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Olly

Hyperthyroid Cat *Overactive

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I know a couple of people on here have posted before about this - Claudette (aged approx 12) was diagnosed on Saturday. At the moment we've got a daily tablet, luckily she is so hungry she is scarfing these down with some wet food - I don't fancy having to give them to her by hand, her nickname is 'Slasher'!

 

We're going back to the vet in a couple of weeks for a further blood test and to discuss treatment options, but my preliminary internet research suggests that an operation to remove the thyroid is quite common these days. Of course, I'll take advice from my vet but I wondered if anyone else had experiece of this, and what treatment option you are pursuing?

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:doh: trust me to get it the wrong way round, I'd better edit the title of this topic!

 

That is really useful, thanks - I'll definitely print that out and discuss with the vet next week. At the moment her reading was higher than the blood tests define (it just comes out as 'greater than X') so we'll see how she is next week, but I'd rather avoid an operation if possible. I must say she seems absolutely fine on the tablets, although it's early days yet - no side effects that I can see.

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Our cat was about 12 when diagnosed and we gave him a tablet every day, no side effects, but luckily he was easy to administer to. It certainly regulated him, and he didn't change or deteriorate, in fact we are struggling to remember much about the day to day regime. He lived a happy and completely normal life right up till the end.

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My neighbour who looks after the house/animals while we're away used to have a very elderly and decrepit cat which had hyper-thyroid; he had two different pills to take. The neighbour is a bit wet about animals and when he was going away, would instructed me in a routine of trying to get the cat to eat the pill first in cheese, failing that in prawns etc... I just held him between my knees and popped it down his throat, he was pretty compliant and never sicked it back up. He lived on for quite a while on those tablets but had other issues too.

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Gosh I don't know if my cat Sophie is hyper or hypo :think: Anyway she's been on thyroid tablets for about 2 years now. I put the tablet in a little bit of pate, which she happily eats. The trouble is the rest of the cats and dog now realise what's happening and all come running when they hear the bottle of tablets being opened. They all line up! She has been fine, although in recent months she has lost a lot of weight. She has her blood tested quite regularly (we are getting the most recent results this morning :anxious: ).

 

Its interesting that there is a food available now to help.

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When Trumpet was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism at the age of 8 we had to give him a tablet every day. He hated it and the procedure involved wrapping him a towel, kneeling over him, prising his mouth open and popping the tablet in. It was stressful for him and us! :(

 

We considered surgery but opted for radio iodine treatment instead. He was quite young to be hyperthyroid, otherwise healthy and insured (which did, I must admit, make the decision a bit easier).

 

The only downside was that he was packed off to Harrogate for 2-3 weeks as he needed to be in isolation and there's only a handful of places in the UK that are able to do it. Bristol Vet School was closer to us but also about twice the price!

 

They rang every couple of days to keep us informed as to how he was - he was absolutely fine in himself, just radioactive!

 

When we picked him up, his T4 levels were back to normal and stayed that way for the rest of his life (sadly, he died last year aged 13).

 

If the situation arose again, I would have no hesitation in going for the same treatment. If you're interested, this is where he went http://www.bishoptonvets.co.uk/small-and-domestic-animal-facilities.html.

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That's really interesting, thanks. We saw the vet again last week, and he said there are four options: diet, as suggested by Chucky Mama above; tablets; surgery, or the radioactive iodine option that you took. Claudette is not insured, I choose to self-insure and anyway she'd have been a bit old when I took her on.

 

Her levels are apparently now normal, and we see the vet again in another two weeks. He said in his experience (it's only been around for a year) he wouldn't recommend the Hills food because it's difficult to get the cat to eat enough of it, and only that food. As I have two cats, separate feeding would be nigh-on impossible, so that's out. I suspect the radioactive option will be too expensive! He said she'd be a good candidate for surgery, but to be honest the tablets are going down so easily that I may stick with that. The 2-week supply from the vet at £17.35 could be bought online for under £10, but there will no doubt be a prescription fee etc if I ask for that option, so I'll have to see.

 

Thanks for the info.

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