Okay, so about a year and a half ago I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I was kinda expecting that I might eventually develop a thyroid disorder 'cuz my mother has one. I’m FINALLY starting to feel better, after switching to a different thyroid med a couple of months ago. I was getting mighty tired of getting my blood drawn every 6 weeks, let me tell you.
So I make an appointment for my Grumpy Old Lady cat, who needs a rabies vaccination, and a general checkup because I’ve noticed that she’s gotten thinner and has lost some muscle mass. She just turned 16 years old last month, and I’ve been trying to have blood tests done every year on her, to check out her organ functions and make sure everything is running smoothly. Elderly cats are prone to developing kidney disease/failure, hyperthyroidism, and diabetes, among other things. I was wondering if maybe she was developing diabetes or hyperthyroidism, because of the weight loss. The appointment was yesterday, and sure enough, when I called my vet, he said she’s hyperthyroid! He said she’s just over the normal range into the hyper range, so I could either wait, retest in a couple months to see if it had changed, or I could start giving her medication. I decided to wait, because she WILL NOT eat food that has medicine mixed in it, and so I have to force it down her throat, and I’d rather not add any extra stress to her life until I absolutely have to. I laughed and told him that it was funny, because I have hypothyroidism, and now my cat had hyperthyroidism!
I just hope that when/if I have to start giving her medicine, I don’t mix up my rx with hers! :eek:
Thyroid Twin Powers, Activate!!
Shape of … a goiter!
Form of … iodine!!
Sua
[sub]apologizes if I’ve utterly confused thyroid conditions with something else. It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything involving medicine.[/sub]
Wow! My dog and I both had hypothyroid (I say had because the dog passed a year ago.) We took the same pills except for mine was a higher dosage. Her pills cost more because I had insurance.
My mom’s cat has a hyperthyroid problem, too. When she was diagnosed they gave her the option of surgery & pills, or a special radioactive iodine treatment which is expensive and can only be done by certain vets who specialize in it.
Well they went for the surgery and danged if the thyroid didn’t grow right back in a couple years. Kitty is now on 6 pills a day, and it turns out it would have been a lot easier and cheaper in the long run to have gone with the radiation treatment.
Then again, if your cat’s 16 years old, no idea what the better treatment would be…
We do I-131 treatments at my hospital. (We’re the expensive veterinary specialists). The internal medicine specialist in charge of the I-131 treatments was recently diagnosed with hyperthyroidism.
A moggy is a cat, so is this being posted by a cat? Who has a pet cat?
On a serious note, what are the signs of thyroid problems? My cat has lost a lot of weight. He has some kidney trouble, but I’m worried something else is wrong. Would the bloodwork the vet did for the kidney trouble be enough to indicate thyroid problems?
Moggy, sorry if it seems like I’m trying to steal your thread. I’m just worried. So is “Grumpy Old Lady” your cat’s actual name, or is a title she’s earned? Our Grumpy Old Lady cat prefers to simply be called “Evil.”
lesa, if your cat has lost weight, it could be related to the kidney problems, or it could be a thyroid problem. The main symptom that indicates hyperthyroidism in cats in excessive weight loss- with the cat eating the normal amount of food, or eating more. If you’re concerned, talk to your vet. The test they run to check thyroid is called a T4, and your vet probably didn’t run it with the tests for kidney function and all.
My nickname is moggy, because, well, my name is Morgan, and I’ve always loved cats, so Morgan= mog or moggy. Just seemed to fit, y’know? Grumpy Old Lady is one of my cat’s titles, her name is Cio-Cio (pronounced Cho-Cho). I also call her The Antique and Grumpy Bumpy, because she has a couple of little fatty tumors. And of course, she IS grumpy. Well, maybe not all the time, but she sounds grumpy. She has a very fussy, querulous sounding meow, even when she’s happy to see me and is coming over to be pet.
Sua, that is SO FUNNY!!! Yes, you got it right. Thanks for the laugh, I needed that.
Our Vanessa showed the same symptoms: advanced age, eating normally, losing weight. She was down to about 6 pounds when we finally brought her in. Yes, we were that blind.
We went with the pills, no surgery. The way it was explained to us, it was a choice between pills, and surgery and pills, and we didn’t see the need for the surgery.
She’s back up nearly to her old weight now, after about a year. She takes 3 pills a day, 1 1/2 at a time. Putting it down her throat is really no trouble. Pry open her jaw, push gently down, close and a little puff of air on her nose to start the reflex-swallow action. Not too good for her, but OTOH, she gets fed the wet cat food, which drives the other cats crazy with jealousy (they get dry kibble).
