Mutty is poorly! Hyperthyroidism help needed...

[Lyn (Slugsta)]

Awww, how lovely that Licky brought a kitten home  I am glad that he is doing well.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

This is great and hope that he loves his little friend and has many years ahead to play with him 

[Stezzle]

Hi,

My Liquorice has Hyperthyroidism. He has just turned 15years old and he was diagnosed before Christmas. It was scary as he lost all his weight in a week and pretty much stopped eating. When he had his first bloods done his t4 level was over 500. I think its meant to be between 20-80. So we had to give him 10mg of Vidalta to start with and then it was upped to 20mg after about 6 weeks (two 10mgs a day) Then on a check up the vet noticed he had a heart condition possibly caused by the Hyperthyroidism. So we were giving him medication for the heart as well. He was very sleepy all the time and seems restless as well. After about two months i noticed he was more active, loved food and put all his weight back on, but i noticed that when i give him his tablets that he would just go sleep for hours. So after telling the vet that i thought his medication was too high, they confirmed that his t4 level was too low now. haha. So we are back on 10mg once a day and his heart medication and its amazing the difference in him. He is more alert, active and chats away to me again. We are still going to the vets once a month to monitor but it is looking promising at present. We decided to do tablets as Licky is an older cat and therefore risk was an issue. Plus we are a multi cat household so iodine food diet was not a option.
To give our Licky tablets, we hide them in a weebox treat stick and he just takes it every time. He now meows at him at tablet time before i am ready as its in his routine now to get his treat. We also give his heart tablet at night and keep him after then so we can keep an eye on him. We recently got a mini present off Licky. He found a stray kitten and brought him home. The kitten looks like Licky was he was a kitten. Needless to say the Kitten has giving Licky someone to play with as for 15, he is very playful. So its nice to see that friendship blossom.
Looking back - If we had not of taken him the vets as soon he was unwell then i am 100% sure that he would not be here now. I am thankful for my quick thinking and the vets. Its scary at first but it is manageable.

[Liz]

Our Max had his thyroid removed and it was about £350.00 but sadly 18 months later he became hyper T again as they couldn't get to the parathyroid as it was to close to to other organs - he has been back on Vitalda for 2 years and now looks for his treat with 2 hidden pills he is also back up to his full weight of nearly 6kgs and is a happy boy

[Miss Kitty]

Just got back from the hospital after being savaged by Mutty! Just joking, he put up a valiant fight, but so did I and I won! He's only just started on the tablets... How much does the op cost? I could always sell one of the children...

 

[Tiggy's Mum]

Any joy with the tablet taking today? I think if Mutty was mine, and was otherwise fit and healthy, then at that age I'd be looking into the operation or the iodine treatment - you still need to get his levels stable on medication for either of those to happen though so tell him to be a good boy and take ihis tablets! 

[Miss Kitty]

Hi everyone,
Mutty is nearly 13, and seems to be in good health. His eating is a bit hit and miss, he needs his teeth cleaned but the vets won't do it until he is a bit more stable - he had a heart murmur/irregular heart beat which they put down to the hyperthyroidism. I will try the tablet hiding tricks, tried to hide it in minced steak (!) yesterday but he is way too clever to fall for that one! Any help, advice, steel gauntlets gratefully received!
 

[Kay and Penny]

I opted for the radioactive iodine treatment for my cat last year, because as he was only 11 I didn't fancy 6 or more years trying to keep him stable on medication - but it isn't a cheap option

I strongly recommend you join the Yahoo group for hyperthyroid cats - there are some really knowledgeable people on there, who are very clued up on blood test results

[Liz]

I cutrrently have have 2 Hyperthyroids Max domestic on 20mg of Vitalda and Miss Clio my alpha feral on 15mg to try and stabilise her after she had all her teeth out last week she is nearly 14 and qhilst a nice wee soul can be a pain as she is a Daddies girl and he is working and living in Azerbaijan

I use Pate for Max - 3 blobs 2 with pills in and 1 for eating the other 2 and Clio is currently having heres warapped in M &BS smoked salmon!!!

[Tiggy's Mum]

Sorry to hear about Mutty's recent diagnosis  First of all how old is he and is he in good health otherwise? There are options other than daily medication - one of our members recently had the iodine treatment for their cat and it seems to have been a great success. There is also the possibility of the operation and I believe nowadays there is a food which is designed to help control it, Hills YD.

There is also another type of medication which the vet can prescribe if Mutty doesn't seem to be improving on the Vidalta, although the alternative is usually twice daily so not ideal if you're struggling with tablet taking.

My cat was diagnosed hyperthyroid when she was about 14, in hindsight I wish I'd gone for the operation but I didn't know then what I know now and thought 14 was very old in cat terms so was worried about an operation. She lived til she was nearly 19 so had five good years after diagnosis as the medication (felimazole) did it's job. It's a balancing act getting the levels right so she had regular blood tests but she got there in the end.

I think with the operation and iodine treatment it's important to get his levels stabilised before considering them so here's my top tips for getting the medication inside them!

I feel suitably qualified to advise on this    Tiggy had over 2000 tablets over the last few years of her life and the methods below were successfull 99.9% of the time... however Lu & Riley are two bright young things and they had other ideas so I had to revise my methods when they had antibiotics last week and came up with the Webbox trick as well!

The tablets the boys had were very bitter and had been broken into pieces so the bitter insides were exposed hence some of the methods were rumbled by them.

1) Webbox treats - a soft malleable stick treat - cut a small piece off, cut that in half and then mould the treat round the tablet. 100% success rate with Riley, available in Tesco/Asda etc

2) De-furrum treats - break in half and poke the tablet in the gooey centre.  Available from Pets at Home, Jollyes

3) Dairylea/Primula - poke tablet in blob of aforementioned cheese. 

4) Wafer thin turkey ham (Bernard Matthews) - hide tablet inside mini parcel.

There are others on here who have much more recent experience with hyperthyroid and hopefully they'll be along shortly 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Just noticed this is in wrong place so am moving it for you and then you will see the other posts.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

If you look in this thread there are a number concerning the medication...................why am I starting to think vets are on commision from the company that makes it!

Trouble is the alternative is two tablets a day I think but there is a third option , which is no medication! It would mean a shorter life but overall the quality of life needs to be considered.

 

[Miss Kitty]

Mutty had his annual check up at the vets and they did some routine tests... Got the tests back today and it shows that he has Hyperthyroidism and a high red blood cell count. He has been prescribed 15mg Vidalta daily. Mutty isn't happy about this, I almost lost my hand trying to give him his tablet today, so have been researching the condition and how I can help with diet. Shonagh Staten suggested I ask the lovely Purrs members for help as there are members who have cats with Hyperthyroidism that may be able to offer me advice... Can anyone help me and the lovely, if ever so slightly grumpy, Mutty?