Do I keep going?

[negrilbaby]

Not sure how much longer I can cope with my cat.
She is 18 years old with hyperthyroidism. She is on 3 x 5 mg of medication daily.
She looks for food constantly. She is a healthy weight but begs for food whenever you enter the kitchen. She is always getting trodden on, because she is always under my feet crying for food.
If she gets the smallest bit of dairy product her stools become liquid and she can clear the house with the smell. If anything is left out on the surfaces she eats it. I have two small children and they drop food - so she does get at dairy products.
She has three-four sachets of food a day (and she is a tiny cat). That all has to come out - so the house always stinks. The litter tray is cleared as soon as she poos - but the smell permeates through the entire house. She is always leaving trails of poo from the litter tray through the house. I end up washing mess off the carpets daily.
I really worry about the hygiene aspect around the children. They are kids so are always on the floor. Despite my best efforts, the floors are never fully clean. She crawls on the surfaces and table given half a chance, so I am paranoid about disinfecting the kitchen.
She is banned from upstairs - we have an adapted stair-gate so she cannot go under or over it! She had taken to poo-ing in the middle of my bed, or the spare bed if she ever found the doors open. I have thrown away 5 or 6 duvets - all beyond saving.
She cannot be allowed into the lounge on her own because she will poo on the carpet or sofas.
If you put her out in the garden she sits at the french doors battering at the glass almost continuously.
I thought she was on her last legs this time last year - so we put up with it. A year further on, she seems to be thriving but is a dreadful house companion. She has regular visits to the vet (at least once every two months!) - so I know we are doing all we can health wise.
Can anyone else who been through similar offer some advice?

[Fluffycloudland77]

Well it doesn't sound a great existence for her either. If hyperthyroidism is treated should she be so hungry all the time?.

With people the treatment stops the hunger but they sometimes end up under active instead.

[negrilbaby]

The vet thinks it is just habit. She is showing signs of slight dementia but this has shown improvement with the use of Feliway plug-ins.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Have you tried the spray on the furniture etc? My cat won't go where I've sprayed feliway which isn't what I envisaged when I bought it.

[cozietoesie]

Would she eat a decent dried food, negril ? If so, maybe try a kibble ball or two to help her chase off that surplus energy/any boredom?

[negrilbaby]

That's a good idea cozietoesie , I'll try that.

[TamzinGrey]

She seems to be displaying all of the signs of untreated hyperthyroidism. Are you sure that she's actually swallowing her tablets? When did she last have her blood checked?

Poor old kitty and poor you.

[negrilbaby]

She is definitely taking her medication. She has put on weight and shows no physical signs. She sleeps well at night and her coat is in good condition. She looks a lot younger than she is.
The vet doesn't recommend regular blood tests because she turns from being mild mannered kitty (happy to be dragged about by DD) to a snarling screeching scratching biting mad thing when they try to draw blood. She needs sedation and given her age and the stress it causes both her and the staff at the vets they are happy to just give her a physical check.

[SerenaJoy]

Sympathies OP. My cat has some health issues that cause similar problems with her poo. In the last two days alone she has pooed in the basket of my buggy, and on the chair next to my youngest son's cot It's soul destroying, working hard to keep your house hygienic and it's literally getting shat on!

One of the suggestions our vet made was to have a litter box upstairs as well, for the times she couldn't make it down the stairs due to runny poo - would that help?

Our cat's 8, so a bit younger than yours and there are other issues (she's terrified of the children and is very lonely since our other cat died), so we're reluctantly thinking of rehoming her

[Migsy1]

It does sound like the medication isn't right. I think she really needs another blood test in spite of her reactions.