My 15 yr old cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism yesterday

[YasTheCatLady]

We took our 15 year old boy Rambo to the vet yesterday for his dental surgery - 3 teeth removed and scale and polish. His blood work came back fine apart from his thyroid levels. In his last blood test 6 months ago, he was fine. I think the levels were 50 odd and yesterday they were 80 odd! So he's now on Thyronorm twice a day and has a review with the vet in 3 weeks. We've been told his options are meds for life, surgery or radioactive iodine treatment.

I'm just looking to talk to fellow cat parents who have been through this please. I'm absolutely devastated. I know on the grand scheme of things, he's lucky. He could have been diagnosed with worse things but I'm just so shocked. He showed no symptoms (other than being hyper but he's always been a hyper cat so I didn't notice much of a change if any tbh) and even the vet was surprised.

Any success stories of treating a cat with hyperthyroidism would be most appreciated. I haven't slept well with worry and could just do with some friendly words and advice please.

Hope you and your kitties are all doing well


Here's the man of the hour, my Rambo. The love of my life

 

[di and bob]

Just like you said, there could be worse things! My vet told me with my senior cat that the iodine treatment would be the best option for him, it has fewer risks. The only problem is the cat has to be isolated for days until the radioactive levels drop. No visitors. When we rechecked his levels they had dropped! I would talk to your vet and see which route would be best for YOUR cat.....

 

[LTS3]

From what I know, the radioiodine therapy is the best choice as it completely cures the hyperthyroidism. It can be expensive and there's a whole post- therapy care you must follow to minimize your risk to radioiodine.

Diet is an option if your vet hasn't discussed that. It's Hills Y/D and you can only feed that specific food to the cat for the rest of his life. No treats, table scraps, etc at all. Prescription food is expensive and full of junky ingredients so I'd choose medicine or radioiodine therapy over it.

Hyperthyroidism in Cats

Suggested Articles Hypertension Chronic Kidney Disease Diagnosis: Heart Disease Vomiting Diarrhea Anorexia Anesthesia Hyperthyroidism is a common disease in cats, and mostly afflicts cats middle-aged and older. Also called thyrotoxicosis, hyperthyroidism is caused by an increase in production of...

www.vet.cornell.edu

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Feeby (16+ yo) was recently diagnosed with hyperthyroidism (H-T), and has been on meds (1.25mg twice a day) since mid-October. Her only symptoms were weight loss and an elevated heart rate. Feeby's Free T4 test was >100, with the T4 being at 4.5. She was retested in Nov and again in Dec with a T4 of 2.6 both times. She will be re-tested again in the coming month. After this test, if the numbers still look good, I will be looking at semi-annual testing from here on out to monitor the H-T and med levels - which isn't bad because it can coincide with Feeby's semi-annual check ups.

I have not yet decided whether to pursue the radioiodine treatment, primarily because of the 2-4 day isolation a cat must go through after the treatment... But, I do want to point out to you that my vet wanted to start Feeby on 5.0 mg twice a day of methimazole - after I rejected the idea of the food only treatment. Between the folks on this site and another H-T forum (see link below, if you are interested in joining for free), I worked with my vet to get the dosage lowered to the 1.25 mg twice a day. This dosage seems to be the most appropriate level to start out with and then adjust as needed after additional testing is done.

I would also suggest you check out an excellent web site (link also below) for additional information about H-T, med dosages, and about the radioiodine treatment as well. While it is generally temporary until the dosage is lowered, a too high of a dose can bring about HYPOthyroidism, with a whole different set of issues.

I know there are several members on this site who have dealt with H-T and quite a number have chosen the radioiodine treatment and are very happy that they did. I am sure some of them will come along soon and offer you their first hand experiences.
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