- Joined
- Nov 20, 2023
- Messages
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Hi, it's been a while since I posted. The last time it was about my 3 legged cat, Thump.
This time it's about my elderly cat, Song, age 14).
I adopted her when she was 2 years old, and almost always fed her dry kibble, and she self regulated her eating of it. But when I got Thump, Thump would eat her own food then go eat what Song left in her bowl for later. So I had to feed them just a small amount two to three times a day.
When Song was a solo cat, she usually got slightly pudgy in the winter and then come summer wouldn't finish out her daily food on some days, and she dropped her winter weight. Last summer, her weight went down, but she didn't really put on that bit of 'puffiness' during this past winter. She was having hairball issues, and upchucked often with a hairball there upon occasion.
So I thought it was due to that. I put her on hairball treatment and switched to canned food hoping that she could digest it easier and any remaining hairball(s) would slide on through. She did quit coughing them up...however her weight continued to drop.
I took her to my vet. It turned out that the hairball stuff hid a deeper issue given the weight loss. Song has high thyroid numbers.
For 3 weeks now, she's been on what will be lifelong meds. However, a few days before the diagnosis and meds, she started showing dementia symptoms.
I had another cat, named Ashley who lived to 21 years old, so I recognize what's happening.
So far, with Song, the episodes are only about 30 seconds to a minute long, but they are getting more frequent. And unlike Ashley who just meowed constantly while walking during her episodes. Song sits and YEOWLS! Sometimes she's facing a wall, or once in the kitchen, facing the oven. The first time it happened I thought she had Hurt herself!
Fortunately, her confusion stops as soon as she sees me, AU, my golden retriever, or Thump. My other cat, Ashley... I could never get her to snap out of her dementia episodes.
Anyway, I haven't found much info on the internet about this, but I read that high thyroid numbers can cause dementia in cats. But what I can't find is if treatment that starts early on, in Song's case, just days later...can that help reverse the dementia?
If anyone has had any experience with this thyroid connected dementia, I would sure welcome the information.
This is Song:
:
---------
Stormy
This time it's about my elderly cat, Song, age 14).
I adopted her when she was 2 years old, and almost always fed her dry kibble, and she self regulated her eating of it. But when I got Thump, Thump would eat her own food then go eat what Song left in her bowl for later. So I had to feed them just a small amount two to three times a day.
When Song was a solo cat, she usually got slightly pudgy in the winter and then come summer wouldn't finish out her daily food on some days, and she dropped her winter weight. Last summer, her weight went down, but she didn't really put on that bit of 'puffiness' during this past winter. She was having hairball issues, and upchucked often with a hairball there upon occasion.
So I thought it was due to that. I put her on hairball treatment and switched to canned food hoping that she could digest it easier and any remaining hairball(s) would slide on through. She did quit coughing them up...however her weight continued to drop.
I took her to my vet. It turned out that the hairball stuff hid a deeper issue given the weight loss. Song has high thyroid numbers.
For 3 weeks now, she's been on what will be lifelong meds. However, a few days before the diagnosis and meds, she started showing dementia symptoms.
I had another cat, named Ashley who lived to 21 years old, so I recognize what's happening.
So far, with Song, the episodes are only about 30 seconds to a minute long, but they are getting more frequent. And unlike Ashley who just meowed constantly while walking during her episodes. Song sits and YEOWLS! Sometimes she's facing a wall, or once in the kitchen, facing the oven. The first time it happened I thought she had Hurt herself!
Fortunately, her confusion stops as soon as she sees me, AU, my golden retriever, or Thump. My other cat, Ashley... I could never get her to snap out of her dementia episodes.
Anyway, I haven't found much info on the internet about this, but I read that high thyroid numbers can cause dementia in cats. But what I can't find is if treatment that starts early on, in Song's case, just days later...can that help reverse the dementia?
If anyone has had any experience with this thyroid connected dementia, I would sure welcome the information.
This is Song:
:
---------
Stormy