URGENT! Need help, support and info on Feline Hyperthyroidism

Hi Micki,

I have had two cats experience this problem.  While it can be a severe issue, you sound as if it has been caught in time.  With treatment, your kitty should be OK!

With both of our cats, I discussed with my vet the surgery vs. medication.  In both cases, we decided to go with medication first to see if the thyroid levels could be balanced that way.  The pills come in chicken or fish chewables, and you will most likely start on a lower dose to leave you room in case it needs to be adjusted.  In both our cats, this worked well for over two years, with re-adjustments of doses periodically, until the surgery was needed.  In the surgery, our vet removed the half of the thyroid that was the problem, and left the other half.  A low dose of medication was still needed, but our cats had no problems with surgery.  A "full profile" before surgery would give you and your vet a better idea if your cat would handle surgery well.

This is a very treatable illness in the early stages, and is not uncommon!  Our cats who developed it had it for years (over 5), before they passed away from unrelated illnesses at over 14 years old each.

Let me know how it goes!

Krys

www.quality-cat-care.com

Thank you so much for taking the time & effort to answer my question.

I have an appointment to take him in tomorrow morning where they will do an X-ray or full profile to see where exactly it is, how big and then we decide on course of treatment.

Yes I'm nervous but We'll get thru this! His cholesterol was high too! He LOVES pizza! and any cream filling in a cupcake or twinkie! LOL and of course LOVES to lick the cream cheese off my bagels! LOL So No more of that! He's a BIG cat. he's 25 lbs of pure muscle. I call him a small Panther! His name is Oscar. and he's about 8 years old.

Anyway, thanks again. I really appreciate what you said.

Most sincerely, Micki & "Oscar" the small black panther!

A pic of him. Let me know if it goes thru and you can see it? if not, try the links. ONE OF THEM SHOULD WORK! LOL

[IMG]http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g43/mickyomarx/MomAndSon.jpg[/IMG]

So cute!  Wow, he is a big guy!  Our cats like dairy too, but they don't get it that often - usually they just hang around my feet in the kitchen and hope some falls from the sky...!

Good luck to you guys, let me know how it goes!

K

Thanks! I will mark this, get online 2morrow after we get back from the vet. Let you know how it goes.

How many cats do you have?

Micki

Hi Micki (and Oscar),

I've had two cats have this problem and I've had it myself!

This is one of the easiest cat diseases to treat so you and Oscar have lucked out. This is one of the most easiest and successful diseases to treat.

There is another option I haven't seen mentioned yet in the answers to your question. In my case and for my cats, I did  the radioactive iodine treatment. There are probably several places on the web you can read about this and I'm sure your vet will discuss this option with you. You can read about it here:

http://www.westsidefamilypet.com/documents/hyperthyroidradioactive.PDF 

Both my cats and myself responded well, completely recovered and didn't have to deal with pills every day. Not every clinic does this, so if you don't have a specialist in your area, this may not be an option but it's a really good one for hyperthyroidism.

For more answers and support, I also recommend the feline hyperthyroid group over at Yahoo:

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/hypertoptions/

Good luck to you and Oscar!

Cat

Were going to give him the liquid meds until I can afford the radiation therapy. With that the Doc said, no more giving meds twice a day and all that B.S. With Radition, its a one time shot, and it gets rid of it, the problem and were done!

Lucky that Doc said his heart has NO murmer, is in great condition, DID catch it early, which is another good thing! WHEW!

JUST got back from the Vet, am having some food, a beer. Going to start his med treatment 2morrow. Once in AM & once in PM. No more trauma today.

Thanks again!

Sincerely, Micki

I knew a woman who's adult cat developed this. I know that the cat stayed at the vets for a long time. Unfortunately, I do not know what the out come was. I know it is very rare and very complicated.

Heya out there!!

I was scared and freaking out when i found out that my cat has hyperthyroidism.

I found a lot of help from the people that did answer and knew what they were talking about.

I am now saving money to get my cat the treatment he needs. He's on a liquid yucky bitter tasting med now.

Thanks god we caught it so early! And its curable! Whew!

Thanks to everyone for your answers and taking the time and effort to read, do research and help me understand what i was dealing with!

This is a great site. Has a lot of wonderful people.

I think that yedda is finally trying to sort out the 'nuts' so kudos to them for their effort as well!

Peace & love to all our animals & to all the kind, loving people who have made yedda a great place to come, find answers, friends and a lot of people that have same interests etc.

Thanks yedda!

Most sincerely, your friendly animal behaviorist, ~micki!

F.A.B. ~MICKI~