My Max had SRT on October 14, almost 8 weeks ago. He is supposed to get a thyroid test in January because of the risk of hypothyroidism after SRT. I’ve noticed though, that he has dry flaky skin, he’s been laying around the heater vents, and sleeps more often. It could be his age, he’s 13…or it could be nothing. He’s fine otherwise. Feeling better actually. I was wondering if any other cats that had SRT developed hypothyroidism? Is it pretty common? I’m not sure if I should go ahead and get him checked now or just wait for January. It’s not that far off anyway.
I live with two cats, Eddie and Blue, both of whom have had SRT for acromegaly but it was also following hypophysectomy. As I understand the latter, once the pituitary has been removed along with the tumour, thyroid medication is a must for the rest of their lives. If Max has not had his pituitary removed it may still have been affected by radiation. How many fractions did he receive? Eddie had 3 and Blue had 1. Blue's coat is just fine, while Eddie has some dry flaky skin. I've been looking into giving him a little Omega 3 in the form of salmon oil (very small amount) in his food. Where did Max have the SRT? Hope this helps and that Max is on the mend.
Thank you. He had just a single fraction at NCSU. I was told about the risk of hypothyroidism and to have him checked in 3 months, so that will be in January. Hope Eddie is having a good day.
I've seen it happen, but not what I call super common. And the couple I saw took longer than a couple months. In section 3.6 of this article, it says 14% of a study of 53 cat went hypoT.
