help?

[kristi812]

ok, lets see if i can answer everyone, all he did was look at her, feel around her neck area and told me it was her thyroid. he then recommended feeding her the kitten food for a month and see if she puts on any weight. i think its because of her age that he wasnt pushing anything else. 

as for the flea dirt, whenever she itches or cleans herself, there is a pile of it left behind. when i was at the vet petting her there was some coming off of her. 

 

[whollycat]

ok, lets see if i can answer everyone, all he did was look at her, feel around her neck area and told me it was her thyroid. he then recommended feeding her the kitten food for a month and see if she puts on any weight. i think its because of her age that he wasnt pushing anything else. 

If she's indoor only, fed good quality meat-based food (no kibble), and at a healthy weight, then there's no reason she can't live into her late teens or longer. I would be having a serious talk with the vet if it was me and have kitty tested--a full workup including blood and urine tests. Most vets call it a 'Senior Panel' when doing this testing [on older kitties] as this will test for more than regular testing does. I might not be very outspoken when it comes to my issues, but my kitties--that's a different story,

so don't take this that I'm picking on you, honey. 

Also, he should have tested her urine to see if she has any urinary problems that are contributing to peeing outside the box, such as looking for bacteria in her urine.

Any vet that truly cares about kitties is going to step up and do what needs to be done to make sure our kitties are in tip-top shape. And as far as her age, you [and your vet] should want her to live out her golden years as healthily as she can.

 

[orientalslave]

I would change vets.  If there is a suspicion of hyperthyroid blood tests will confirm it, and changing a cat's diet can cause digestive upset. 

This flea dirt - if you put a little of it on white paper and drop a little water on, does it stain the water pink?  If it does, that's flea dirt.

Those flea baths - what are you using?  Do you groom your cat?

If it is flea dirt you probably have a flea problem in the house, and unless you deal with that you won't manage to deal with the flea dirt on your cat.

 

[kristi812]

so they called me today. said they were sent a sample food, a special food for cats with thyroid problems. they gave me all the samples they got, ended up being a full bag of food and 4 cans of moist food. the flea dirt, yes it turns pinkish red. i use flea shampoo on her, she only has like one or two fleas on her, my other two cats and the dogs do not have this problem. 

 

[whollycat]

so they called me today. said they were sent a sample food, a special food for cats with thyroid problems. they gave me all the samples they got, ended up being a full bag of food and 4 cans of moist food.

Is it Hills Y/D food? If so, this is a new [crappy] food Hill's is promoting that is way low in iodine and has little nutritional value for kitties. Kitties are true carnivores, and the kibble (dry) food has no actual meat in it. The canned is not much better. I would find a different vet. In my opinion, hon, your vet is not even trying to help your kitty. They are just trying to appease you and not do the needed testing and prescribing of medication because your kitty is a senior kitty.

Please read the excerpts below: http://www.avmi.net/NewFiles/Hyperthyroidism/why-d2.html

"Is it safe to feed an iodine deficient diet to hyperthyroid cats?

In light of our increasing awareness that iodine deficiency likely plays a role in the development of hyperthyroidism in cats, how advisable is it to intentionally feed a dramatically iodine deficient diet to cats that have already developed benign tumors of their thyroid? Will ongoing, severe iodine deficiency accelerate the growth of these benign tumors? Will severe ongoing iodine deficiency accelerate the progression from benign thyroid adenoma to malignant thyroid carcinoma [25]? Currently these questions remain to be answered. Minimally, we know that this diet does nothing to prevent the continued growth of the tumors responsible for hyperthyroidism in cats. Hill’s y/d includes at least two of the dietary factors that appear to contribute to the development of hyperthyroidism including overt iodine deficiency and soy isoflavins that act as goitrogens."

And:

"In addition to the issues created by feeding an iodine deficient diet, Hill’s y/d has many other features that make it a poor choice for feeding cats as a species. Cats are after all obligate carnivores and Hill’s y/d is relatively low in protein, high in carbohydrates and relies on large quantities of plant based proteins, all of which make it a poor choice to feed to any cat [7, 27, 28]. The dry variety of y/d utilizes the cheap by-product filler “soybean mill run”. Soy has been shown to contain enzyme inhibitors that impeded normal protein digestion and soy is a known goitrogen suspected as a contributing factor in the development of hyperthyroidism in cats [18, 29-34]."

I actually managed my sister's kitty Cole's hyper-T when he stayed with me for almost a year. Cole was 14 at the time of his diagnosis. He stayed with me when he was 15. He was on a high dose of thyroid medication twice a day. Even though my vet (was my sister's too) thought I was crazy

I started Cole on a glandular supplement and was able to reduce his thyroid medication by half. His symptoms also greatly improved, because even on his thyroid medication he was still very hyperactive and just could not relax longer than a few seconds (his tail was like it had a mind of it's own and Cole would bite at it and then would get up and race about--poor bubby!). After starting the glandular he was able to totally relax and just be his sweet little self. This made my vet a believer as she saw his high thyroid numbers drop when even high doses of his thyroid medication weren't helping before. She also noted his more relaxed manner and his coat looking a glossy black.

Aw, hugs to you. I just feel for the situation you're in. I only want the best for your little one.

 

[orientalslave]

If you are finding even the occasional flea on one of your pets, they all need treating and the house probably does as well - fleas hop on and feed and drop off, and their eggs drop off into the environment where they turn into larvae and pupae.  The fleas you find on a pet are usually the tip of the iceberg.

http://www.fabcats.org/owners/fleas/info.html