Hyperthyroidism/HeartMurmur

My 10 year old baby Jazz was diagnosed with a Grade 1 heart murmur last year. I took her back to have her heart checked 6 months later and there was no change.

She went for her yearly check up last week and the vet drew blood from her, the blood test showed hyperthyroidism which is causing her heart to pump blood harder than usual. She is on medication for the next 30 days then there will be another blood test to see if the medication is working. If not the vet wants to put her into the hospital for 5 days for a radioactive iodine shot, I will not be able to visit . She has never left my house or been separated from her sister ever!

If anyone out there has been through this I would appreciate hearing from you, and please send prayers and good vibes to my Jazz.

Thanks

Hi,
I am sorry to hear about Jazz's illness. I send good vibes and prayers her way. I have never experienced this, but I am trying to put myself in your shoes, and I think maybe I would go for a 2nd opinion, unless you truely trust your vets judgment. This may seem weird, but when my husband was a young teeneager he had that radioactive injection and it messed his thyroid up so now he is on medication for under active thyroid for life. That is all I could think about when reading this and felt I had to respond. In your heart you will know what the right choice is.

We're so glad you and Jazz have joined us! I'm just so sorry the two of you are going through this right now. You are taking such wonderful care of your little girl. I know it would just break your heart for her to have to be away for 5 days. You must feel so overwhelmed to suddenly be faced with this. Good for you for educating yourself as much as possible!
I agree that a second opinion is always a good idea in a case such as this. One of our advisors has personal experience with hyperthyroidism, and she will be along shortly.

So sorry to hear about your sweet baby, my prayers are with you.

Hello,
I am sorry that you are having to deal with anything being amiss with your kitty, I know how scary that feels. I have had more experience than I'd like with hyperthyroidism, and in fact, just have had another of my oldsters receive a probable diagnosis of this (we are doing a free T4 test to confirm).

I can tell you that my cats previously diagnosed with this, tolerated methimazole very well, and were on it for the past several years of their life. Each cat with this, passed on eventually due to an unrelated problem.

The radioiodine treatment has pluses and one minus that I know of. Your kitty's kidney function would be tested to be sure she is a candidate, but on my list for folks with cats in chronic kidney failure, there a number of members whose cats began to show kidney issues after their treatment - your vet could explain this better than I, but sometimes, hyperthyroidism (only sometimes) is masking an undetected issue with the kidneys...once that hyperthyroidism is treated, the issue becomes apparent.

Would I not do the radioiodine - not if I had a youngish teen kitty and knew the kidney values were good - though due to the expense, I would personally try the methimazole first.

With my kitty, he is showing changing kidney values and other health issues...so for him, methimazole will be the treatment we choose if hyperthyroidism is confirmed.

I wish you all the best, please be reassured that my cats have tolerated the methimazole well, and hopefully, yours will too!

Keep us posted?

Hello, I'm sorry to hear about your kitty's hyperthyroidism.
The above post gave you good info.

My cat at 17 was diagnosed with it. She was too old for the iodine (high liklihood of death) and we did the meds everyday. At age 19 the vet added an IV of fluid to be done once a week for her kidneys, but I beileve this was more due to age.

She died shortly after she turned 22. Please keep in mind there is an excellent chance she will live her longest most normal life she would anyway.

I personally would not do the iodine until she has been on meds awhile. In ppl with the same disorder, the condition generally goes into remission after meds for 12-18 mns. Ask your vet about this.

My cat was very very ill by the time she got treated, so the iodine would be a no-go if she was able, until she vastly improved. There is only so much stress a creature can take!

I have hyperthyroidism also, diagnosed two years after my cat's death, and we are on the same meds! I personally am avoiding the iodine at all costs, I havent read enough good stuff about that treatment.

Originally Posted by CDubbie

Hello, I'm sorry to hear about your kitty's hyperthyroidism.
The above post gave you good info.

My cat at 17 was diagnosed with it. She was too old for the iodine (high liklihood of death) and we did the meds everyday. At age 19 the vet added an IV of fluid to be done once a week for her kidneys, but I beileve this was more due to age.

Click to expand...

Hello.
I mentioned this on another thread a while ago, but its come up for me again, so I'm back! My PJ has just been confirmed to have hyperthyroidism, and we will shortly be starting her on a medication trial (compounded gel in her ears, pilling her is an impossibility!). She's around 11 or 12 - we're not really sure - but she acts like a kitten sometimes. I was wondering if you (or anyone) knows what the traditional upper age limit is considered to be for the iodine treatment? Her hyperthyroidism is mild at this point, so we will probably just do medication for a while and see how she does.

I have hyperthyroidism also, diagnosed two years after my cat's death, and we are on the same meds! I personally am avoiding the iodine at all costs, I havent read enough good stuff about that treatment.

Click to expand...

I have hypothyroidism - funny, I was diagnosed 2 years before PJ! Too bad we have the opposite problem, but many we can complement each other. Good luck to you!

I don't think there is an age limit for the radioiodine treatment. It mainly depends on your cat's overall health, particularly the kidney values. A medication trial is usually recommended so that you can check the kidneys once the T4 level is stable. Sometimes hyperthyroidism can mask kidney problems, and a cat with Chronic Renal Failure is not a good candidate for the treatment. An 11 or 12 year old cat with good renal function is probably a good candidate, however, and it is certainly better than giving medication at least once per day for what could be another 10 years! I would love to save up for the radioiodine treatment for my Spot, but he's had another issue with a recurring abscess on his head. The two surgeries and countless other treatments have drained my resources a bit, and I want to be sure the abscess doesn't come back again before I sink $800-1000 into the radioiodine treatment. Fortunately for me, he's good about taking his pills.

the vet can tell you how good a canidate your cat is to handle the treatment.
Our vet told us that 1 in 15 cats die from the procedure, regardless of health.
That risk was too high for us, especially due to her age.

I'm confident PJ will continue to be "healthy" for many more years.
Remember...my cat was 22 with the disease! That and she ate lower end cat food her whole life

Originally Posted by CDubbie

the vet can tell you how good a canidate your cat is to handle the treatment.
Our vet told us that 1 in 15 cats die from the procedure, regardless of health.
That risk was too high for us, especially due to her age.

I'm confident PJ will continue to be "healthy" for many more years.
Remember...my cat was 22 with the disease! That and she ate lower end cat food her whole life

Click to expand...

if only PJ could live forever...
we started her on the gel methimazole in her ears tonight and we were surprised that she didn't seem to mind it at all - I hope it stays that way, and we'll test her in a month!

Oh yeah, the followup! Having Graves - we know what that is all about!
The meds will probably be adjusted a lot till they get to the right levels.

I forgot to mention - Tess also had the murmur, found with the hyperthyroidism

Good luck to you and PJ!

Even once the levels have evened out, they will need testing. It's also good to be aware of any little changes. I just took Spot to the vet yesterday because he was having occassional vomitting and diarrhea. He had lost a pound over the last two months, so the vet asked if he had been more active. He had seemed a bit more playful. We tested his thyroid again, (we had tested it two months ago and it was normal) and this time it was high. HyperT kitties require alert owners who can be flexible in changing medication dosages.

Spot also has a heart murmur. Sometimes they resolve when the hyperT is under control, but his never did.