Help-Maine Coon stopped meowing...hyperthyroidism???

I have a 9 year old Maine Coon cat (Tyler). He has always been very talkative....meowing all the time. A few days ago he stopped meowing completely. He also seemed like he was having some trouble swallowing...as if he had a sore throat.

We had to wait a couple of days over the weekend until our vet was open again. Finally this tuesday I took him in and the vet's initial concern was that he might have hyperthyroidism...a condition where the thyroid doesn't function properly becuase its enlarged...usually by a benign tumor. But to confirm this they need to run a special bloodwork test. They said this would determine whether or not he had this problem. I called today and they said his tests came back normal.So they don't know what could be causing this. Now they want to start running other very expensive tests.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be cheap at the expense of my cats health...I love him to pieces, the closet I ever seen a cat act like a dog. However, I wonder if anyone has had any experience with this problem.Looking for suuggestions and help. Can you answer these questions:

Can hyperthyroidism cause voice loss?

If the cat loses he voice for a extended amount of time, can he lose it forever??

What other health issues could cause a cat to stop meowing???...Does laringitis occur with cats?

Any vet experts on thyroid issues out there???

I want to help this gem of a animal

please keep a close eye on him, mine did the same thing,
And he started loosing weight a couple months later, My cat was like a main coon, but was not full. he was 9 years old also, when i read your post it put tears in my eyes, my cat was like a dog also, he would do everything i asked him, sit, speak, laydown, stay. the whole works, and it ended up very serious, I did not want to tell you anything but i thought you should know, I spent a lot of money 3 different vets, it did not matter to me. i do not know if i was to late, but you should keep trying to find out exactly what is going on.
hopefully your kitty is going to be ok, really sorry i even brought this up, but it reminded me of my cat so much. i did post the same questions you did.If you would like to know the exact steps I took I can tell you. I would at least get an ultrasound or xrays. I waited to long. good luck Hope everything turns out good.

catsareok,

I thank you for your reply, however, I didn't exactly see in your post a diagnosis on what happened to your cat. What was the final verdict on your cat? Hyperthyroidism? What were the steps you took?

We took him to another vet on friday afternoon and they ran some
x-rays. Overall his heart looked well from the outside. However, there is a very light gray area around the lung that they are looking further into. They ran a couple of other tests and they should have the results early next week. In the meantime, they gave us some antibiotics....just in case its laryngitis. I'm hoping that's all that it is. The original thyroid test came up normal, but the lung thing worries me.If the tests we are waiting on dont produce some answers, then we will move forward with the ultrasound.

I did not take any steps until he really started changing his eating habits and lost weight. All the normal test came back good too.then we thought it may be a bad tooth or something, had his teeth cleaned and checked all ok. It seamed like he could not swallow, so the vet put him on cortizone, and antibiotics, did nothing, went to another vet, and he noticed he was laboring breathing, so he did the xrays,
and there was a mass by or in his lung, and his heart did not look good, for his throat, he figured some tumer or mass in there also, the vet gave him this lysic medicine, to clear fluids out of his lungs or something, and said it should make him feel better, but it did not, we had to let him go,poor cat just could not swallow anymore. looks like you are doing the right things early enough, we never got as far as doing an ultra sound.please let me know how things work out. good luck

catsareok,

Our cat, Tyler, has not lost any significant weight...maybe half a pound (in a year). He is still playful and eats regularly. However, I think that its either a lung problem, or a bad case of laryngitis.

His swallowing seems just a bit uncomfortable....but its not severe or anything like that. You can tell that he's a bit confused when he trys meowing but nothing comes out like it regularly does. I think that depresses him a bit. VERY Talkative cat!

I guess its a waiting game right now. Results on the tests we did on friday should come in this week...then we see if ultrasound is needed or if the antibiotics will help.

Thanks for your interest.

stay tuned.....

wow is that a beautiful kitty, and a great picture too,
keep me informed on your kitty's condition if you like.I am sure he will be ok.