Hyperthroid

Well, after looking at some symptoms my cat seems to have -- hyperthyroid seemed to come up.  He had a full check up in April and though I don't know if she tested that, I have this feeling she did.  He got a clean bill of health. In may he got diagnosed with asthma and I gave him three short doses of steroid. I also put him on a diet. Though I understand it was probably on the two low side... I would guess he was getting about 200 to 250 cals per day.  He proceeded to cry at me all day, ever day. In 6 months he has lost 2 lbs.  From 20 to 18.

I thought his crying was his being hungry and I did cut back on his food.

But last week he started throwing up and having diarrhea that isn't going away.  And now I notice that he doesn't really sleep as much as he used to. Although I had thought that was due to him getting less food. I know when I diet I am more awake.  He crys at me a lot and is restless.

Before he used to sleep about 6 hours during the daytime and now, it is about 3. And though I have no way of knowing how much he sleeps at night, it seems like he sleeps about the same.

Anyone who had a hyperthyroid cat, was there an Ah ha symptom?

If the last check up was in April u should get ur cat back to the vet ASAP. Sorry I can't be of anymore help. Keep us posted and good luck mommy to buck.

My 10 year old cat pal Vivian is recovering from surgery to remove a tumor on her thyroid, along with one lobe of the thyroid gland, which was causing hyperthyroidism. I actually just joined this site looking for some advice on some post-surgery symptoms she's having. But to answer your question, there were a couple of red flags with Vivian. Weight loss was one - it's hard to see their weight loss until it is significant. She went from about 12.5 to just over 10 pounds in a little over three months. The other was loose stools/diarrhea. She had always had firm stool and our other cat Willis has struggled in this area, so I thought the loose ones were his - he weighs 20 lbs. and eats like a horse, has had a bit of loose stool off and on his whole life so I don't worry much about him. When I realized it was Vivian with loose stool - and then saw small amounts of fresh blood on it - I knew there was a problem. Seems like it happened fast. She was at the vet mid-May for a sore leg (arthritis) and had a comprehensive exam and xrays, no thyroid tumor or weight loss was noted at that time. A  blood test will give you your answer. The weight loss could be your successful diet strategy, but the persistent vomiting and diarrhea are major warning signs that something is wrong - off to the vet you go.

Mommytobuck said:

 
Well, after looking at some symptoms my cat seems to have -- hyperthyroid seemed to come up.  He had a full check up in April and though I don't know if she tested that, I have this feeling she did.  He got a clean bill of health. In may he got diagnosed with asthma and I gave him three short doses of steroid. I also put him on a diet. Though I understand it was probably on the two low side... I would guess he was getting about 200 to 250 cals per day.  He proceeded to cry at me all day, ever day. In 6 months he has lost 2 lbs.  From 20 to 18.

I thought his crying was his being hungry and I did cut back on his food.

But last week he started throwing up and having diarrhea that isn't going away.  And now I notice that he doesn't really sleep as much as he used to. Although I had thought that was due to him getting less food. I know when I diet I am more awake.  He crys at me a lot and is restless.

Before he used to sleep about 6 hours during the daytime and now, it is about 3. And though I have no way of knowing how much he sleeps at night, it seems like he sleeps about the same.

Anyone who had a hyperthyroid cat, was there an Ah ha symptom?

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You can't and shouldn't make the leap to hyperthyroid based on vomiting and diarrhea.  The most common symptom of hyperthyroid is weight loss with despite an increase in appetite.

Diarrhea and vomiting are symptoms of many things, and by themselves can't create a diagnosis, although one could suspect IBD, parasites, food issues, kidneys issues etc.  Your cat needs to be seen by a vet, bringing a stool sample will help.  Your vet will want to do blood work.

StephenQ said:

 
You can't and shouldn't make the leap to hyperthyroid based on vomiting and diarrhea.  The most common symptom of hyperthyroid is weight loss with despite an increase in appetite.

Diarrhea and vomiting are symptoms of many things, and by themselves can't create a diagnosis, although one could suspect IBD, parasites, food issues, kidneys issues etc.  Your cat needs to be seen by a vet, bringing a stool sample will help.  Your vet will want to do blood work.

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Thank you.  My cat is "fractious" at the vet and it it extremely hard to get a blood sample without torturing the cat and or putting him out. So I feel it is crucial not to overreact. In addition I kind of ovveracted last week and took my cat to the ER when he thew up... and they flat out refused to do any sort of invasive tests -- blood xrays.  They didn't feel it was justified until he had more / more severe symptoms.  They sent me away with an anti diarrhea medicine.  Which I only gave to him once before he seemed to recover.  But later got worse again.

The stool sample is in at the vet and I am also discontinuing a medication that was new to him when this developed -- if after all that,  he still has the problem... I will have to take him to the vet for an exam.

I am depressed that my cat has NEVER had diarrhea in 8 years of living and now he is having it suddenly and somewhat persistently but there are a lot of things that it could be. He has lost weight but I also cut back on his food. Today I am giving him more food.  And different food (but one that he has had before) just to see what happens.

Mommytobuck said:

 
Thank you.  My cat is "fractious" at the vet and it it extremely hard to get a blood sample without torturing the cat and or putting him out. So I feel it is crucial not to overreact. In addition I kind of ovveracted last week and took my cat to the ER when he thew up... and they flat out refused to do any sort of invasive tests -- blood xrays.  They didn't feel it was justified until he had more / more severe symptoms.  They sent me away with an anti diarrhea medicine.  Which I only gave to him once before he seemed to recover.  But later got worse again.

The stool sample is in at the vet and I am also discontinuing a medication that was new to him when this developed -- if after all that,  he still has the problem... I will have to take him to the vet for an exam.

I am depressed that my cat has NEVER had diarrhea in 8 years of living and now he is having it suddenly and somewhat persistently but there are a lot of things that it could be. He has lost weight but I also cut back on his food. Today I am giving him more food.  And different food (but one that he has had before) just to see what happens.

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You'e cat is sick and having both diarrhea and vomiting is a bad sign, it means something is wrong from top to bottom (stomach to colon) or its something systemic, regardless I think he needs a vet.  You could either give oral tranquilizers at home to mellow him out before the trip or google a house call vet in your area.

StephenQ said:

 
You'e cat is sick and having both diarrhea and vomiting is a bad sign, it means something is wrong from top to bottom (stomach to colon) or its something systemic, regardless I think he needs a vet.  You could either give oral tranquilizers at home to mellow him out before the trip or google a house call vet in your area.

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He is fractious with a home vet too.   In fact once I had a home vet come out and they couldn't get the blood.  The last time we got blood, it took several vets and vet technicians on top of him and man, it was tough. I am not sure how they did it at all.  They were the only ones who could do it without putting him out. I think it was that they tuckered him out, it went on for about 20 minutes trying.

He only thew up one day. And it was the same day that he had bad diarrhea. Since that time  he hasn't thrown up and has had diarrhea but not bad. Couldn't that just be a bug / parasite working its way though the body?  Couldn't it be the medication that I had been giving him daily until he got sick and now, gave to him much more sporadically?  The medication is a steroid that is supposed to suppress his immune system (for asthma) so couldn't that allow a bug or something to really hold on?  Since his immune system is reduced.  The pill is a chewable with fish flavoring.. couldn't the fish flavoring be causing issues?  There are just so many other options before going into the vet.  

And frankly, I can't get the vet to do much. They do not want to put the cat out when, the symptoms are kind of mild right now.   Except for the loose stools he is happy and hungry and going number one and two.

It is hard to tell if he is not sleeping. Today I gave him more food and he is upstairs sleeping now for 6 hours.  If he has asthma and the steroid is clearing his airway, shouldn't it be expected that he would feel better and be more alert if he is getting more air?  It is very unclear as to if I have troubling symptoms or not. 

Another way to look at the seriousness of the issue is to start tracking his weight with a baby scale.  If he starts loosing weight that's a bad sign.

StephenQ said:

 
Another way to look at the seriousness of the issue is to start tracking his weight with a baby scale.  If he starts loosing weight that's a bad sign.

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Well my vet didn't feel it was a thyroid issue. She said 2 lbs over 6 months with a 20 lb cat when I was trying to get him to lose wasn't enough.  The stool sample came back negative but she just tested for worms. She suggested a bacterial infection and is giving me antibiotics.  Interestingly... his asthma has been pretty well controlled and I notice that one of the treatments for asthma is antibiotics. We will see. He had a terrible poo last night that reeked and was mostly mucus.

What is the antibiotic that was prescribed?

StephenQ said:

 
What is the antibiotic that was prescribed?

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Metronidozle. Well I gave it to him for a week and everything improved.  Alas, it started up again after I stopped. I e-mailed the vet.  He has also lost more weight .4 lbs since September.  Since July 2.6 lbs. Off a 20 lb cat.  And I had him on a diet.

So here is my new theory (and I will see what my vet says).

I have been feeding him too little and only twice per day. He has complained a lot about that. I suspect maybe I have stressed him out and now he obsesses over food and maybe this anxiety that he isn't going to get food has caused Irritable bowl.   The diarrhea has this mucus which I believe is a tell tale sign the problem is large intestine. So tonight I got out the food dish that moves on batteries every 4 hours or so and put in the dry food. More food. more frequently. And I will mention this to the vet.

Mommytobuck said:

 
Metronidozle. Well I gave it to him for a week and everything improved.  Alas, it started up again after I stopped. I e-mailed the vet.  He has also lost more weight .4 lbs since September.  Since July 2.6 lbs. Off a 20 lb cat.  And I had him on a diet.

So here is my new theory (and I will see what my vet says).

I have been feeding him too little and only twice per day. He has complained a lot about that. I suspect maybe I have stressed him out and now he obsesses over food and maybe this anxiety that he isn't going to get food has caused Irritable bowl.   The diarrhea has this mucus which I believe is a tell tale sign the problem is large intestine. So tonight I got out the food dish that moves on batteries every 4 hours or so and put in the dry food. More food. more frequently. And I will mention this to the vet.

Click to expand...

Metronidozle can help re-balance bacteria in the gut and improve the stool so that is a plus!

StephenQ said:

 
Metronidozle can help re-balance bacteria in the gut and improve the stool so that is a plus!

Click to expand...

The vet feels that I should try it for a longer period. So I will put him back on it for 10 days and see what happens.