Hyperthyroidism?

I have a new foster cat that arrived about a week ago. She's been vet checked, but just for the normal things such as contagious diseases so I could bring her into the house with my own cats. She is very obese and I want to get weight off her so she will be healthier. She's a nice mannered cat, gets along well with my crew and is affectionate. But she is obsessed with food, more so than any cat I've ever known. I have to make sure she can't eat the other cats food or even go into the dog's dishes. She is constantly seeking food - I mean every minute. She tries to climb into the sink or dishwasher when there are dirty dishes; jumps on the counter in front of me and tries to steal human food; screams at the food cabinet if anyone goes near and even tries to open the trash bin to get anything that smells like food. Because she gobbles her food only to throw it back up, I've gone to feeding her small amounts throughout the day. She's even taken to chewing on non-food things such as paper and even aluminum foil (that didn't cover food). At night she roams the house, trying to open cabinets and constantly looking for food. So much so that I put her into the cat condo last night so she would leave us alone (I needed sleep!). She didn't seem to mind and didn't cry to try to escape. In fact, this morning I had to wake her up when it was time for breakfast.

I've never seen this degree of food obsession in a cat despite having all sorts of cats for many years. I plan to take her back to the vet on Monday, but meanwhile, I was wondering if anyone here knows if cats are ever prone to hyper or hypo-thyroidism. I know the signs in dogs (I've had two hypo-thyroid dogs) but have never heard of this in cats and am unsure of what to look for other than the food obsession. This cat has a nice coat, is clean and seems comfortable, except for the food thing. At first I wondered if she was anxious, but she really doesn't seem to be. In fact, she came into the house very confident and didn't even seem fearful of the dogs. Of-course, it helps that my dogs are cat savvy and know they are not permitted to bother the cats. My own three cats are used to having temporary house guests and don't seem to mind the newcomer. 

I'm not particularly upset with the cat's behavior, but I am curious if others have seen similar behaviors and, if so, what your vet may have said about the possibility of thyroid disorders. I want to get this sorted out before she goes to her forever home. Thanks!

Unless she's losing weight and demanding a lot of food, i probably wouldn't suspect hyperthyroidism. I'm honestly not sure how hypo-t presents though. I imagine they would possibly be overweight, but not sure how it affects appetite. Of course if you only had her for a week, you wouldn't know probably if she's lost weight or not. Would probably be worth it to have a vet check for it, just to be sure. Others will have some other ideas to add I'm sure, but I can't really think of any. With the exception of hyper-t, the problems I usually have had to deal with are cats NOT eating.

MTGAL said:

I have a new foster cat that arrived about a week ago. She's been vet checked, but just for the normal things such as contagious diseases so I could bring her into the house with my own cats. She is very obese and I want to get weight off her so she will be healthier. She's a nice mannered cat, gets along well with my crew and is affectionate. But she is obsessed with food, more so than any cat I've ever known. I have to make sure she can't eat the other cats food or even go into the dog's dishes. She is constantly seeking food - I mean every minute. She tries to climb into the sink or dishwasher when there are dirty dishes; jumps on the counter in front of me and tries to steal human food; screams at the food cabinet if anyone goes near and even tries to open the trash bin to get anything that smells like food. Because she gobbles her food only to throw it back up, I've gone to feeding her small amounts throughout the day. She's even taken to chewing on non-food things such as paper and even aluminum foil (that didn't cover food). At night she roams the house, trying to open cabinets and constantly looking for food. So much so that I put her into the cat condo last night so she would leave us alone (I needed sleep!). She didn't seem to mind and didn't cry to try to escape. In fact, this morning I had to wake her up when it was time for breakfast.

I've never seen this degree of food obsession in a cat despite having all sorts of cats for many years. I plan to take her back to the vet on Monday, but meanwhile, I was wondering if anyone here knows if cats are ever prone to hyper or hypo-thyroidism. I know the signs in dogs (I've had two hypo-thyroid dogs) but have never heard of this in cats and am unsure of what to look for other than the food obsession. This cat has a nice coat, is clean and seems comfortable, except for the food thing. At first I wondered if she was anxious, but she really doesn't seem to be. In fact, she came into the house very confident and didn't even seem fearful of the dogs. Of-course, it helps that my dogs are cat savvy and know they are not permitted to bother the cats. My own three cats are used to having temporary house guests and don't seem to mind the newcomer. 

I'm not particularly upset with the cat's behavior, but I am curious if others have seen similar behaviors and, if so, what your vet may have said about the possibility of thyroid disorders. I want to get this sorted out before she goes to her forever home. Thanks!

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I agree with @donutte hyper-t classically combines great hunger with weight loss. I've heard of cats with huge appetites and yours may be this simple but given how hungry she is I think I would want to consult a vet, maybe get a blood panel.

HYPOthyroidism is rare in cats, and is usually caused by over treating a cat who has hyper-T.  They often exhibit other symptoms besides hunger and weight gain.  See this link:

https://www.vetinfo.com/feline-hypothyroidism-symptoms.html

Hi all and thank you for all the responses. I thought I'd update the situation: the vet saw the cat today and we ran a blood panel. Preliminary results show her as healthy and normal. The thyroid test will be back by the end of the week, but he doesn't think this is the issue. Assuming nothing unexpected comes back from the blood work, I now think this is just her way. Perhaps in her previous home the owner alternated between over and under feeding - who knows. Or, perhaps this is her way of showing anxiety - a less likely, but possible explanation. Regardless, she is healthy and overall is doing well.

However...there is another issue that is completely unexpected and new to me: this cat has absolutely no fear of or judgment of dogs! This wouldn't be a problem if she were to stay in our home. My dogs are well-balanced, get plenty of exercise and understand they are not permitted to bug the cats. But this cat has no sense. She keeps stealing food from the dogs bowls as they eat and even stole my Pit Bull's bone this afternoon! [So much for the stereotype of the big bad Pit!] My Pit watched her, whined and then looked at me as if to say "hey she stole my valuable bone!" I took the bone back and gave it to the dog. Thirty seconds later, the cat was back trying to take the bone again. Then this evening, at feeding time she climbed into my German Shepherd's crate and began eating her food. Yes, it's funny, but this cat is supposed to go to a forever home, not stay here. If you are a dog owner, you may already know why this is a problem. People are always saying "my dog is fine with cats" but they don't understand that many other wise okay dogs won't tolerate a cat stealing the food. A lot of dogs would chomp down on this cat and if the person wasn't right there.., well, tragedy might follow. So, very weird question: how do you teach a cat common sense around dogs? I don't want her to fear dogs, but she does need to learn how to honor a dog's feeding area. My own cats will sometimes sneak over to steal a piece of food from the dog's bowls, but it's usually just a piece and then only when the dogs stop eating for a minute. This girl tries to push the dogs aside and will snarl when the dog tries to get the bowl back. In all the years of having many cats and dogs, I've never had this problem before. Any advice is very welcome!

Every cat has it's own personality, my sister had one male who was an absolute nut over food like that.   Your best bet would be to only rehome her with smaller dogs, or an extremely laid back, submissive type, least amount of risk.

Thanks for the response. She remains a work in progress, but I've concluded her food obsession is more about a need for attention than about the food itself. She constantly needs/wants human attention and runs to get food when she is ignored or pushed away. Thankfully, I think we've found her an ideal home. An older woman in one of our programs recently had to put her elderly cat to sleep and wants another cat, but only one cat and only one that will be content living inside. I'm big on keeping cats indoors because their life expectancy outside is very low. The woman lives alone, wants a snuggly cat and has met Lizzy (Current name) and fallen in love. There are no dogs and while her grandchildren come to visit often, they are cat savvy. I think Lizzy will be very happy with someone giving her 100% attention and love. The woman knows of the eating problem and will make sure the cat doesn't have access to the wrong foods while giving her a good diet. 

As someone who has done a lot of dog rehab, I want to say something about your "small dog" comment. The size of the dog, the breed or age truly aren't important. How we handle the dog, the energy we use to communicate and how clear we are about rules and boundaries are what matter. My two personal dogs -- a Pit Bull and German Shepherd -- are power breed dogs. They are good with cats because this is what I expect and what I teach. The rule in our house is people first, cats second and dogs third. Meanwhile, my neighbors -- who are nice people, but not so great with their dogs -- have two small dogs. One of these dogs has killed one cat and almost killed a second. They can never permit their dogs to be off leash and out of their yard because the dogs try to attack people, dogs and smaller animals. These are not nasty dogs, they just lack discipline and their owners are hopeless at making and keeping rules. So, yeah, I would trust my dogs alone with the cats -- well, I do trust them and they are often alone, but I wouldn't allow my neighbors small dogs near my cats.