One of my sort of foster cats (he came as a foster, but the rescue is closing so it is up in the air what we will do with him) was diagnosed with hyper-t last week. Background - he was picked up as a young cat in the middle of December but a vet check showed him to be 11/12yo, with possible hyper-t and a bad mouth. He had bloods done a fortnight or so later to check his thyroid levels and he was bang on the end of the scale (55), so the vet said it was too early to treat. About a month later he had his dental, his liver values were about 100 higher than the top end of normal, but everything else was fine - he had to have all his teeth removed. His follow up check showed his mouth was still bad, and a month after his dental he had more bloods to see if the raised liver was down to his teeth or not. His bloods weren't too bad then, his thyroid was still bang on top end of normal though. 4 months after his dental, he went for a check up (he had been having monthly weigh ins, which showed him to be able to gain weight, but not maintain it), and his mouth was full of severe ulcers - there was hardly any signs, the only thing I can think of is a slight increase in drooling when being fussed, so he had 7 days of ab's, which didn't clear it, so another 7 days. he was then checked again, and while they were better, they were still there. The vet didn't really want him on a third consecutive dose of ab's, and despite having such a bad mouth, it doesn't stop him eating, so we just monitor that now (vet feels it is calici, but we have removed all his teeth, tried him on the recommended food and had a few lots of ab's this year, and very little Metacam). He went for a check up last week, as it was 6 months since his last bloods, I felt he had tipped over into hyper-t, the vet wasn't convinced but conceded when she listened to his heart - his weight is only noticeable cos he does get weighed every month, if he hadn't, it would have been up, his fur is still quite nice (although I Feel its a bit dull), his appetite has only really increased since being on the meds (although the neighbour tells me she has found him pinching her cats biscuits, so maybe that is why!!), he doesn't drink in the house (loves puddles though!!) - and his only real symptoms were warm paws/ears, unable to maintain his weight and a bit restless - his results came back at 76, so he really is only just hyper-t (although the vet said his mouth could be suppressing his thyroid). The vet felt that a months worth of meds would work and he could have an operation to remove the gland, my vets do these quite a lot for the RSPCA, so are experienced. At first I was happy with this, but am now having some doubts - despite how severe his mouth is (he will let you check the bad side for a very short time, but not the good side, so we dont know the true extent), it has never affected his appetite, but now i am wondering if that is the hyper-t is the reason why he has been able to eat despite his mouth, and if we put him through the surgery, would it then mean that his mouth bothers him more? IF so, it is regular a/bs and Metacam, which isn't good, and what bothers me more is if he becomes resistant to that, as if he can't eat, he has no quality of life, and I would hate to put him through the pain and stress of the op, for him to suffer with his mouth and not have a lot of time. But the other option is to keep him on the meds, and adjust if he does struggle, but he is a nightmare to pill and I believe there are long term issues with them being on meds.
Apologies for the essay, but I really dont know what to do for the best, and while I will discuss this with the vet when we go back for his check up after a month of meds, I really wanted some clear thoughts in my mind first - although maybe I am panicking prematurely and we will have a better idea at the end of the months worth of meds. Has anyone dealt with hyper-t and severe mouth ulcers?
Apologies for the essay, but I really dont know what to do for the best, and while I will discuss this with the vet when we go back for his check up after a month of meds, I really wanted some clear thoughts in my mind first - although maybe I am panicking prematurely and we will have a better idea at the end of the months worth of meds. Has anyone dealt with hyper-t and severe mouth ulcers?