hyperthyroidism - can i have your experiences (and sympathy)..?

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

My Kocka RIP had thyroid probs and had one thyroid removed cos she had a tumour non -malignant.  She was diagnosed after losing loads of weight and she never put the weight on again and with mounting health probs she lived until age 20. She was diagnosed about age 16.

She was a fussy cat with food and would not eat and lived the rest of her life on AD diet with anything esle that I could get her to eat.

[Gillian Harvey]

There is a new med licensed for hyperT in cats, its called Vidalta. Well its not exactly new - its the Carbimazole based medication and has been used before in the form of Neomercazole. It only needs to be given once a day, unlike Felimazole (which is Methimazole) which is usually twice a day. http://www.intervet.co.uk/products_public/vidalta/010_overview.asp

My Elsa was diagnosed with HyperT when she was about 18 and was on Felimazole until I lost her age 20, and she did ok on it. I wouldnt have considered the op for her at her age, nor the iodine therapy, and I would have to think really seriously even about putting a younger cat through iodine therapy - not because of the treatment itself, which is non-invasive and not painful at all - just the fact of the 6 weeks of hospitalization and isolation.

[ginge66]

Hi one of my cats was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism at about the age of 14. I was never given the choice of medication just advised to go for the operation, apparently cats have two thyroid glands so can quite happily survive with one. I think the op cost about £180, that was about six years ago and he went on to live till about eighteen.
He also had classic symptoms of continually being hungry and losing weight to the point were some local children thought he was a stray and kept feeding him, not that he minded He also became more vocal and stepped up the hunting skills but I dont remember him being clingy.

Goodluck I hope this helps xx

[Canterbury_cats (Sharon)]

The iodine therapy for hyperthyroidism is very very expensive and means a cat has to be a the vets for 5 to 6wks or so.. in isolation.. There are only a few vets practices in the UK that do it, one being not far from us in Canterbury.. I suggest the normal route allthough as with these things  you have to weigh up the risks.. I would get a quote on the operation so you have a rough figure to budget for and i am sure that vets will agree to pay in installments if they think you are genuine!

[Desley (booktigger)]

i have never dealt with hyper-t personally, but I would certainly ask the vet about the cost for the operation due to his age. It might also be worth asking the vet what age he thinks Nimbus is, and maybe look into insurance for your other cats. not sure if the PDSA insurance is any good though.

[kingbimbobs]

hehehe, they are beautiful, aren't they? 

i had a look at the PDSA site, and it seems that you have to be on benefits, so i don't think they'll help me. i will call them though and find out. i'm quite interested in their insurance option too...

thank you for all your advice though, everyone. 

i agree that giving meds for the rest of his life is NOT a real option. the vet did say that i have to give them for one month, to stabilise him, and then to come back to him with a decision as to what i want to do. i'm interested in the iodine thing - has anyone done it? (although, i don't think the overdraft will stretch to that!!!  )

he's actually very good at taking pills. unfortunately, despite his enormous size, he is not an alpha male, and therefore tends to get beaten up badly whenever a new tom comes on the block. many an abscess he's had, and many a round of antibiotics. 

(although having said that, two new cats have moved in nearby - i call them justice avenger and the night thief. justice avenger b/c he's nice to nice cats, like nimbus, but aggressive to aggressive cats: he seems to be teaching nimbus a bit of nerve. the night thief is called thusly b/c he comes in at night and steals food! )

oh and thanks for the fabcats link, although i did have a teary read through that last night.

[Rosella moggy]

Wow your 2 cats are absolutely stunning  . 

Nimbus reminds me of another cat but can't think who.... Any ideas Helen? 

I imagine you have already researched but a good link below.

http://www.fabcats.org/owners/hyperthyroidism/info.html

[Garfield&Gypsy]

My Jet (RIP) had hyper-t she was medicated.
other symptoms of Hyper-t include
high heart rate - which can make them tired,
excessive hunting - so much so that they forget to groom and often end up with a poor coat.
grumpy - he may avoid sitting on or near you as he's not feeling up to it
vocal - Jet really found her voice with hyper-t makes you more likely to respond to demands

unfortunately Jet was PTS in January this year due to other complications. she started with symptoms last august and was taking tablets fine.

[Tiggy's Mum]

Hi &  to Purrs, sorry it's not under happier circumstances 

My cat Tiggy had hyperthyroidism for almost 5 years, she was on felimazole and didn't have any adverse side effects from the medication.  There is another medication available for hyperthyroid but it is not licensed for use in cats so by law the vets are supposed to prescribe felimazole first.  It could be that the dosage needs adjusting, Tiggy started off on 2x a day and eventually settled on 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 pattern each week.

If I were in your shoes and he is in general good health otherwise then I would definitely consider the operation, the op can't be done until his thyroid levels are stable so you will still have to persevere with the medication route for a while longer but he is relatively young so you could potentially have another 10 years of giving him meds which twice a day will impact on both him and you.  I didn't consider the op at the time as Tiggy was 14 so I was worried about how she would cope with an operation, looking back I wish I had thought about it more as 5 years of daily meds was very restrictive and definitely worked out more expensive than the op although that wasn't my main consideration, I was too afraid of losing her.

Is he OK taking the tablets?  If not I have some great tips that worked on Tiggy for almost 5 years, I only had to resort to reasonable force about twice in all that time!

Have just seen his pics on your other thread BTW, he's a stunner 

[Rosella moggy]

8 or 9. Nimbus is still young in my book.  Yes our Tommie went from 5.4 to 4.4kg in about 4 months.

The PDSA is a charity. People's Dispensary for Sick Animals. Naturally you have to be on your uppers to qualify for assistance and I'm not sure how long it takes to jump through their hoops to qualify for financial aid so I wouldn't get my hopes up. It is however worth a try. However you would have to use their vet and, if you are so happy with your own vet, you may not want to go that route.

BTW I didn't notice any worsening signs with Tom when I 1st started his treatment for HyperT so I would get in touch with vet and mention any worsening signs.  I only realised something was up with Tom's reaction to treatment after a few weeks due to him getting sick and runny poo altho I got the impression that Tom's reaction to the medication isn't common.

I'm off to find a piccie of Nimbus now 

[kingbimbobs]

you're right, i can't be 100% on his age. essentially, he followed a friend home one night when he was a kitten, and about a year later i inherited him when the friend moved to NYC. so i say 8, but he could be 9...?

he is a large cat: 6.7kg and very, very long (see pics in the other forum). he has never been fat or overweight - just long! the back-story is that he had an upper respiratory infection that wouldn't go away with the first round of antibiotics. three weeks after the first vets appointment for the coughing/sneezing, i took him back and he had lost 100g. the vet and i were alarmed, and so he got another course of antibiotics and a follow-up appointment 10 days later.

at the time, i said to the vet that i felt that although nimbus was no longer sneezing, he still seemed unwell. generally he is very aloof and snobby and i always know when something is wrong b/c he becomes a borderline lap-cat! and as well as my gut feeling, my vet (who really is amazing) agreed that there was something else going on with nimbus.

at first the vet thought it might be kidney related, since nimbus was drinking a lot (he's not any more) and so we tried to do a home urine sample. anyway, that didn't work (who knew cats could hold pee in for that long??!?!?!!!  ) and so back to the vets we went for the more invasive type of kidney test and at that time, the vet recommended that i get the bloods done as well... the kidney test was all fine, and all the bloods picked up was the hyperthyroidism.

so *phew* that's the back-story.

i think i want to do the op, especially since it could only be £200-300. that's not too bad and what student overdrafts are for!  i've never heard of the PDSA. i'll have a look around their website to see if i am eligible. thanks for mentioning them. 

[Rosella moggy]

  to Purrs.

Can I dive straight in and ask what makes you so sure Nimbus is 8 years old if he was an "alley cat"? Whilst not unheard of, this condition is more often found in older cats.  You say he is a big cat.  I assume he has been losing weight?  Being clingy and panting are not symptoms I recognise as HyperT related. Demanding food (including batting OH's face) in the wee hours is more like it and being well ....  Hyper, drinking alot, unsettled and grumpy etc 

Can I assume that he has been blood tested also for kidney, liver, diabetes when test done for hyper thyroidism and they came back OK? Has vet mentioned that he/she will be suggesting further blood tests periodically to ensure the medication is not having any adverse side effects and possible blood pressure tests .  Such repeat tests don't come cheap and neither does the cost of food as cats suffereing from HyperT eat ALOT. 

My 18 year old was recently diagnosed as borderline HyperT. Unfortunately medication had adverse effect on his liver so we had to stop that (not felimazaole). All I would say is that I've read up on the condition and, if our Tommie were not borderline and was as young as Nimbus and I was sure he was otherwise healthy, I would be going for the op. As Tommie is insured,I considered the radioiodine treatment but couldn't leave Tom in effective quarantine for the 3 to 4 weeks that required. 

Best of luck to you and Nimbus whatever you decide.    Have you considered approaching PDSA if you are strapped for cash? 

[Canterbury_cats (Sharon)]

As a CP branch we have had several cats through our doors that have been hyperthyroidism indeed it  is something we think about with older cats that eat alot but never put on weight.. In just about all those occasions we have had the operation done, as saves the stress of long term tablets and allows a cat to be rehomed easily.. (more so then tablets daily). This condition makes them grumpy!! Several older cats 14yrs plus have condition with the tablets and as long as they not stressed long term taking them then the risk of the operation are outnumbered by the continued long term use of the tablets.
I rehomed Gus a 15yr old puss that was to be PTS in Feb, due to this condition, he is doing well in his new home and dearly loved by children..

The operation (the one that doesnt involve radiotherapy that costs over 1000 pounds) is around 200 to 300 quid this way... But against the cost of the tablets long term and high dose works out much cheaper, bearing in mind you puss is only 8yrs old

[Christine (Blip)]

First,  to Purrs.  In my own case, all I can offer is empathy, but we do indeed have members with experience of hyperthyroidism.  I will ensure this is bumped up if they do not spot it asap.

Good luck to little Nimbus and to you 

[kingbimbobs]

hey, this is my first post, so first of all - hi! 

one of my cats, the beloved nimbus (aka king bimbobs) has just been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. he wasn't really showing many symptoms, but to cut a long story short, i had a feeling something was wrong (he was very clingy) and so we had some bloods taken, hence the diagnosis.

he's a very big cat (i got him when i lived in the states, so i like to think of him as super-sized  ) and so the vet has put him on 2 x 5mg felimazole a day. today is the second day and he seems to be getting worse. he's been really agitated, has an excess of energy, is eating a lot, scratching / licking / biting more than normal, and panting heavily. (although he has calmed down in the last hour or so...)

i guess i wondered if people noticed a worsening of symptoms at first with the drugs, before a levelling out? or do you think this is a bad sign? i'm calling the vet tomorrow if he is still behaving in this way, but i was just looking for other peoples experiences. (i have searched the site, but i couldn't find anything relating to this specific question.)

also, does anyone have anything to share regarding the operation? nimbus is only 8 (i think, he was an alley cat), so i guess this is probably the best route for him. the vet has asked me to think about it, b/c they know i am strapped for cash (i'm a student) and my cats are not insured.  (incidentally, does anyone know how much the operation costs, i forgot to ask my vet.)

i just feel really sick / anxious / worried / nervous about this whole situation and i was looking for empathy / advice / stories.