# Anyone not treat their hyperthyroid cat?



## Sussexbythesea (7 October 2013)

One of my cats (15yrs) is hyperthyroid. After 3/4 days on Felimazole she had bloody diarrhoea and stopped eating, hid under a chair and became very difficult to pill so I stopped it. I then spoke to the vet and he said to give it a couple of weeks and then see if symptoms subside then try again with only one tablet (2.5mg) a day. I started to do this but she seemed to get poorly again.  

I asked him if the symptoms rather than the cause could be treated i.e. high blood pressure and he said no and that her heart would give out if left untreated. 

I don't know whether to persevere one more time but it seems like torture and wondered if it is best just to let her live as comfortably as possible and as long as she seems reasonably happy to let her be. Both surgery and radioactive iodine treatment are usually only done if they become stable on meds first and the latter means at least a couple of weeks away from home with no visits and a £1500 + bill. She has never stayed away and gets anxious even if looked after at home whilst I am away. 

Has anyone here ever had any other type of medication / therapy for their cat? If you stopped treatment how long did they live and what happened in the end? At the moment her main symptoms are that she eats a lot and is more unsettled than she used to be but not anything that warrants PTS yet.  

Thanks


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## Moomin1 (7 October 2013)

It's very much how long is a piece of string with hyperthyroidism. It's never the same in any two cats tbh. 

If I were you I would definately persevere for now, but if you are finding it is impossible to treat her succesfully, I would ask your vet what their opinion as to her current condition is and if she is likely to suffer imminently without treatment. 

If she is comfortable and not suffering without currently, and you do stop meds, I would suggest very regular vet checks.

Sounds like you have put your heart and soul into her care, how lovely.


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## Crazy Friesian (7 October 2013)

There are other drugs for HyperT - If your vet hasn't discussed this and the different strengths, side effects etc - CHANGE YOUR VET!!!!

I have just been thru this with my precious boy. We battled for a year.

Get on the feline HyperT websites, Educate yourself, protect his kidneys, support his immune system and work thru a supportive diet! Investigate homeopathy (it does work in many cases).

This sounds harsh, but I went thru hell and am still reeling from losing him.

Pm me if you think I can help.

(((HUG)))


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## Sussexbythesea (7 October 2013)

Moomin1 said:



			Sounds like you have put your heart and soul into her care, how lovely. 

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Thanks  I would even consider the £1500 iodine treatment if a) It didn't mean she would have to be isolated for so long and b) It could be guaranteed that her kidneys would not fail as a result of the lowered blood pressure.


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## Sussexbythesea (7 October 2013)

Crazy Friesian said:



			There are other drugs for HyperT - If your vet hasn't discussed this and the different strengths, side effects etc - CHANGE YOUR VET!!!!

I have just been thru this with my precious boy. We battled for a year.

Get on the feline HyperT websites, Educate yourself, protect his kidneys, support his immune system and work thru a supportive diet! Investigate homeopathy (it does work in many cases).

This sounds harsh, but I went thru hell and am still reeling from losing him.

Pm me if you think I can help.

(((HUG)))
		
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Thanks - if you have any links to good sites that would be useful. 

My vet is normally very good but I will think about whether I should try another practice. From what I've read there are only two types of tablet Felimazole (methimazole) and Vidalta (carbimazole)  which breaks down to methimazole. I know in the USA you can get a version that you can rub in the ear but I don't think it is available here.


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## Crazy Friesian (7 October 2013)

sussexbythesea said:



			Thanks - if you have any links to good sites that would be useful. 

My vet is normally very good but I will think about whether I should try another practice. From what I've read there are only two types of tablet Felimazole (methimazole) and Vidalta (carbimazole)  which breaks down to methimazole. I know in the USA you can get a version that you can rub in the ear but I don't think it is available here.
		
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Pm me or email me. This is going to be hard enough to attempt to help you without trying to cover all the bases on an open forum. I will need a heck of a lot more info from you to point you in the right direction. HHO tells me when I have a PM but not necessarily for threads - I deactivated it as it clogged up my email and cant remember how to reactivate it.

I might be able to help. Your cat needs to eat or will go into a catabolic state which will be a nightmare to recover her from. I KNOW your heartache. Trust me I do. But a painful lesson I learnt was that a vet - unless a specialist - is no better than a GP. They are only human.

PM me. xx


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## pines of rome (8 October 2013)

My cat is on vidalta, which I have not had  any problems with, he has been on it for a year now! I f I took him off this he would be dead as he was wasting away.
I also give him salmon oil which has helped a lot, he has put on weight and his coat is much better!
I hope you find a solution for your cat!


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## Umbongo (8 October 2013)

Our vets stock felimazole but mainly use vidalta which we have seen better results with. Have you thought about the Hills y/d diet (not a fan of Hills, but I do not know how their hyperthyroid diet compares?).

I do not know about the ins and outs of untreated hyperthyroid cats medically, but a handful that I have seen have gone downhill very rapidly


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## cptrayes (8 October 2013)

Experience of cats I have seen suggest that she will simply live happily on eating you out of house and home until you decide that she is too thin to carry on. I've seen two and both appeared perfectly happy, just thin.


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## twiggy2 (8 October 2013)

my understanding is it can make some cats very cranky and anxious, raises the blood pressure and puts extra strain on the heart when cats are hyperthyroid so leaving it untreated will shorten the cats life and may make the cat feel very unwell


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## E13 (9 October 2013)

I would worry about the stress that she would go through - obviously with hyperthyroid she will continue to lose weight and be ravenously hungry, and that can be very stressful with the cat always looking for food, a constant need that is never satisfied.


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## cptrayes (9 October 2013)

E13 said:



			I would worry about the stress that she would go through - thisily with hyperthyroid she will continue to lose weight and be ravenously hungry, and that can be very stressful with the cat always looking for food, a constant need that is never satisfied.
		
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The answer to the hunger is to leave food constantly available. I feed my cats this way anyway, when the plate is empty another tin is opened. The two I have seen, one of mine and one of a friend's, appeared to be very happy and behaved young for their age, which I understand is also part of hyperthyroidism.


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## twiggy2 (9 October 2013)

cptrayes said:



			The answer to the hunger is to leave food constantly available. I feed my cats this way anyway, when the plate is empty another tin is opened. The two I have seen, one of mine and one of a friend's, appeared to be very happy and behaved young for their age, which I understand is also part of hyperthyroidism.
		
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the active part as I understand it is due to the heart racing and them becoming hyper-active, I am not sure if the cats enjoy feeling like that or not. I also thought that a hyperthyroid cat would continue to lose weight even if it ate continuously (maybe it depends on severity) and that processing all that extra food puts huge strain on the body.

my advice would be go to the vets again and discuss options I would not leave without medication but it seems some do and are happy with how the cats are-each to their own


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## cptrayes (9 October 2013)

The extra activity I saw was kittenish behaviour, playing with toys and stuff. Neither cat looked anything but very happy.  My own guideline was that when the cat was no longer strong enough to jump cleanly onto the bed, he was put down. He was a free-living country cat who would have taken badly to being dosed with pills all the time. He made 17 full of life and had a good end.


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## Fransurrey (9 October 2013)

Has your vet not mentioned para thyroidectomy? This is what my old girl had just before I took her on. She's perfectly happy and no meds.


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## TheresaW (10 October 2013)

My cat is on vidalta, and it has done wonders for him.  He has gone from being a bag of bones, to reasonably plump again.  Only problem we are having now is, he has a habit of disappearing, and avoiding his pills.


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## Sussexbythesea (10 October 2013)

Umbongo said:



			Our vets stock felimazole but mainly use vidalta which we have seen better results with. Have you thought about the Hills y/d diet (not a fan of Hills, but I do not know how their hyperthyroid diet compares?).

I do not know about the ins and outs of untreated hyperthyroid cats medically, but a handful that I have seen have gone downhill very rapidly 

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I've still not worked out how to multi-quote so I'll have to respond separately  I've not been offered Vidalta although I did mention it as read about it - I suppose could insist I try it instead of Felimazole. The special diet I looked into but she probably would not eat it as although hungry she is still very fussy. I've also got her sister so she would have to have it as well - I can't see that going down too well


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## Sussexbythesea (10 October 2013)

cptrayes said:



			Experience of cats I have seen suggest that she will simply live happily on eating you out of house and home until you decide that she is too thin to carry on. I've seen two and both ap peared perfectly happy, just thin.
		
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Do you know they absolutely had hyperthyroidism? My friends cat has similar symptoms but is not hyperthyroid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYXnpvJxW3A

I do not want her to get like this


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## Sussexbythesea (10 October 2013)

Fransurrey said:



			Has your vet not mentioned para thyroidectomy? This is what my old girl had just before I took her on. She's perfectly happy and no meds.
		
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I think he said he could not feel any enlarged tissue which makes it harder to identify what tissue to remove and you have to be careful not to remove the parathyroid glands. Also it is usual to get them stable on meds for about a month before surgery. Then there are the general risks of surgery and if she has underlying kidney disease that will show up. 

Thanks to all for your help and advice - Apologies to all over my seeming procrastination - Apparently I am an INTP in the Myers-Briggs scale hence I have to analyse everything to the nth degree and find it difficult to actually make a decision on what to do !!


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## cptrayes (10 October 2013)

sussexbythesea said:



			Do you know they absolutely had hyperthyroidism? My friends cat has similar symptoms but is not hyperthyroid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYXnpvJxW3A

I do not want her to get like this 

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Vet diagnosed one but not the other.

Much easier to be an ENTJ!!


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## mandyroberts (22 October 2013)

I'M ENTJ too! Try Vidalta, my cat does much better on it


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## 9tails (22 October 2013)

I've had/have three cats with hyperthyroidism.  I have a fair number of cats so I'm not particularly unlucky!  The first was treated with felimazole, it didn't really make much difference and he was eventually pts while still on medication and skeletal.  The second I didn't treat and he eventually died naturally, thin but not skeletal.  The third is still with me, untreated and thin, she's had it at least 3 years.


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