Tomlin
Member Since 2019
This is the recently published update to the previous 2010 guidelines. There are some changes, including a change in the number of life stages & also a focus/emphasis on the importance of feline friendly handling.
There are several useful, easy to read tables that offer a quick way to access information such as Diseases & Conditions that Require focus during each life stage (Table 3) and Recommended Diagnostics for each life stage (Table 4).
Living in a house with multiple seniors, one particular change we recently made was to make sure the T4 is checked 2x/year vs 1x/year. The reason for this is that if hyperthyroidism occurs, it can mask underlying kidney problems. The potential risk of delayed diagnosis is, the kidneys will appear to be healthy/normal based on lab work but only until the hyperthyroidism is diagnosed and treated & then those values change....they are “unmasked” once the hormone issue is addressed. Instead of having an early stage CKD issue that you can address, you may have a more advanced stage issue instead. Keeping a closer eye on the T4 is one way to try to avoid this scenario—especially with older cats.
LINK for guidelines:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1098612X21993657
There are several useful, easy to read tables that offer a quick way to access information such as Diseases & Conditions that Require focus during each life stage (Table 3) and Recommended Diagnostics for each life stage (Table 4).
Living in a house with multiple seniors, one particular change we recently made was to make sure the T4 is checked 2x/year vs 1x/year. The reason for this is that if hyperthyroidism occurs, it can mask underlying kidney problems. The potential risk of delayed diagnosis is, the kidneys will appear to be healthy/normal based on lab work but only until the hyperthyroidism is diagnosed and treated & then those values change....they are “unmasked” once the hormone issue is addressed. Instead of having an early stage CKD issue that you can address, you may have a more advanced stage issue instead. Keeping a closer eye on the T4 is one way to try to avoid this scenario—especially with older cats.
LINK for guidelines:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1098612X21993657