More Hyperthyroidism

Unbelievable...my other cat, Sally, has just been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. She will not be as good of a patient as Max was.

Sorry to hear about the hyperthyroidism. It is a common issue with cats. I am on my second one also. I lost Baby K a little over a year ago. He was 13 years old. It became hard to control in a cat his age. Although he lived many good years with it.

Now I have Arthur who has it. It is pretty easy to control now. He is hungry a lot, and is very vocal. But he is playing and eating and being his usual goofy self. He was just diagnosed a couple of months ago.

At first I thought he had diabetes. He had lost weight and was so thirsty. The vet said hyperthyroidism is easier on them than diabetes. So, I wish you luck. You have dealt with this before so you are probably well informed. I wish we could be well informed without dealing with it!

Keep us posted. Just to make you feel better, I have a hyperthyroid cat, a diabetic cat, and a cat recovering from crystals. Gotta go pass meds!

Wow...what are the chances.

At least, like Farleyv said, you've probably got everything down pat by now. How old is Sally? I'd never really even heard of Hyperthyroidism until Cotton got his diagnosis, but now the more I read up on it the more common is seems in mature cats. Fortunately it sounds like you caught it early on in Sally. That will likely make it easier to get under control.

Good luck and good for both of you.

Thank you for your concern, Farleyv. It sounds like you have your hands full with your cats.
Before Max started showing signs of eating trouble (due to the unfortunate oral tumor), I never heard of hyperthyroidism. Now I hear that this has become the most common metabolic problem with cats. Some say that it's linked to the increased usage of PBDE (polybrominated diphenyl ether), used in making flame retardants (while grooming, cats ingest residue from furniture upholstery) and the coating used inside of pull-top pet-food cans.
Ms. Freya, Sally is about 15 y.o. (about the same as Max). I don't know for sure because all of the cats I've shared my home with (over 27 years) were hand-me-downs. I'm not sure what you meant by saying that I caught it early in Sally. I'm thinking that both Max and Sally had this condition for years. Being a displaced manufacturing worker, my financial situation has not been good for the past 8 years. A lot of things kept getting pushed back. I'm driving on badly worn tires, can't remember the last time I had an eye exam--and regular vet check-ups didn't happen either. And so forth, etc.
Because I was able to bring Max's high-level hyperthyroidism down to the acceptable range in just under 3 weeks, I feel confident that Sally's not-as-bad hyperthyroidism should respond well. However, while all the other lab tests for Max were normal, Sally tested slightly off for BUN and liver. I'm thinking that perhaps the liver thing is because she might have been somewhat mal-nourished for quite some time. Doc says, while Sally hissed during the exam, she was able to get a few looks inside Sally's mouth, and it appears that Sally's dental hygiene is worse than Max's was.
Sally is eating by licking up canned food softened with a little warm water. She has always been a fussy eater, and that has become more challenging. But, unlike Max, her tongue works, there's no drooling and she grooms herself well.
So now I administer 2.5mg per day of methimazole, and Sally is scheduled to be re-tested on Feb. 18th. Although she is an expert pill-spitter, I found a way around this by using my homemade pill shooter that I made out of a 1cc syringe. All Sally knows is that, every now and then, her human squirts a small amount of food in her mouth. (The pill is broken in pieces and buried in the food.)
Hopefully, Sally will test good enough at that time to schedule the dental work.
I'm still mourning the loss of Max, and now I have to repeat the medical process with Sally. Unbelievable.

I am sorry you are having to deal with this so soon after the loss of MAx. I am also on my second hyper-t cat, but my first was a stray picked up with very advanced hyper-t and there was nothing we could do, as he wouldnt accept medication. Sam however, is very easy to pill, I hide it in soft cheese, and as he loves the cheese, he comes running when I shake the pill bottle and takes it with no problems. I wouldnt overly worry about her liver values, it is very normal for them to be off with hyper-t, and doesnt mean she has liver issues - Sam has 3 high liver values at the moment, and the vet is confident they will be fine once his values are down a bit (he also has dental issues, and a heart murmur). Just having a high BUN can be a sign of an infection, so it could just be related to her mouth, rather than her kidneys.

My condolences. My family's beloved Mokie passed away at the age of nineteen last summer, and he lived with hyperthyroidism for the last four years of his life. He too took Methimazole (sp?) but we had to pill him the old-fashioned way, as he developed a dislike for Pill Pockets and would eat around the pill in his food. Mokie was a trooper, and still purred and played despite the disease and his advanced age.

I too have heard of the connection between pull-top cat food cans and hyperthyroidism. Does anyone know if there was a study done on this, and if so, by whom?

When my first hyper cat got it, they were only on dry. No canned. But I did have stuffed furniture. I heard that also about the furniture and fire retardants.

What is safe anymore?

What is safe anymore? Good question, Farleyv.
Here's a brief update: Sally continues to get the methimazole for the hyperthyroidism. Although she is certifiably unpillable, with Max's Memorial Home-made Pill Installer, it's been going very well so far. She is scheduled for a blood test on Feb. 18th.

Getting Sally to eat enough until she is ready for the dental work has been challenging at times. I've been mashing up canned food with a little warm water, and Sally licks at it. Yesterday (Monday evening), she was eating pretty well--she licked one bowl empty. A big improvement over the weekend when Sally had another "puke-fest." Just what I don't need right now! I caught her nibbling on a house plant (which I relocated) and I found her crawling under some shelves in the basement, eating dusty cobwebs. (Sally has always done this sort of thing.) A few doses of hairball remedy seems to have helped.

Because I think Sally may not be eating enough on her own, every now and then, I use Max's Memorial Home-made Feeding Syringe to give her some extra nutrition using a high-calorie catfood that she won't touch at all.
And speaking of Max, I miss him and still have difficulty thinking about how quickly I lost him.

I'm sorry to hear about that... I just went through a possible hyperthyroidism scare with one of my kitties, Taylor. I can only imagine how frustrated and upset you feel. That's extremely interesting to hear about the lining in cat food cans and the furniture thing.

I hope things go as well as can be expected for you and your kitty!

Originally Posted by mismaris777

I'm sorry to hear about that... I just went through a possible hyperthyroidism scare with one of my kitties, Taylor. I can only imagine how frustrated and upset you feel. That's extremely interesting to hear about the lining in cat food cans and the furniture thing.

I hope things go as well as can be expected for you and your kitty!

Click to expand...

Thank you for your thoughts, Mismaris...
Here's the latest on Sally: She had a blood test on Feb 18th, after one month on 2.5 mg of methimazole per day. As I kinda figured, there was only a small decrease in the hyperthyroidism level. Seemed like a waste of meds, a month of effort and $70 for the lab work. Liver function improved, but the BUN level is still a bit elevated. Doc then prescribed 2.5 mg twice per day (the same dosage that brought Max's hyper-T down into the acceptable range in just under 3 weeks).
So now we wait another month to see if Sally will be ready for the dental work. Meanwhile, her breath stinks, and I gotta keep mashing the food and adding a little warm water.

You sound like you are getting down...who wouldn't. But things will get better. They will.

I should get Arthur back for another blood work. I think I will call tomorrow and set it up.

You sure take good care of your guys! They are a lot of work and money, but what price love?

Keep the faith.

I am surprised at the vets medication - in the UK we start on 2 x 2.5mg and then work down, rather than start at a lower dose. Fingers crossed it works for her.

Originally Posted by booktigger

I am surprised at the vets medication - in the UK we start on 2 x 2.5mg and then work down, rather than start at a lower dose. Fingers crossed it works for her.

Click to expand...

My vet also starts low and works up. The kidneys can be affected, so less is better, is the way my vet looks at it.

It probably varies from vet to vet rather than country.

I may be facing hyperthyroid again too, I'll know this week. Tolly has liver damage from years of being on phenobarbital for seizures, the Denosyl has helped with that, but he's suddenly gotten very thin. And I mean SUDDENLY, like the past three or four days. His appetite is not increased (he has never had much interest in food) but he is playing like a maniac.

Good luck with Sally. I'll be following her progress. So sorry about your loss of your beloved Max.

I lost a cat that had that. She slowly wasted away over a year or so. I remember finally having to have her put to sleep.

I don't believe there's anything natural about the epidemic of thyroid problems in cats. I think it's a sign of something bad going on in general. Something poisoning our cats.

Originally Posted by otto

My vet also starts low and works up. The kidneys can be affected, so less is better, is the way my vet looks at it.

It probably varies from vet to vet rather than country.

I may be facing hyperthyroid again too, I'll know this week. Tolly has liver damage from years of being on phenobarbital for seizures, the Denosyl has helped with that, but he's suddenly gotten very thin. And I mean SUDDENLY, like the past three or four days. His appetite is not increased (he has never had much interest in food) but he is playing like a maniac.

Good luck with Sally. I'll be following her progress. So sorry about your loss of your beloved Max.

Click to expand...

Thanks, Otto. How is Tolly doing?

Originally Posted by merrytreecats

I lost a cat that had that. She slowly wasted away over a year or so. I remember finally having to have her put to sleep.

I don't believe there's anything natural about the epidemic of thyroid problems in cats. I think it's a sign of something bad going on in general. Something poisoning our cats.

Click to expand...

I completely agree!

Update on Sally...

Sally received the dental work on March 25th. She came through just fine. The Doc took some extra precautions because of the hyperthyroidism (now controlled down to an acceptable level), a heart murmur and the beginnings of CRF. Along with the standard dental cleaning, Sally had one extraction--a tooth that had split into 3 pieces down to the root, causing a lot of discomfort.

After returning home, Sally wasted no time getting something to eat. In fact, for the next 24 hours, she ate considerably more than I'd seen her eat in any 24-hour period in the last couple of months. I was elated. But it didn't last. The eating situation seems to have reverted back pretty much to the way it was before the dental work. I'm trying to keep in mind that Sally had nothing to eat for 20 hours (due to the dental procedure), so she might have been super-hungry for a while. And the recovery period plus pain meds may be having a lingering effect. And on Doc's orders, I have not yet started to serve the dry food. I know that Sally had been picking at it very slowly before the dental work, and so she may be tired of always getting canned food. Yesterday, I peeked around the corner and saw her walking around and looking into 4 bowls of different canned foods. She took a few licks from one bowl and walked away. I've been doing a lot of assisted (syringe) feeding throughout this whole ordeal, but it's disruptive and will not be sufficient in the long run (it's a 1-human household--and that human has to trade time for wages).

I fear that her appetite might simply be declining with age and health. Sally has been eating on her own but not quite enough. Her lab tests from March 18th show BUN at 51, creatinine at 2.1. Urine specific gravity is down, but I don't have the number handy. She drinks OK (sometimes it seems a bit much), and she urinates once about every 5 hours. She passes a stool each day, and it is generally of normal form (occasionally a bit hard, sometimes a bit soft). Doesn't seem like there's any constipation issues. And ever since I started making an effort to keep her fed, Sally has had a nearly complete elimination of "mystery vomits." Today, of course, I have a better understanding of what this is.

Any advice would be very much appreciated. In the long run, if I can hear Sally crunching away on the dry food just one more time--and if I can keep her going long enough so that the shaved area on her arm grows back in, I will consider my efforts (and the expense) to have been worthwhile.