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

Jessicaanne

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I’ll try that with half an anti sickness tablet as she was sick yesterday afternoon and hasn’t eaten since then so think she’s still feeling sick. She eats like a little pig on a good day though! Just don’t want her weight to plummet down again as she was doing so well! It’s hard to put the powder on her food as well as my other car Ruby will eat it. You have to watch her eat every bit of tuna when she’s having a good day.
Thanks for your help will definitely discuss other options if the blood tests are looking good on Thursday :-)
 

Jessicaanne

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I put her powder in some cat milk and she drank it all and meowed for more! She’s just not really got an appetite for food but the vet did tell us she’d have good days and bad days. I’m just clinging on to the good days when she eats a lot because 2 pounds in 10 days is a lot to put on! So hopefully she has more good days than bad
 

verna davies

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It is really hard to put weight on a cat with hyperthyroidism according to my vet. My cat went from 13lb to 8 and only managed to get back to 9.5lb but was eating like a little piglet. Try all different types of food and hope that you find one she really likes. Once she is stable with the correct amount of medication you should see a difference.
 

Jessicaanne

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That’s exactly the same as my cat she went from 6.4kg to 2.2kg she was very overweight to be honest but they’re house cats as well as my first cat got run over and killed so couldn’t bear to let these two out but they’re so happy anyway. She seemed to start off so well on he medication! Do you have any recommendations of foods for her to eat?
 

verna davies

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You could try kitten food for a while as it contains more calories. Your best bet is to talk to your vet as they often have food for convalescent cats the help put weight on. Try feeding her little and often if you are able, she might be able to cope with eating less food at a time. One of mine is a picky eater but if I sit and talk to him whilst he eats, he finishes it all.
 

Jessicaanne

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Thank you so much for your help! She does seem to eat more if you sit and stroke her she’s just so fussy bless her. Will definitely try her with kitten food, going shopping later so will definitely pick some up. Giving her cat milk quite often too as it says it’s full of vitamins.
Do you think I’d be better off stopping mixing her food with biscuits? Just giving it her wet?
 

verna davies

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I would put a bowl of wet next to a bowl of dry then she can dip into whatever she chooses. Your doing really well in looking after her, keep trying different things, you will hit on the right thing.
Dark meat of a chicken is high in protein.
 

Jessicaanne

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Thank you for your help!! Just love them both so much they’re my little fur babies hehe :lovecat3:
Was dreading something so much worse when we took her to the vets the first time round she just looked so poorly it was horrible seeing her like it. I hadn’t heard of hyperthyroidism in cats until Daisy was diagnosed but now I know it’s pretty common in cats and that it’s treatable I feel so much better :blush:
 

Jessicaanne

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Hey Verna just to let you know Daisy has really perked up today so think she was having an off day!
Bought some kitten food today and just gave her wet food this morning and she’s been eating it.
Bought a couple of those melt in the middle tins of food as my other cat was practically drooling at the advert the other day :yummy: won’t make a habit of that though as they’re 50p each for a tiny tin lol.
 

verna davies

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Thats great news, so pleased to hear that she is better. Any cat food high in protein will help with her weight but kitten food is easily available. That melt in the middle food does look good, almost tempted to try it myself:D. Keep up the good work in fattening Daisy up and let me know what happens in the vet.
 

Jessicaanne

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It does to be honest! Will try it with her powder medication in tomorrow morning! It’s the gourmet one it does look very nice actually lol :lol: thank you again x
 

baxtersmom

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My Scooter was also hyperthyroid. His medication was in pill form. My husband would wrap him up in a towel like a burrito and hold him while I put the pill in his mouth and then used a syringe full of water to help wash it down. Dry pilling isn't very fun for them. It's like us trying to swallow our meds without water. I hope you figure it out and that Daisy gets better. Unfortunately, my Scooter died a couple of weeks ago. I believe his condition was already pretty far gone by the time we got the diagnosis. He was almost 15.
 

Jessicaanne

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Awww sorry about your cat :( Daisy seems a lot better today, she’s taken to this Gourmet melt in the middle food with her expensive palate! Lol. She has the powder no problem with it mixed in that! Think she’s just going to have bad days, she’s back at the vets Thursday so we’ll see what they say.
 

Jessicaanne

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Hey just to let you know Daisy went to the vets on Thursday for her review tests and she got on perfect!! She’s put on 3lbs in 3 weeks and she’s none stop eating now!! Her levels that the vet was worried about have all halved and her organs are all functioning as they should. The vet was very happy with her progress and she’s on a 3 monthly recall for a year then after that it’s just a yearly recall :-) she’s taking her medicines no problem and I’m so happy x
 

catdancer71

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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!
I ended up here after googling exactly that.
At least this confirms for me Chester's sudden refusal to eat the only two cat foods he would eat his whole life is probably connected to the hyperthyroidism diagnoses he received two days ago.
You described it exactly.
He went from 14 lbs to 10 pounds right in front of my eyes.
It turned quickly worse during the four days after my call to the vet, but it was the soonest appointment I could get for. They drew his labs Thursday evening so Friday when 5 pm had come and gone, I felt like we had a long weekend ahead of us as we waited until Monday for the results.
You can imagine how sick I felt when the phone actually rang at 9 pm and I saw it was the vet. Chester's T4 was an 8 - he is 16 years old.
He has only lived indoors, he has never liked human food of any kind and was free fed Hill's Science Diet Optimal Care Dry Cat Food Original 1-6 and Hills Science Diet Premium, Indoor, Chicken Recipe, Adult 1-6 (Hairball Controll+Urinary Tract Care) They have always been ONLY two foods he would eat.
And then he just stopped.
I Just got a couple different 34 ct boxes each containing 4 different flavors. (Friskies)
It went from one can a day in the morning and dry food the rest of the day, to NO dry, and two cans a day - morning and night, and then just two days later - 3 cans a day.
He was obsessed with food, anxious, following me crying. In a 3 hour window, I had opened all twelve flavors. They were arranged in a half-circle in the living room and he was sitting in front of them all but facing me crying. I did this all day with him for the next 4 days wondering if his appointment was too long to wait for but not exactly having the cash to walk through the front doors of the 24 hr ER
His doctor was on the phone saying they actually did have the medicine right there, 100 tablets. By the time she had said that I was already outside, barefoot, keys in my hand running towards the car. I was trying not to start sobbing, he had literally been starving for - how long, I'm not even sure. And begging me to understand. How could I have missed it?
I told his doctor how he was acting, she explained that since his T4 was as about as high as it gets, that no matter how much he ate he was always starving and that he felt like he was on speed.
He has been on the pills 3 days now and all he does is sleep for 45 minutes, wake up, and want food. I went to the pet store and bought one or two cans of all high-end brands that had high calorie/high protein, omega 3, fish oils, tubes of caloric lickable treats, a water fountain, anything-all of it.
Chester was doing the same thing, no matter what I gave him he would run to it, ravenous. And then barely eat it.
I was on a mission, somewhere in PetSmart there had to be something that he would eat and I needed to figure out what it was. Fast.
Turns out I have found two specific flavors in only one brand that he is eating. he has eaten 5 cans today. He eats like he's never been fed, falls asleep, as soon as he wakes up he is hungry (actually it is like the reason he woke up in the first place) eats another can - then right back to sleep. Rinse and repeat. When he got up the last time his eyes had changed. I am certain we just pulled him back around that corner. I am hysterical with joy. I am certain in a week or two we will get him leveled out on the pills.
 
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