't cure the problem, it just masks the symptoms. Hyperthyroidism is caused by a tumour on the thyroid gland, usually benign, but, if left with just the medication, can lead to Carcinoma - and yes, one of my guys had this too - it is very rare.
Please, once your boy is stabilised on the medication, either, get the thyroid removed,( This is an operation done under general anaesthetic) or, better still radioactive iodine (this is just an injection in the neck). I know it does depend on money. Don't give him any dry food until he is stable - I personally wouldn't even then.
Next, my idea of senior & yours are maybe a little different. My cats live a long time :)
Thanks for the info Franlow, you have had a lot of experience with hyperthyroid cats!
We don’t know for sure how old Fella is, but we do know he is at least 15, because my mother in law got him as an adult from his previous owner 14 years ago.
Fella did have vomiting and weight loss but no diarrhea. His vomiting continued on the meds and I was worried he was having a bad reaction to it but now he’s much better. We go back for a follow up blood test this week. So far I think the medication has been working out. He seems much calmer and more relaxed, although he doesn’t play like a kitten anymore, and he’s put on 2 pounds already. I’m still feeding him the wet food and I switched the kibble to another brand, which he seems to like just fine. He’s not constantly crying for food anymore, which is a relief.
 

baxtersmom

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Hi Guys,
I have had 6 hyperthyroid cats - the last one Poppy had radioactive iodine therapy end of November 2017.
You have to understand how hyperthyroidism works. It affects the metabolism of your cat. Everything - and I mean everything, speeds up. Constant diahorrea, because the food does not stay in the large intestine for long enough - this is where the water is removed.
It causes damage to the heart & kidneys. They are constantly hot & usually thirsty. Now, imagine a thirsty cat being fed kibble. It makes perfect sense that he won't eat it. He should be fed as much wet food as he wants as often as he wants. He is literally starving from the inside out.
The medication that he is on, actually doesn't cure the problem, it just masks the symptoms. Hyperthyroidism is caused by a tumour on the thyroid gland, usually benign, but, if left with just the medication, can lead to Carcinoma - and yes, one of my guys had this too - it is very rare.
Please, once your boy is stabilised on the medication, either, get the thyroid removed,( This is an operation done under general anaesthetic) or, better still radioactive iodine (this is just an injection in the neck). I know it does depend on money. Don't give him any dry food until he is stable - I personally wouldn't even then.
Next, my idea of senior & yours are maybe a little different. My cats live a long time :)
Poppy the one who had the treatment last year was the youngest I have ever had with thyroid problems, she is now just 14
Data had his first thyroid removed at 15, the second at 16 & radioactive iodine at 17 1/2 - he had carcinoma & sadly died whilst having treatment.
Bisto was 17 when she had her thyroid removed Died at 19 1/2
Mitens was also 17 Died at 23
Bilbo was 18 Died at 21
Trio was 19 died at 22
I used to feed all my cat dry food. One of my cats became ill with ibd - lots of vomiting, one got bad skin allergies. I canged all to wet food & have now changed Poppy & the others on to raw. She is a totally different cat, has put all her weight back on & her fur is incredible!
Good luck with your guy
I realize this is an older thread but your reply helped me so much in understanding what my Scooter is going through. My husband gets mad at me for feeding him every time he cries for food. Right now he's eating about 3 cans (sometimes more) a day. I lost 2 cats this year and we thought our cat food bill would be going down. Instead it's gone up. I don't care how much we spend on food, I'm going to feed him if he's hungry. I also have him on a natural thyroid supplement. I've been doing a lot of reading and I've decided to look into feeding him a homemade diet. Unfortunately we can't afford the iodine treatment (I'm disabled and my husband is retired). When I read what you said about him starving from the inside out it made me cry. My poor baby. He's not even 15 yet and had such a hard start in life. He was thrown into the woods as a newborn kitten and was almost dead when I found him. Being so sick at such a young age caused him lifelong problems. He's deaf in one ear and has a lot of other problems. Again, I just wanted to thank you for explaining it how you did. I think it helped my husband understand it a bit more too. He's the last of my kitties and I want to do whatever I possibly can to make him feel better.
 

molly92

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I realize this is an older thread but your reply helped me so much in understanding what my Scooter is going through. My husband gets mad at me for feeding him every time he cries for food. Right now he's eating about 3 cans (sometimes more) a day. I lost 2 cats this year and we thought our cat food bill would be going down. Instead it's gone up. I don't care how much we spend on food, I'm going to feed him if he's hungry. I also have him on a natural thyroid supplement. I've been doing a lot of reading and I've decided to look into feeding him a homemade diet. Unfortunately we can't afford the iodine treatment (I'm disabled and my husband is retired). When I read what you said about him starving from the inside out it made me cry. My poor baby. He's not even 15 yet and had such a hard start in life. He was thrown into the woods as a newborn kitten and was almost dead when I found him. Being so sick at such a young age caused him lifelong problems. He's deaf in one ear and has a lot of other problems. Again, I just wanted to thank you for explaining it how you did. I think it helped my husband understand it a bit more too. He's the last of my kitties and I want to do whatever I possibly can to make him feel better.
Natural remedies can be very useful for some conditions, and what you're using might help with some symptoms, but with hyperthroidism it's important to directly supress the overactive hormones, because it will get worse and life-threatening otherwise. Methimazole is the medication that interferes directly with the excess thyroid hormone. He should also have his bloodwork checked regularly to make sure the medication is at the right dosage and effectively controlling the hormone levels. Without radioiodine or surgery (I would not recommend surgery because radioiodine is usually the same cost and is much safer), the tumor will continue to grow and produce more and more thyroid hormone, which will make everything Franlow described worse. Methimazole doesn't stop the production, but it does stop the hormone after it's made. Herbal supplements focus more on the downstream symptoms. If you do want to continue with natural supplements instead of medication (which while I'm skeptical, might be a necessary option, because methimazole can cause side effects in some cats), I would definitely talk about it with a vet and do bloodwork to make sure everything is still being controlled.
 

Mailgirl18

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I realize this is an older thread but your reply helped me so much in understanding what my Scooter is going through. My husband gets mad at me for feeding him every time he cries for food. Right now he's eating about 3 cans (sometimes more) a day. I lost 2 cats this year and we thought our cat food bill would be going down. Instead it's gone up. I don't care how much we spend on food, I'm going to feed him if he's hungry. I also have him on a natural thyroid supplement. I've been doing a lot of reading and I've decided to look into feeding him a homemade diet. Unfortunately we can't afford the iodine treatment (I'm disabled and my husband is retired). When I read what you said about him starving from the inside out it made me cry. My poor baby. He's not even 15 yet and had such a hard start in life. He was thrown into the woods as a newborn kitten and was almost dead when I found him. Being so sick at such a young age caused him lifelong problems. He's deaf in one ear and has a lot of other problems. Again, I just wanted to thank you for explaining it how you did. I think it helped my husband understand it a bit more too. He's the last of my kitties and I want to do whatever I possibly can to make him feel better.
Baxters Mom - you sound like a saint to me! :angel: I took my mother's cat in when she passed away, and she was hyperthyroid. It can be very stressful for the both of you. I didn't really understand either until I did some reading. The treatments all sounded worse than the problem, and were extremely costly. I just kept her as comfortable as I could, and let her eat when she was hungry. Personally, I believe that dry food should be outlawed. They can call it whatever they want, but it is all just for the convenience of the owner. You cannot process food that much and still have it retain any nutritional value. And owners who think they are doing their animal a favor by leaving some out all day are just kidding themselves. The cat "snacks" all day - has no chance to even become hungry, eats his dinner anyway, and then the owner posts funny pictures of his 30-pound cat on YouTube. Disgusting! The poor thing can't even bend to clean his behind! And we all know how fastidious cats are. Anyway, my love to you and your kitty Baxter - and I hope the person who threw him in the woods as a kitten was eaten by wolves!
 

baxtersmom

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Natural remedies can be very useful for some conditions, and what you're using might help with some symptoms, but with hyperthroidism it's important to directly supress the overactive hormones, because it will get worse and life-threatening otherwise. Methimazole is the medication that interferes directly with the excess thyroid hormone. He should also have his bloodwork checked regularly to make sure the medication is at the right dosage and effectively controlling the hormone levels. Without radioiodine or surgery (I would not recommend surgery because radioiodine is usually the same cost and is much safer), the tumor will continue to grow and produce more and more thyroid hormone, which will make everything Franlow described worse. Methimazole doesn't stop the production, but it does stop the hormone after it's made. Herbal supplements focus more on the downstream symptoms. If you do want to continue with natural supplements instead of medication (which while I'm skeptical, might be a necessary option, because methimazole can cause side effects in some cats), I would definitely talk about it with a vet and do bloodwork to make sure everything is still being controlled.
Thanks, he's staring the Methimazole today. Fingers crossed it helps and doesn't cause too many side effects.
 

baxtersmom

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Baxters Mom - you sound like a saint to me! :angel: I took my mother's cat in when she passed away, and she was hyperthyroid. It can be very stressful for the both of you. I didn't really understand either until I did some reading. The treatments all sounded worse than the problem, and were extremely costly. I just kept her as comfortable as I could, and let her eat when she was hungry. Personally, I believe that dry food should be outlawed. They can call it whatever they want, but it is all just for the convenience of the owner. You cannot process food that much and still have it retain any nutritional value. And owners who think they are doing their animal a favor by leaving some out all day are just kidding themselves. The cat "snacks" all day - has no chance to even become hungry, eats his dinner anyway, and then the owner posts funny pictures of his 30-pound cat on YouTube. Disgusting! The poor thing can't even bend to clean his behind! And we all know how fastidious cats are. Anyway, my love to you and your kitty Baxter - and I hope the person who threw him in the woods as a kitten was eaten by wolves!
Thank you so much. I'm doing my best for him. I took him to the vet and got all the bloodwork done. He'll be starting the medication today and I pray it doesn't make things worse.
 

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My cat Daisy was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism 2 weeks ago on Tuesday coming. She started off losing a lot of weight and then being sick everyday leading up to her diagnosis. The vet seemed pretty confident that she’ll be ok through medication so longs as her liver and kidneys are ok and not too badly affected by the condition. We feed her liquid thyronorm through a syringe (which she hates) but she swallows and we originally was mixing her Ipakitine powder with tuna which she was eating no problem but we think she has sussed our the tuna has got medication in so turns her nose up at it. Is there any other thing we can mix the powder in that she may eat it with?
Last night and this morning she’s not really had much of an appetite either so think she’s just having a bad couple of days to be honest.
She’s due her review blood test on Thursday but until then is there any cat food you think she might enjoy?
She was doing so well she had put 2lbs on in these 2 weeks since the vets
 

verna davies

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How old is Daisy? Ask your vet about medication in tablet form and discuss radioactive iodine treatment
Liquid medicationis not the only form of treatment and if it is distressing both you and Daisy look at alternatives
 

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Daisy is 13, we were given small anti sickness tablets which she would eat the tuna from round it and spit the tablet back out! It would be good if the Ipakitine was liquid form like the Thyronorm because at least then we know she’ll at least swallow it from the syringe :(
 

verna davies

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I had a 15 yo cat with hyperthyroidism so I know how difficult it is to give daily tablets. I used pill pockets on occasions but mostly put it in her mouth, gently held it closed and stroked her throat until she swallowed. Discuss methods with your vet, he might come up with something that will work.
 
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