Tommy just diagnosed as hyperthyroid

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Cori and Tommy

Cori and Tommy

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Finally got Tommy OTJ about 2 months ago, and soon after he gets a bladder infection and a cavity, so we did a full blood panel for the teeth cleaning after the bladder infection was gone and they found out he's hyperthyoid! I guess cat's numbers are supposed to be between 0.8 - 4, the vet said she would have thought he would be around 2 given his age (he'll be 15 in May!), and he's at 20!!! Holy geez.....

Anyone have experience with a hyperthyroid cat? Is this a forever thing or could he go back down?
 
This is a forever thing - there are three treatments:

Tapazole (pills every day or cream on ear -- I use pills for Buster)
-- requires blood tests every 2-3 months to make sure DOSE is OK
or
Radioactive Iodine procedure (kills the tumor -- cat must have healthy kidneys to be eligible)
<<== BEST OPTION if you can afford it --- approx 97% success rate
or
surgery -- (not very effective because tumor may be spread out and hard to get it all out)


I give the pills every day - he no longer drinks like crazy but still has an upset stomach (pukes bile / saliva - no food) and still has hair loss.
 
Like Phoebe said, this is a forever thing. I don't recommend surgery, I did that for one cat, had one thyroid removed, I believe there are two thyroid glands. Her Hypert came back within a year.

I would start the pills, I don't care for the gel, the transdermal gel, it didn't seem to work for my cats. I gave the pills to all of my hyperts crushed in their canned food, they ate it without issue.

Unregulated hypert can cause more UTIs and hypertension.

I don't have much experience with the I131 treatment, my cat just had it in January. He has gained some weight back already but his T4 is too low now, another recheck in April and hopefully he will be just right.
 
I have two hyperTs: Beau and my oldest, Charlotte. I do wish that I could afford the I131 treatment for them since it is a "cure" in about 98% of cases. There are some that end up hypoT, as Jennifer mentioned hers is now and may need meds to counteract that.

Charlotte has not done well on the methimazole in either pill form or transdermal gel. She just could not handle even a low dose of the pill form. The gel is easier on her, but she HATES it. Beau does very well on the pill but we have been up and down on the dose and he keeps going hypoT on it. That causes him to get grumpy, not eat and withdraw from everyone - and this winter his body temp dropped about 2 degrees and he was hiding/sleeping under the comforter for a few weeks.

FYI, he went OTJ about a year after his hyperT dx. Last Dec he needed insulin for about 9 days - not sure why, but he is OTJ again, so it may effect Tommy' s numbers (when you start treatment) but settle down again. I would suggest testing his BG a bit more often starting a week or so after you start the med. They say that it takes 1-4 months for the med to settle into a given dose, but Beau responds much faster than that. Both times he was hypoT, dropping the dose saw a change in about 2 days.

The thing to know about the meds is to start low and build up the dose. Start at no more than a quarter tablet bid. Tablet should be the 5mg ones. The lower dose is easier for them to get used to and you can slowly work your way up if necessary. Also, get a script and buy at a human pharmacy. It's cheaper than from the vet. I use my AAA drug discount card because to covers pet Rx's.

And, yes, it is forever - unless you get the I131 treatment.
 
Winnie had I-131 treatment. She did great!. Came home and got her nice shiny coat back and gained much needed weight -- She was her old happy cat self.

I would do it again for another cat in a heartbeat. Yes the upfront cost is high, but over time you can end up spending a lot for pills and b/w. Before she was treated, they did extra b/w, abd. u/s and checked her heart.
Often cats will be put on a trial dose of methimazole/Tapazole for a month . That allows for the thyroid levels to reach the normal range and see if the hyper T was *hiding* renal disease.

This is the group that treated Winnie. They have some information on their site about the disease and the treatment.

http://thyrocat.com/

Treating her with 1 131 was the best decision I could of made for her.

(Of course , ECID ... and everyone's situation is different too. )
 
The Tapazole pills that we get (and cut up) seem to have a bad taste - we have to hide it inside a treat (Pill Pockets) for Buster to take it - and we have to be careful to not get any of the powder on the outside of the treat where he can smell/taste it.
 
My cat is HyperT too. She gets the Methamzole liquid (in her food) and seems to be doing fine on it. Her original T4 was over 100, but on 5 mg is is at 3. We did the med slow - too much at once, which is what the vets usually want to do, upsets their sromach, and it did at first for her and I backed way down and slowly raised it.
 
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