Danielle has a Thyroid condition

sfell,

Thanks.

I have the rescue remedy, but I was just thinking of having her sniff a bit of Valerian before treatment. I was inspired by Sunlions posting on it, since she doesn't respond to catnip anymore. I was just doing research on the web about Valerian and cats. Gonna try it tonight... keeping fingers crossed.

As far as the string.... She was on my lap. Hubby just came home, she made a bee line for under the computer table. She won't go anywhere near him.

Thanks for the advice.

Okay, I hubby has been pinning Danielle between his knees on the floor as suggested. He is as gentle as can be, while still holding on to her. I gave her a sniff of Valerian, which she liked, but had no affect in calming her.

Danielle hates Rich more and more. He broke down this morning crying, saying "I just want my cat to like me".... she was so loving before the meds.

My heart is breaking. I don't know what to do. She has to have her meds. But whenever he is here, she cowers in the corner or under a table, terrified of him.

Perhaps she has NEVER been medicated before in her life, and that is why this is so scary for her.

I don't know what to do. My hubby is soooooooo sad. He is devastated. He loves her soooo much.

Val - I feel so sorry for you and have no great words of wisom to offer - You have both gone through so much lately and this just adds to your sorrow. Just a thought....do you have a friend that could come over and be "Rich" in the pill process? also - I know you stated there is no other form of this med - but another could help equally as well ? or an injection at the Vets?

Have you thought that maybe it might not be Rich per se, but all men? That somehow this contact with Rich has awakened some long hidden nightmare in this shelter kitty because she might have been roughed up by a male previously? Does Dani sleep on a blanket? Maybe Rich could have this blanket draped around him so the smell will comfort her? Or spray him with the catnip spray beforehand and then wash his clothes afterward? Just a couple of thoughts for you. I am sorry you and kitty are having such a rough go of it. Good luck

Debra and Hissy,

Thanks.

As far as another person helping, we just moved into this apartment, so we don't know anyone else yet.
As far as changing meds... she has 4 doses left. IF the Vet says she needs more, I thought maybe we could just bring her in once a day for as long as needed for an injection, if that is viable. I don't know if it is. I have a Vet appointment on Thursday. We will see.

Hissy, I dont' know if it is all men. All I can tell you is that before this she was very lovey with him. I only pray that after this course of treatment, when she sees he is not "attacking" her anymore that she will come around to trust him again. She still seems to trust me, although she meows at me a lot. I know she is angry with me too, but at least she comes to me.
I don't know what this is doing to her emotionally, but hopefully, if we can get through the next 4 days, the worst will be over.

Thanks again guys...

Cats are funny sometimes in their preferences for people. Blackie is my daughter's cat and hubby picked out Sparky, but both of them prefer me to anyone else. They lay at my feet when I'm on the computer, on my pillow when we're sleeping (hard to breathe sometimes with a faceful of fur like that), Blackie comes when I call and follows me when I go outside. Everyone else is clearly second best. So Danielle might be very bonded with you, esp. since you used to visit her in the shelter, but she might never be so snuggly with your husband.

Of course, she remembers your visits at the shelter as a high point, I'm sure, but her only experience of Rich is with the medicine. I'm sure she complains to you because she can't figure out why you used to be so nice and now you are doing this thing to her. But she will get over it, and eventually she'll come around to Rich again. Cats are resilient and they learn.

I was thinking about the eye ointment . . . I had to treat a kitten for one bad eye once (one of Blackie's littermates, in fact) and it was very hard to hold her still, esp. with mama cat prowling around looking protective. I finally stopped putting the ointment directly into her eye and I would put it on her eye lashes, then when she tried to rub it off she would get a bunch of it in her eye. I don't know if that would help you at all. It's not optimum, but it did cut down on general trauma.

Only a few more days, just hold on . . .

Val, I really don't have any bright advice to add. Just wanted to say I'm sorry for all you've been going through and I truly believe that once this ordeal is over with, Dani will learn to trust you again.

Be strong and keep the updates coming! We're here for you!

Hi,
I have had the same thing with my cat, he was hyperthyroid and the tapazol wasn't working, so I went for the surgery. He came back so much better. But he does need to have pills daily. I'm very fortunate tho, he is so sweet, and doesn't fuss much. I have used the previous method of backing him up between my legs and popping down the pill. If you just scratch under the throat a bit and put his head way up, open the mouth and drop it in, hold the mouth closed and stroke the throat, they will swallow easily. I follow this with a treat, Cool Whip Free! He loves it, it's non-dairy and he'll lick it off a spoon.
But my female does give me the same grief you are getting, have you tried asking if there's an injectable medication? Or if all else fails, you can take them to the vet for the pill, sometimes a few trips like that and they let you do it at home. Giving an injection is pretty easy to do and less stressful on both of you. Quicker too, very much like giving an insulin shot. One tip my vet told me was to place the cat in a laundry basket, wrapped in a towel, so they can't back up, this will take 2 people, I haven't tried it though. Also there's a carrier, soft type, much like a backpack, that confines the legs so you can work on the other end. Good luck!

Thank you Sunlion, Anne and Foxycat,

If the antibiotic treatment must continue beyond the ten days, I will have to talk to the doc about an alternative, like injections.

We pretty much have the getting the meds into her down.... it is the fact that she is terrified of hubby. He is sooo miserable. He cried this morning, because she is terrified of our "attacks".

I only hope and pray that when this initial treatment is over for her infections, that she will bond with him again. It is horrible living in a house where the cat likes one person and not the other. My husband is torn apart.

The thyroid meds.... that we will find out about on Thursday, when we go back to the vet.

Again, thank you all so much, you have greatly helped me with your support and kind words. It may not sound like I am being helped by your advice, but I am.

Thanks so much.

My cat has a thyroid problem and has been on medication for two years. He has regained his lost weight and is full of energy. I too am unable to give a pill, but my vet sent the prescription to a compounding pharmacist, who made it up as a tuna-flavored chew. The cat loves them, eats them out of my hand every day,and actually looks forward to his daily "pill". It is expensive (unlike me, the cat has no prescription insurance) but worth it to avoid the hysteria of a daily pill fight.

AZCAT welcome!!

And thank you!

I will keep that in mind if I my kitty refuses her thyroid pill, (I start this weekend)

Hi Vjoy,

I'm going through a similar, although less serious, situation with my cat Ebony. I got him from the shelter about 6 weeks ago and they confirmed that he was healthy. Only when I took him to the vet for a check-up did I find out that he had a bad ear infection and needed a lot of dental work. I am struggling with the ear drops (I never realized that cats can completely close their ears!!!) and feel terrible "torturing" my poor baby who just wants to be close to us and loved by us. This weekend Ebony goes in for the dental work. The doctor showed me his teeth in the examination room and they were just a mess! Ebony's attitude towards us hasn't changed so far, but I feel terribly guilty I trusted the shelter people and didn't get him to the vet sooner.

Why don't the shelter people know what's going on with the animals and treat them? Or are they just afraid that we won't take them if we know about expensive medical conditions they haven't had the resources to treat?

I really hope that everything can work out with Danielle. Remember that she doesn't have the capacity to "hate" anyone as a human can, she's simply frightened! When I was a child my dad accidentally broke our pet rabbit's leg lunging to catch it when it got out of its hutch and took off across the lawn. Have you ever heard a rabbit scream? My dad felt terrible and paid hundreds of dollars to the vet to fix the rabbit's leg, and it was hobbling miserably around our laundry room in a cast for weeks. In the end, it still preferred my dad to the rest of the family! Animals are wonderfully forgiving.

Take care,

Regina

OOH Regina, I hope things go better with Ebony!!

Poor kitty.

Thanks for your kind words. My only answer to the Vet/Shelter thing is that either they have an incompetant Vet, OR, they found these things and did not want to tell me, thinking I would not want the cat, OR there was no Vet checkup at all and they lied!

Whatever the case, I feel mislead. I know you do to.

I know you feel guilty, but you had no reason to doubt the shelter. Neither did I. Especially since I volunteer there and donate money to them. I was told she had a vet visit the day before, and was healthy. I thought I was going to take her to my vet in a few weeks, to establish a relationship with my new vet, and to get her a comprehensive checkup. I wanted to Bond with her first. But when I saw her increasingly scratching her ears, and rubbing her eyes, I thought I can't wait, and took her after only having her a week and a half. Thus, my husband had not the time to bond, and I hardly had anytime either. But don't feel guilty. We were MISLEAD.

To me there is no excuse for this. I personally wrote letters of complaint about the way my adoption was handled regarding her health to the Directors and President of my shelter.
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UPDATE: Last night I was able to administer the meds myself, without hubby's help. She did not like it, and cowered, but he was not involved. Then, later in the evening, she actually came within a few feet of him for a few seconds. WAHOOO!!!! I hope this signals progress. This morning I was able to do everything myself, except the pill, which I had to bring hubby in on. But it was brief, and I hope she is going to start trusting him again.

She is pacing now. We can smell the smoke wafting from Ground Zero. OOh well......

Thanks Regina, and good luck to Ebony! Keep us updated!

Now that amazes me. The pharmacist had tuna-flavored paste back there somewhere? Or he saves his tuna juice for you? How did you ever find such a creative person?

My cat is hyperthyroid and was getting nauseous with the pills. We are now give her medication via transdermal gel on the the skin portion of the ear. It enters directly to the bloodstream and avoids the stomach upset. She is doing very well this. You have to wear latex gloves so the medication doesn't get in your bloodstream!

We had two cats that had thryoid problems. They went on Tapizol and one lived to be 18 while the other died at 15. They were both on the medication for three years. There is also a new operation out now for a cat with this condition. Talk to you Vet and see if your cat is young enough for this type surgery. Surgery like everything else is a risk as is meds. We ended up crusing the pills into a small amount of baby food. Hope this helps.

My cat Soltie (8 year old) was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid about 2 months ago and since then has developed an allergy to the food she has been eating for years. I don't think the food allergy is associated with the thyroid condition. The vet put her on tapazole for her thyroid, which she will have to take for the rest of her life, she take a half a table twice a day (every 12 hours). Now it has been a challenge getting the pill down her (not to mention catching her, for she as figured it out). However, it is getting better she still runs but comes right back to get after I give her the pill. I found that the easiest way for me to get the pill down is hold her like a baby take the pill and push it in her mouth from the side and poke it (gently) to the very back of her throat and then rub up and down on her neck. Then check her mouth to make sure it went down. In the beginning of our pill ordeal I discovered she was spitting them out under the bed. Her thyroid in now in the normal range and I am very happy about that. I read up on hyperthyroidsim and it says that unless treated this can cause all kinds of problems (heart, kidney, etc.). I was lucky, Soltie only had side effects (vomiting) from the tapazole for about a week, but after that she has adjust very to the medication. She goes back to the vet in about 5 weeks to have her blood tested again. Hang in there giving the pill will become easier for you and Danielle and she will grow more use to you giving the pill. It's an adjustment for the whole family.

Val,

Boy am I glad she ended up coming home with you! I am sure she will forgive your husband at some point. Our cats have done this several times and they have come around.
With the shelter situations, yes I agree the eyes and ears normally should be checked very well. With the thyroid, really there is no way to tell for sure unless they run a blood panel. They might only do this if there are signs of a problem. There are great shelters and there are not so great shelters. Some we all have to understand that don't have the funding for more than some minor vet visits, spay/ neuter. They can't afford to put every cat through blood work etc. Small organizations like Helping Paws here in CT will pay what they need to in medical costs, however they can't take in as many cats as some others do. They sacrafice the amount of cats for the medical care. Some do just the opposite and hope they can get these cats into loving homes who can afford to take care of them.
I sure do hope things get a little easier for you guys. I wish you guys all the luck in the world with her!!