Hyperthyroid

[dorymb]

My cat was diagnosed with a hyperthyroid after "senior" blood work. I am devastated after reading information available in the web.

She's had several misdiagnoses in her life (including cancer) and I am wary. She's 13 and at the physical exam, the vet said she seemed remarkably healthy. Then the blood work came back with this diagnosis. Has anyone had experience with blood work being incorrect? Has anyone had experience in treating hyperthyroid? It seems like a death sentence.

She's had 3 medical emergencies in her life each several years apart and each involving vomiting. The most recent several days ago and the reason I took her to the vet. They put her on metronidazole, but after they called with the thyroid prognosis I stopped it. She's still not herself, though she stopped throwing up. She is eating only a little, but seems unsatisfied and searching for something. She is drinking out of her fountain but not an unusually large amount.

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• dorymb
• Jan 20, 2013

 

[orientalslave]

If she is hyperthyroid it's a serious condition and needs treating.  It's very treatable though, not quite sure what you read that was devastating.  Unfortunately it's usually a disease of older cats who may well have other unrelated conditions, and also unfortunately it can mask (to a degree) some of these other diseases.

Have you discussed the blood results with the vet that lead him/her to the diagnosis?  And did you know there is a very good though also very US-centric Yahoo! group for this condition?

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/feline-hyperT/

My own cat that had this did very well to start with but unfortunately he developed terminal liver cancer.

 

[minka]

Hyperthyroid is definitely treatable and no cause for intense worry. You can have her retested searching for T3 and T4 levels and then compare them to normal ones to be sure.

 

[dorymb]

I know I do need to talk to the vet . She just had an assistant call and say what the blood work indicated and that we could pick up a prescription. I'm trying to educate myself before I talk to her. One of the side effects of the meds is liver failure. Cats diagnosed live on average three years on the medication.
 

 

[orientalslave]

Many cats with an overactive thyroid already have liver problems because they are not that young.  Your cat is 13 - what is the average time you could expect him to live without this?  Somewhere around 3 years?  Be very careful with the statistics, it's awful easy to make them lie.  So far as I can tell the effects on the liver occur at a very low rate (less than 2%) and are reversable when the treatment is stopped - obviously those cats need a different treatment.

Remember, medication lists all known side effects and things we regularly take and consider safe often have a huge list of them.

However the medication will give a good quality of life - untreated cats lose weight at a horrifying rate.  If he is a suitable candidate for the radioactive iodine treatment and you can afford it, it's a brilliant treatment.  It cures the disease and can be cheaper over the years than regular medication, especially if you have to have the medication compounded into a trans-dermal gel.

Do try to find out the T3 & T4 levels, and the reference levels, and (hopefully) the free T4 levels.  T4 can be high normal when free T4 clearly shows a hyperthyroid cat.

 

[taxido]

One of my late rescue cats developed hyperthyroidism at 12 years of age.  It only came to light when she began to act strangely and have rancid smelling poo, and also she started to look rather unkempt and thin.  She also did a fair bit of vomiting.  Anyway, after an official diagnosis and regular blood tests to check her T cell count (very important), she had regular medication and lived for many more years.  She had no liver problems whatsoever.  Our current 15 year old cat Timmy had a complete physical a few months ago.  The vet said he is in excellent condition but  is now borderline hyperthyroid,  so we are keeping a wary eye.  Starting to lose weight is a big indicator (so our vet said). He also said there is special food you can get for a hyperthyroid cat now.

 

[amundaloo]

This isn't as devastating as you're probably thinking. It is something that you certainly want to treat with medication. I would also suggest that you look into a new diet - Prescription Hills Y/D. I have a lot of cats with thyroid disease on this diet and it often eliminates the need for medication entirely! It is definitely worth looking into, unless your feline has another health issue that requires dietary intervention. 

Believe me when I say there are many worse things than an overactive thyroid. Ensure that you are doing periodic bloodwork (every 3 months in the beginning stages of treatment check her Total T4s) to be sure that your kitty's medication can be adjusted according to her real levels. 

 

[minka]

This isn't as devastating as you're probably thinking. It is something that you certainly want to treat with medication. I would also suggest that you look into a new diet - Prescription Hills Y/D. I have a lot of cats with thyroid disease on this diet and it often eliminates the need for medication entirely! It is definitely worth looking into, unless your feline has another health issue that requires dietary intervention.  

I would be careful about starting that food as it has terrible reviews.
http://endocrinevet.blogspot.com/2011/09/is-hills-yd-nutritious-diet-for.html?m=1
http://bratgrrl.com/feeding-the-hyperthyroid-cat-say-no-to-hills-yd/
http://www.animalendocrine.com/yd/

 

[dorymb]

I read that too. Seems the only "good" choice is a homemade low iodine diet.
 

 

[dorymb]

One of my late rescue cats developed hyperthyroidism at 12 years of age.  It only came to light when she began to act strangely and have rancid smelling poo, and also she started to look rather unkempt and thin.  She also did a fair bit of vomiting.  Anyway, after an official diagnosis and regular blood tests to check her T cell count (very important), she had regular medication and lived for many more years.  She had no liver problems whatsoever.  Our current 15 year old cat Timmy had a complete physical a few months ago.  The vet said he is in excellent condition but  is now borderline hyperthyroid,  so we are keeping a wary eye.  Starting to lose weight is a big indicator (so our vet said). He also said there is special food you can get for a hyperthyroid cat now.

It's ironic because we rescued a boy 1 1/2 years ago and he developed crystals, so we began transitioning our girls to wet food and taking up the food after a meal instead of letting them self feed. Our vet said the girls were overweight, so when they both lost some weight we were happy. Cleo dropped 2.5 lbs over a year. She's now 11.5 which isn't too thin, but of course, now this.

 

[dottykittykat]

NO, NO, NO it is not a death sentence.  My older kitty, Bella, was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism in June.  Many years ago I had a cat with the same problem and she was put on Tapazole.  She had to go in for blood tests every month to balance the prescription.  The pill  caused problems and eventually was the cause of her demise.  This time, with Bella, I did lots of research by interviewing vet endocrinologists.  I am in New York City and there are very few here, but I met the vet who created the superior treatment for the problem and, after having my vet submit the results of prescribed blood tests and sonograms to this doctor, she went to the endocrinologist for a radioactive iodine shot.  She went there on a Monday, had the shot the same day, and I brought her home on that same Thursday morning.  She had cameras in her condo so I was able to watch her on my computer from that Monday evening until she was removed and brought back to me.  QUESTIONS:  1)  Why was she away so long?  The shot is radioactive so until a pet has peed out all the radioactivity she has to stay.  2) Why are there so few clinics for this?  Because of the radioactivity, they are government controlled and must meet certain standards.  3) Why did I choose this over other treatments?  Well, Tapazole has very serious side effects, Tapazole gel has the same side effects, and you can always buy wet and dry food for thyroid problems, but do you really want your pet on the same food for the rest of her life?  She'll still have to have blood tests all the time to make sure the hyperthyroidism isn't getting worse.  4)  Side effects of the radioactive iodine shot?  None.  Once the shot is given and the pet releases the excess through her pee pee, the chance of still having a hyperthyroid problem is nearly nil.  By the way, Bella's visit for the shot was pleasant for her, as proven by my viewing of her in her condo. The doctor feels that pets who are coming down from a "hyper" anything problem can become depressed, so he provides a pleasant and stimulating atmosphere:  bird feeders in the outside windows, gerbels in an aquarium nearby, and a large screen tv with nature shows on  it.  This shot is always pricey wherever you have it done, but it does eliminate the need for blood tests and medicine all the time down the road. 

 

[dottykittykat]

The medicine can have very serious side effects.  My cat's liver swelled to twice it's size and was the cause of her passing.  My friend's cat began ripping out his fur. The best option is the radioactive iodine shot, which most vets won't tell you about because it takes business away from them for a while.  With the shot, no need for further medication and the thyroid is healed within days.

 

[peachys mom]

 I have a question about the amount of iodine in cat food. I have a 12 cat, diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism. Her level was 9. She has lost 1 lb. mostly in muscle and is now 8lbs.. She is otherwise healthy. I choose the Hills y/d diet, but am not happy with the low protein/high carb ingrediants. They show 0.2 mg/kg of iodine in the canned and dry version. I have researched Primal Pet Foods (Raw Food) and they show a lower level of iodine of 0.12 ppm in all the lines of their food (pheasant, rabbit, chicken, and beef. My question is if Hills is saying you can stabilize/ restore thyroid health in 3 weeks, can't a person feed Primal raw with it's lower iodine level and much higher protein/low carb levels and get the same results?

 

[katiekins]

My cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism last summer. She will be 18 this May and is doing extremely well on Tapazole twice a day.

I first noticed that she was vomiting a lot and then started losing weight. I took her to the vet and the diagnosis was expected, given her symptoms. Almost immediately, the vomiting stopped and within 5 weeks she gained back 2 pounds. Her coat was shinier and she was happy. It's been several months since then and nobody can believe she's a geriatric cat. She is happy, healthy and the vet thinks she will likely live several more years. 

This is a very treatable condition. MANY cats do just fine on the meds. We started at a very low dose and watched for side effects and she's fine. I would have never considered iodine treatment because my cat is extremely anxious and even at this point she needs a mobile veterinary service to come to my home just to collect blood. She would never survive away from me, and the vet agreed. 

 

[mayakitty]

Hey Peachys Mom - I was looking into the same thing and have yet to come up with an answer.  I do however want to point out that Primal's iodine level is for each "nugget" and as you'd likely feed the cat 4-5 of those a day you need to multiply to calculate the daily iodine intake.  That said, I've researched every non-prescription brand of cat food in our local specialty pet shop and Primal has the lowest iodine numbers BY FAR.  Our cat was allergic to the pills and we didn't like the ingredient list for the Hill's food so we're starting the raw, low iodine diet this week and will keep you posted on our results. I know every situation is different but have you had any success?

 

[lcat4]

@Peachys Mom   While Primal Raw may be a great food to feed your cat, please don't try to correct your cat's hyperthyroid state by solely using a low iodine food.  Being in a hyper-t state has significant health implications for your cat:  heart health, other organ health, and metabolic health.  While I appreciate your trying to increase the protein profile of what your cat eats, I would be wary that the hyper-t state would be properly controlled through choosing a non-tested food based on iodine levels.  Also, iodine plays a role in the rest of the bodily functions and immune health, so feeding an iodine deficient food has other implications. 

I've had two cats with hyper-t, one was cured by the I-131 treatment, one was controlled with methimazole.  I personally can't believe the Hills guarantee for cat health in 3 weeks.  I know my cats would never have tolerated only eating one food, every meal, for the rest of their life.  As Katiekins said, hyper-t can be controlled with methimazole (tapazole), although it will require monitoring for the rest of your cat's life, and then the cat can have variety in his food, including Primal Raw.   

Dr. Mark Peterson is the premier vet for hyperthyroidism.  Here is his opinion on the y/d food:  http://endocrinevet.blogspot.com/2012/04/transitioning-hyperthyroid-cats-from.html  If you scroll through his blogspot, you'll see many other articles that discuss this method of treatment.  He has several articles that discuss recommended nutrition for the hyper-t cat.  http://endocrinevet.blogspot.com/2011/09/best-diet-to-feed-hyperthyroid-cats.html    

Here's Dr. Lisa Piersons summary of hyper-t:  http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felinehyperthyroidism  

A 12 year old cat is not very old.  That was about the age we had our cat treated with I-131.  It was a tough three weeks, being gone, then isolated within our house, special cat litter...but he is cured and still great 5 years later.  His brother was treated with methimazole because at the time he was diagnosed with hyper-t he was also diagnosed with cancer.  He was given a few months to live, so we treated his hyper-t with methimazole.  He actually lived two+ more years and I so wish we had gone ahead with the I-131.  The hyper-t state was always a factor in his cancer treatment and overall health.  It would have been nice not to have that complicate his life.

I'm not sure why you are looking at the "low iodine" treatment as opposed to methimazole, or even better the I-131, but I urge you to discuss it with your vet.  My cat was not a great pill taker, so I found a vet pharmacy (mail order) that put the medicine in a chewy treat that my cat gobbled up.  When he started not eating well, they put the medicine in a "tasty" liquid.  I'm not sure how tasty it was, but it got the medicine inside him.