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I took Eve in for a checkup at the vet as I was getting a little concerned that she was feeling a little skeletal despite her seemingly voracious appetite. It's yet to be confirmed via the blood tests but seems likely given she has all the symptoms that she has an over-active thyroid. This instantly set off my anxiety - already quite high following a lovely morning and the difficulty we had getting Eve to stay still, the vet had to make multiple attempts to draw blood and I think nicked her vein at one point when she jerked her head back violently. My point being, I didn't think to ask the vet some important stuff. I can Google Hyperthyroidism in cats sure but can anyone give me some advice based on their own experiences? Most importantly, is it likely she's in pain? She seems as affectionate as ever but PI's led me to believe in the past that cats being super affectionate could be their way of letting you know something's wrong. She's already skittish enough as it is without having to pin her down twice a day to drop pills down her throat so I'm thinking, given she's only 8 years old, surgery's probably the best option, maybe radioactive iodine therapy considering I'm in Edinburgh and the University Vet School's licenced for that. Like I said, any advice, reassurance? Bonus disgruntled post vet shot. She let me stroke her outstretched paw but then retreated underneath the couch when I tried to give her head scritches  
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Jun 17, 2016 22:27
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| # ? Apr 20, 2024 01:32 |
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Radioiodine is better than surgery because throat surgery on a cat can be rather delicate and it's just easier to nuke the thing and be done with it. The only downside is you'll be without your cat for a couple weeks.
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Jun 17, 2016 23:50
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Well, thanks for all the kind words of advice and reassurance, PI. Turns out Eve's thyroxine levels are over four times what they should be. This has to be brought under control with pills and some drastic changes to diet before surgery or radiotherapy can be considered. There's some pretty strict criteria for the radioactive iodine treatment apparently, her age is in her favour (she's just about to turn 9  ) but the thyroxine levels definitely aren't. I'm not sure why this wasn't picked up at her last check up a year ago, is this normal progression for hyperthyroidism? Now I'm worried that with her T4 levels being what they are, there may be issues with her heart or kidneys I'll have better luck running these questions by the vet tomorrow I suppose.
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Jun 20, 2016 19:56
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I am not a vet but from what I understand, once the hyperthyroidism is treated, most of the changes to the heart resolve once the thyroid levels are back to normal and no permanent damage is seen. So get that thyroid under control so you can nuke it and everything will be fine. My cat is going to have it done too. Good luck.
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Jun 20, 2016 21:13
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I posted a few weeks ago about this http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3169030&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=544#post460727476 those are the 5 options I was given by my vet. I am also in Scotland so I'd imagine these are what you'll be told about too. Buffy is coping well with the pills (she's a glutton and will happily gulp down tiny pills hidden in a blob of Dairylea) but I did consider the radiotherapy (I'd probably go to the Royal Dick over at Edinburgh). Don't get all in a tizzy by what you read on the internet, a lot of it is highly alarming and may not even apply to your cat. If you go for the radiotherapy, be warned it's going to cost you. A consultation and some tests at the RD will set you back a couple of hundred (I've been there with cats twice this year so I know the current price range roughly) depending on what they check. The radiotherapy itself would run in the order of 1500 upwards - it's keeping the cat for a month afterwards that's the expensive bit. The vets at the RD are fantastic though and they have every diagnostic device in existence available to them. Personally I'll be keeping Buffy on the pills for now (pending further blood tests in a few weeks). Diet is not an options really as I have 2 cats and Oliver will not eat separately from Buffy (been there, tried that). Surgery would be an option as she's very healthy for her age but it'd still be a big risk. Plus not all feline thyroid is in the throat, I was told it can also be in the chest or head. Plus the risk of damaging or removing the parathyroid with it is pretty high (and then you have a really big problem).
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Jun 22, 2016 12:03
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We did two pills daily with a pill shooter (like this https://www.amazon.com/Mikki-Pill-Gun/dp/B00076HUB4 the vet gave it to us) and that worked fine. Of course she was a frail little thing and sweet to boot, so not much of a struggle. She would spit out the pills in treats.
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Jun 28, 2016 16:59
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I was at the Royal Dick in Edinburgh (yes US cousins, it's actually called that ok) with one of our rescues for a followup. While I was there I spoke to one of the vets about radiotherapy and got their handout. They have the shortest stay in the UK and on average cats go home after 10 days (which should cut the cost of care down considerably). Cats still have to go on pills for a few weeks anyway to make sure the hyperthyroidism isn't masking kidney or other co-morbidities. So once she's had her blood tests in 3 weeks time (having had 6 weeks on pills) I'll be able to get a steer from my vet whether radiotherapy would be appropriate. The vet I spoke to says it's the preferred option in her book since it's generally a complete cure. She mentioned the head of medicine at the Dick had just put her 16 y/o through it so they eat their own dog food so to speak. I just want to get something done though. I hate seeing Buffy so restless, grooming too much and scratching constantly but rushing it's not an option.
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Jun 28, 2016 18:23
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I have a hyperthyroidic cat who lives with my mother who is terrified of radiation. He is also about 17 now and has been on pills for the past year and a half. So long as he gets them regularly he is perfectly fine and maintains a healthy weight. They are also extremely easy to administer as he will just eat them with his wet food. I would prefer to get him radio therapy as it should still be safe but my mother won't hear of it. So my advice is don't worry, even if you end up needing to get pills for the rest of the cats life they are cheap (under a dollar a day for my cats treatment. which makes it about 1/3rd of the price of the food he eats daily as my mother gets the real expensive all natural holistic-organic-etc food) and provide a high quality of life for the cat (he enjoys going outside on my mothers farm and napping in various spots like the warm brick or under the bushes) A big thing to deal with until you get the surgery is going to be the nails, they will grow like a motherfuck if the cat isn't getting treated properly, trim those or they can grow all the way around and dig into the cats paws.
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Jul 2, 2016 06:22
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I was talking to my roommate's mum about her hyperthyroid cat recently (the roommate's a cat whisperer and the rest of his family are close behind). This is all entirely anecdotal, of course, but the cat ended up being intolerant of the anti-hyperthyroid medication. Not quite allergic, but it caused her digestive system to partially shut down, causing blockages with the associated vomiting. They only got to the bottom of it when they had to discontinue all medication for another reason, and the cat started pooping again. But once they figured it out, they got on a new medication that didn't have as many issues. And then I learnt about specialty cat food for hyperthyroid cats that's just normal food with very very low iodine. Basically undetectable levels of iodine. No idea if it's the best choice, and, speaking as someone who has at least a little experience with iodine in food, its just gotta be expensive.
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Jul 9, 2016 14:19
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IronClaymore posted:I was talking to my roommate's mum about her hyperthyroid cat recently (the roommate's a cat whisperer and the rest of his family are close behind). That's roughly what my vet told me last week when I asked her again. The pills get the cats by for a while but they aren't a cure and they are eventually ineffective. I've told my vet to organise getting Buffy the radiotherapy. Hopefully start next week sometime.
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Jul 9, 2016 22:52
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I've booked Buffy in for the Iodine radio therapy on the 26th, I'll let you know how she gets on.
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Jul 16, 2016 14:59
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My elder cat had the radioiodine a couple of years back, and she's been perfectly fine ever since, no longer needing the treatment she was on (which was some daily gel we applied to her ear). She was around 11 years old at the time of the treatment. We had to try and not spend lots of time giving her love and snugs when she returned home for the first couple of weeks, and would have had to take extra precautions if there was any pregnancy / chance of it in the house. She's now back to happily perching herself in inappropriate place for cats.  My mother's cat was diagnosed around the same timeframe, and she opted to give him the pills, as she couldn't afford the radiation. The little shithead refused to take them properly, no matter what food they were hidden in, and she didn't want to force feed him them either. He was put down last year a skinny wee man.
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Jul 26, 2016 07:14
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Thanks for that, it's nice to see a positive result rather than just be told about it by the vets. I took Buffy in today for her pre-therapy assessment. She had a sort of small fit that they think might be hypertension related to the hyperthyroidism (and they didn't get time to do a scan on her) so she's staying there overnight and we'll go over the results tomorrow. With luck it'll all be things caused or antagonised by the hyperthyroidism and she can take the treatment in a couple of weeks when they have a slot.
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Jul 26, 2016 19:29
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My mother's 16 year old cat is doing very well on his pills and has gained significant amounts of weight and energy. I would personally have the therapy done but she is afraid of atoms.
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Aug 6, 2016 00:21
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AtomikKrab posted:My mother's 16 year old cat is doing very well on his pills and has gained significant amounts of weight and energy. I would personally have the therapy done but she is afraid of atoms. I was actually quite excited to have a radioactive cat. Or at least be able to tell people she had a run-in with radioactive substances and is now.. SPIDERCAT!
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Aug 8, 2016 04:46
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