Sebastian is 15 and was really fat for the last six years or so. I guess about 2-3 months ago his weight dropped from 17 pounds to 12.5. It’s pretty much stayed there.
When he was fat he often had digestive problems with both dry and some canned foods, barfed occaisonally and his meows were hoarse; not sure if the hoarseness was a result of the barfing. Now his meows are loud and he is as active and athletic as he was when he was young. But yeah, he’s a little skinny. Not Haunted Mansion cat bony, mind you, but does look a little underweight.
We were told by the vet that he has an overactive thyroid and that he should go on medication. If he goes on thyroid medication he has to stay on it for the remainder of his life and that it may cause kidney problems (which is pretty much a death knell, I gather). Right now his kidneys are fine. We’ve held off making a decision primarily due to financial matters. Not because we are hopeless procrastinators.
I’m sure everybody could have an opinion, but I’m hoping to hear from cat owners with similar situations. Anybody not take Muffy to the vet and wish she had a 10th life?
Maybe a bit apples and oranges, but I’m skeptical of certain medical professionals. My wife works for different dentists and it’s astonishing how many of them put their business interests ahead of your medical interests.
There are a lot of resources out there, but these are fairly good. The first one is more technical.
Essentially, if you don’t treat, your cat’s body is running on “high”. Weight loss is one aspect of that, but you’ll get heart rate abnormalities, panting, digestion problems (vomiting, diarrhea), hair loss, mood changes, and a host of other things.
He’s not going to feel well, at all.
If you don’t trust the diagnosis, please get a second opinion.
I did treat a cat with this condition. I initially ground up pills in soft food, but I later switched to a compounded medication in a liquid (chicken flavor) that I got mailed from a pharmacy in Arizona. No arguing with the cat about meds. It wasn’t very expensive if I recall correctly. He lived several more years with good quality of life.
One more thing - I don’t think the medication causes kidney problems. If I understand it correctly, the hyperactive thyroid can disguise kidney problems. The articles I linked to above should cover this (increased blood flow from the hyperactive thyroid hides kidney issues).
When you first start the thyroid medication, they’ll screen for kidney problems to make sure they weren’t hiding. Knowing about kidney issues sooner rather than later is actually good. Dietary changes are actually becoming more controversial, but you can make changes like switching to soft food which do help.
In which case I suppose radioiodine treatment would be out of the question? I did it when my cat was 15: I had to take out a small loan at the time due to my own financial situation, but she lived for three more years and not having to pill the cat every day was totally worth it.
Reposting this because it needs to be repeated. People with hyperactive thyroids don’t feel well at all. I’m sure that cats with thyroid problems don’t feel well either.
Please start treating your pet as soon as possible.
The medication doesn’t cause kidney problems, as ddsun correctly said, kidney problems are often masked by the hyperactive thyroid issue.
If you can’t afford to get the medication from the vet, and yes the cost of buying medication from vets can be high…but you have to remember that they buy a very small volume at a time, so their cost is high…ask for a prescription for a human drug, then take it to a big box store and buy it there. You don’t have to have a paid membership to use big box pharmacies and the cost will be much lower. You will probably have to split the pills into little tiny pieces which is a pain, but its doable.
If you want the contact info for the compounding pharmacy in Arizona, I have it.
I treated Fred for over 3 years and he seemed much happier once we got his dosage straightened out. I’m quite sure that had I not treated him, I wouldn’t have had those extra 3 years, it probably would have been less than a year. (considering how fast he was losing weight, probably less than 6 months)
So, yes, you do have to put your beloved kitty on thyroid meds unless you want to lose him sooner rather than later.
My parents had a cat for which they did that for the last few months of her life. The medication really did improve her QOL during that time.
Hyperthyroidism isn’t pleasant in people, and it isn’t for cats either.
The ear gel needs to be obtained from a compounding pharmacy, because it isn’t commercially available. However, if something is, it can be obtained at any pharmacy as long as you have a prescription. I’ve filled many veterinary prescriptions over the years.
Thanks, everyone, for your input on this matter. The cat’s disposition hasn’t really changed throughout this period and he purrs as often as ever (a lot). That said, the overwhelming consensus indicates a medical solution, so we’ll move forward at first opportunity.