Feline Hyperthyroidism

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Vegetable (GA)

Vegetable (GA)

Member Since 2015
Does anyone have any first hand experience with hyperthyroidism? I'm seriously starting to suspect my civvie cat spaz has it.

I've been trying to read up on it & so far it describes spaz. I have to get her to the vet but that won't be for another few weeks until I have the bill for Beans paid off.

I wonder how well the supplements actually work or if it's just best to go with any meds the vet prescribes. I'm so scared to give my kitties any meds from the vet now, I'm trying to do some research on natural supplements instead.
 
I've had two cats with hyperthyroid. One of them I treated with methimazole (it's a human medicine. My daughter actually takes it now) twice a day for 10 years. The other one I did the radioactive iodine treatment.
 
I've had 4 hyperthyroid cats...and 2 of them went on to develop diabetes. All of mine were picked up on semi-annual blood work. The first, I did the methimazole pills for over a year, but then did the radioactive iodine on him because the oral meds weren't keeping his thyroid levels good. The other 3, I went straight to the radioactive iodine. With the radioactive iodine, you have to board the cat for 3-5 days after he is dosed, then either flush the litter or stockpile it for 3 months till the radiation goes down. I did a little of both as I could keep the soiled litter in big garbage bags on a back porch till they were safe to go to the dump.
 
@Osha & @Ann and Murphy thanks for the info.

Do you know what kind of test I would need to confirm the hyperthyroidism & approximately how much that cost?

Did your kitties have any side effects from the meds or the radioactive iodine treatment? Do you just do one treatment of the radioactive iodine?
 
If you take Spaz in for bloodwork, get the geri-panel (or senior panel) done. That'll include all the basic cbc and chemistry panel and also throw in the T4 test which will be an indicator of thyroid function. It's probably better to get the basic bloodwork done as well to get a general sense of health. Cost will vary, depending on vet and lab done. There will be the cost of the blood draw too. If you call, the clinic should be able to give you a quute. And the vet will want to do an exam to feel the thyroid to see if there is any swelling.

The medication for hyperthyroidism can be compounded into chew treats that may make it easier to give. And I've also seen it give as a transdermal gel (rubbed in the ears), though the dose is not as repeatable that way. Some kitties cannot handle the medication and have to have radioiodine treatment. Some percentage of kitties going through radioiodine become hypothyroid, which means a pill every day.
 
The test that tells for the thyroid is the T4, but like Wendy said, I would get the senior panel done. I don't remember the cost of the test. Sorry

My cat did very well on the methimazole pill. He didn't have any side effects. The downside is you must be able to give the medicine twice a day and over the ten year span I am sure it was way more expensive than the radioactive iodine treatment. I would get his blood tested every 6 months to make sure the dose was still good. When he was diagnosed, 1994, the radioactive iodine treatment wasn't available.

My kitty who had the radioactive iodine treatment also did very well. If I have another hyperthyroid cat, this is the route I would go with. It is more expensive up front...I think it was about $2,000, but I can't remember the exact amount. He did not become hypothyroid. It was one treatment and then a follow up blood work and he was good. I had to leave him there for 3 days.
 
Ditto to what Mogs said, we are thinking of you always.

One quick note on the tests. Our first sugar cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroid near the end of his life (diagnosed Aug 2014, GA Dec 2014), so I do not have long-term experience with it. However, what I recall is that there were two tests -- one was a "regular" T4 test, and the other was a "Free T4" test, which I remember as being different, but I don't recall the differences. You might just want to ask about it, or see if anyone else here with more experience knows. However, I think that the Free T4 was a separate test that was not a part of the senior panel.

But you do want to follow up with bloodwork if you go on Methimazole. Although apparently it is well tolerated by MANY cats, our boy presented with anemia about a month afterwards. Now I don't say this to scare you, I just want to clarify -- he went on to have multiple blood transfusions after that point, and ultimately he passed away of multi-organ system failure a few months later. Even after the necropsy we do *NOT* know that it was caused by the Methimazole. At this point he was a very sick kitty and the anemia could have been coincidental. But "Methimazole-inducted aplastic anemia" is a rare side effect that I just wanted to make you aware of.

If we were to have another cat present with hyperthyroidism in the future, I would NOT hesitate to go on Methimazole again, and just keep an eye on their gums and bloodwork. The good news is that Methimazole is pretty cheap, and not a bad first option if your cat is easy to pill.

Best,
Sandi.
 
My 18 year old tortie girl, Sophie, is hyper T.
She'd lost a lot of weight, and her coat condition had become very poor (greasy/spiky looking). But with daily Methimazole gel (put onto the inside of her ear) she's improved well. She started to regain weight within weeks and her coat is thick and luscious.
She has other health issues so I don't know how 'long term' this treatment will be...

Be aware that treating hyper T can 'unmask' kidney problems.
My understanding is that this is because the hyper T speeds up the processes in the body and increases blood flow to the kidneys; this can make them look better than they actually are.
When Sophie's hyper T started to be better controlled it was found that she had the beginnings of kidney disease. For that reason her thyroid levels are being left slightly higher than would otherwise/ideally be the case. It's a balancing act... :)

Eliz
 
I have dad three cats with hyperthyroidism.
The first two I did the radioactive iodine treatment. The third one was not in good enough health to be isolated for the time required for the radioactive iodine treatment. For him I started with the transdermal Methimazole on the inner-ear and switched to the oral Methimazole for convenience.
If you go the iodine treatment it is highly recommended that you do a course of Methimazole to see if the hyperthyroidism is masking kidney insufficiency.
Below is from:
http://www.radiocat.com/information-for-doctors.html
  1. Required pre-therapy workup: CBC, Complete Chemistry screen, diagnostic T4 by an outside lab (ie Antech or Idexx), thoracic radiographs within 30 days of the treatment. Urinalysis is highly recommended. If the patient is currently on Tapazole/PTU – and has been for more than 30 days – we require a T4 taken seven days after cessation of this medication. Radiocat® personnel can suggest a schedule for stopping, being retested, and arriving for therapy. Please supply all previous T4 values, histories for biopsies, cancer, and acute episodes.
 
Squeaker had HyperT. It took me 3 months to convince the vet something was wrong. His symptoms were: insatiable appetite, he would eat until he vomited then eat more, wild bursts of energy, long periods of energetic running, irritability. HyperT can be dx with a thyroid panel. Squeaker was started on methimazole, he was in the rare 5% of cats who can't deal with the drug and his thyroid dropped out of the measurable range after 2 months and he was self-mutilating. During that period I researched HyperT treatments and had decided I wanted to do RadioIodine.

He was kept at the treatment center for 48 hours then I brought him home. I purchased disposable litter boxes and flushable litter to use for the next few weeks. A bit more labor intensive than normal but worth it. One bit of advice I found during my pre-treatment research was to refrain feeding anything that contains marine products (fish, kelp, seaweed) for several weeks prior to the treatment.
 
I agree with all the info being given. The radioactive iodine treatments here were a package deal including cardiac ultrasound, abdominal ultrasound, chest X-ray, ECG, BP and a senior panel plus T4 if it hadn't been done recently and cost $1000. I have followed up with senior panels and T4 every 6 months. My first hyperthyroid cat did unmask kidney disease once his hyperthyroid was treated. But, all 4 of my hyperthyroid cats have been between 12 and 15 years old when they were diagnosed.
 
@Anitafrnhamer
Anitafrnhamer said:
One bit of advice I found during my pre-treatment research was to refrain feeding anything that contains marine products (fish, kelp, seaweed) for several weeks prior to the treatment.
Click to expand...
Anita, I'm just asking about this as my kitty will probably (depending on her T4) be going for radioiodine treatment in a few months. Last T4 was 4.1 so not high enough yet.
 
the supplements as far as i understand are not the way to go. i would strongly advise against it.

my furbaby has had hyperthyroidism for a couple years now. we have very easily controlled it with methimazole. its no big deal.

we found out he was hyperthyroid after bringing him to vet because i suspected he had a UTI. it sounds funny but i noticed nothing that would indicate thyroid issues, so it was a surprise to find out he was hypert.

i dissolve the methimazole tablet in his food, twice a day, and he eats it right up. not sure every cat will do this, but i'm so thankful he's such a love about it. no pilling involved! the tablets dissolve quickly in a few drops of water, mix it in with his wet food and away we go. easy peasy.

if we could control his diabetes as easily as we control his thyroid, life would be a dream!
 
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