Hyperthyroidism - anyone's cat have it

[Smudgey]

Hi I lost my boy to Hyperthyroidism earlier this year he had been medicated for over a year
I have 30 felimazole tablets at 2.5mg if anyone can make use of them please Pm your address

[Sootyca]

I couldn't pill my Ginger stray.  I crushed the tablets, which I wasn't supposed to do, but it was the only way I could get him to take them.  It did work but probably not as well as getting them in him whole.  We tried the ear gel which was easier but he didn't seem to absorb it properly so he went back on tablets. 

[Nicola (RockysMum)]

I had two boys with HT. Both were managed with felimazole, Jake for 2 years, Bailey for 4 years. I lost Jake to kidney disease and bailey to heart failure.

First, the tablets….oh, I feel for you. Bailey was a bit hit and miss but we found Good Girl catnip drops on amazon and they were a life saver. They’re soft so you can mould them round the tablet. Worked a treat for both of them.

Jake eventually became a nightmare with tablets and eventually we had to move to the ear gel Mark mentioned. My vet hadn’t heard of it at the time but he ordered it for me. It was no problem to give Jake and he was on it for the last year of his life.

I considered surgery, but as others have said, it’s not a cure. Then we looked into radioiodine but due to my cats having other health issues we couldn’t do either of those options.

The tablets work well and the HyperT is manageable on them, unfortunately, the tumour keeps growing so over time the dose needs increased. Bailey was on 6 tablets a day in the end. I got very good at spotting the symptoms of it going up again even without his blood tests!

Your cat will need regular blood tests to make sure the T4 is under control for the rest of her life but if she gets the right dosage and you and your vet keep on top of it, she will be fine.

One thing is to make sure your vet keeps an eye on her kidney function. HyperT can mask kidney failure, so it’s vital that her kidneys are tested once she’s stable too.

Good luck, I hope you find a solution to the pill problem!

[Liz]

Mark yes we are at the same place never moving

[Lotzy4]

Again, thanks for your replies.

Still struggling with getting her to take pills. She eats everything but the pill in her bowl. I bought some Webbex and hid one in this, this was a complete reject. Tried pilling her last night, she didn't struggle but after getting it into her mouth four times (despite clenched jaws) she spit it out. Currently hiding upstairs under the bed obviously trying to avoid me. I crushed it (which vet told me not to do) and put it in yogurt this morning and she had it. I guess we'll see what her levels are like at the end of three weeks, but will certainly ask about the gel - thanks for the tip Mark.

I don't want to put a 16 year old cat through surgery, but I think I'm resigned to it. Radioactive treatment is out of the question, she hates being away from home - we had to put her in a cattery twice last year and suspect she didn't eat much. She hardly left her box and was wet underneath where she hadn't gone out to use litter tray.

[Mark]

Message for Liz - This thread has reminded me that I asked you on Facebook if you were still at the same address for me to send you the pot of Felimazole.

Lotzy - you can get a gel from the vet that you put on a cat's ear and the drug is absorbed through the skin.

It is called Methimazole transdermal gel - if your cat won't take tablets, it might be worth asking your vet about it. My vet offered it to me for one of mine, but I had no problem pilling him so didn't need it.

Surgery or radioactive treatment wasn't an option forLazarus as he had multiple health issues, but I gave him Felimazole for over 4 years with no problems. We lost him to something unrelated (a liver tumour)

[heather sullivan]

I have got 2 cats who are hyperthyroid one is 21 the other one 11. the older one has had it for 2 years, but takes Felimazole twice a day. I put it in a piece of Webbox stick and she eats them fine. At her age I wouldn't put her through surgery. She is doing fine on the pills. The younger cat also has pills twice a day, she takes Vidalta 20 mgs a day, has taken ages to find the correct dose. As she is insured I am probably going to go for the Radio Iodine injection which has a 95% approx cure rate. The operation can work, but my vet told me in some cases the thyroid problem recurs sometimes 3 months to a few years later and would need either another op or more meds. As my cat is insured only for a year per condition ( I didnt realise that) it means if she had the op and the problem came back after the year had expired I would end up having to pay, so the injection is looking most likely. Surgery was quoted around £850 and the injection (she has to go to a specialist centre for it which is going to be sad as she will be away from home 2-3 weeks until she is no longer radio active) and that cost is around £1600-£2200 depending on if she needs a heart scan or not.  It's a big decision to make, surgery has risks, but if cats are young, obviously the surgery or the injection is best rather than fighting with pills forever! Good luck with whatever decision you make. ps the younger cat has now put weight back on and is running around like a kitten, and eating much less.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

None of mine can be pilled

[Lotzy4]

Thanks for your replies. So far have only got two tablets down her really easily, two have been complete rejects. She's got to go back for a blood test in three weeks time so depending on how successful we've been with tablets, will be the deciding factor she has an operation.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Sorry to hear this and if you do a search or just look down the threads in the health section there is loads of information,

[Liz]

I am on my third hyper t and that included a feral I pill mine by wrapping the tablet in human cornbeef or tuna pate feel free to PM me

[Lotzy4]

If your cat has hyperthyroidism, can you please tell me your experience. Is it controlled on tablets, how are they in themselves or have they had an operation? If they had an operation, can you give me an idea of the cost please

My cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism yesterday (totally out of blue as took for annual vaccinations and vet suggested a test as her weight was lower). Apparently her level is quite high. Vet has suggested two tablets daily initially, a check up in three weeks time and mentioned an operation if it couldn't be controlled. I got the first tablet down her okay, the second one was more of a struggle and she had half dissolved!