Hello all. My gorgeous kitty Toffee has been diagnosed with hyperthyroid. I am so sad. I've had a very difficult past few years in my life so when something goes wrong with my cats, it hits me so hard. FYI I've had a hyperthyroid cat in the past and we treated him successfully with meds for 4 years before he passed on from cancer. I know hyperthyroid is not the worst diagnosis, but I am still very very upset.
Toffee is a bit of a heavy cat, so I did not pick up on this by skinny cat symptoms with overeating. I keep a baby scale at home and weight my cats every few months, and noticed a very small weight loss over the past few months (you cannot tell by looking at him that he has lost weight). His bloodwork was done last year (no health reason, just a senior cat checkup) and all was fine. But he has not been eating well for a couple of days so I took him in to the vet for an exam and bloodwork. Strangely, he is hyperthyroid. The weight loss (even if minor at this pont) is consistent, but not the loss of appetite - although I did read that in 7% of cases this is a symptom. So we will begin him on some medication - I will compound the meds I think. But today it is a real struggle to get him to eat anything - may need an appetite stimulant if he does not perk up (we will begin the medication tomorrow). I really hope that there does not turn out to be some other hidden second issue - we will redo bloodwork after treatment to doublecheck kidneys. I hope that the meds will get him feeling better and eating again.
Anyhow, I would consider the radioactive iodine treatment (I realize that it is pricy but I will find a way if it is best) but I want to hear more about it. The thought of Toffee being locked up in a cage for any length of time without being able to see me is dreadful and is almost enough to put me off of considering this. Does anyone have any stories to share about radioactive iodine treatment? Or anything else in general that might make me feel a bit better.
This is Toffee (scrapbook page I made for him).
Toffee is a bit of a heavy cat, so I did not pick up on this by skinny cat symptoms with overeating. I keep a baby scale at home and weight my cats every few months, and noticed a very small weight loss over the past few months (you cannot tell by looking at him that he has lost weight). His bloodwork was done last year (no health reason, just a senior cat checkup) and all was fine. But he has not been eating well for a couple of days so I took him in to the vet for an exam and bloodwork. Strangely, he is hyperthyroid. The weight loss (even if minor at this pont) is consistent, but not the loss of appetite - although I did read that in 7% of cases this is a symptom. So we will begin him on some medication - I will compound the meds I think. But today it is a real struggle to get him to eat anything - may need an appetite stimulant if he does not perk up (we will begin the medication tomorrow). I really hope that there does not turn out to be some other hidden second issue - we will redo bloodwork after treatment to doublecheck kidneys. I hope that the meds will get him feeling better and eating again.
Anyhow, I would consider the radioactive iodine treatment (I realize that it is pricy but I will find a way if it is best) but I want to hear more about it. The thought of Toffee being locked up in a cage for any length of time without being able to see me is dreadful and is almost enough to put me off of considering this. Does anyone have any stories to share about radioactive iodine treatment? Or anything else in general that might make me feel a bit better.
This is Toffee (scrapbook page I made for him).