Gah, lots of stuff - old cat, health, iodine moving

[BuggersMuddle]

BuggersMoggy has hyperthyroidism. We knew there was an issue with stealing food which as escalating and realised it wasn't behavioural but actual hunger, so we got him checked.

He's now on a daily tablet which he takes no problem when disguised with Dreamies. We've still to establish if his bloods are okay, but he's gained weight and laid the smackdown on the neighbours 5yr old, much larger Bengal when he invaded the house and started a fight, so I guess he won't change. (BuggersMoggy doesn't start fights as far as I can see - he'll ignore until provoked).

Unfortunately there's loads going on so I have to think about:
-Thyroid - in an otherwise healthy cat of at least 16, is paying out for iodine the right thing?

• Moving - we're likely to have to move within the year and that seems very cruel, but I don't want to give him away (esp with health issues - I can easily afford the iodine treatment and even if not, would ensure he continued on medication and got regular blood tests).

I also worry that we treat him but the move has a negative effect & given his age. He has his regular territory and patrol and territory and and I worry about the stress of moving that at his age. TBH I don't have the first clue how to go about it either.

It's a weird one, because he's very well. By the time we pack up and get ready to move he'll (hopefully) still be with us, but he's already outlived the average so who knows (and that makes it seem worse, because he'd be miserable as a house cat).

Why wouldn't you take him with you when you move? Personally I would pay for iodine if the vet felt it would be beneficial and not have many side effects. But it would depend on his quality of life otherwise s

Sorry for some reason I didn't see this so didn't respond. Of course I'd take him with us. As for Iodine, it's around £2,000, so comes into it if he'd be just as happy on medication (about £600-£800 per year including blood tests).

Iodine also involves a hospital stay and keeping indoors. He's a ratter with a large territory (which worries me now he's getting on but he is what he is) and I worry it'd be crueler to keep him indoors if it won't lead to a much better outcome. (Again it's hard to say because I suspect no vet is going to say, 'it's a no brainer' with a cat of that age who's already outlived the average.'

He is assuredly still enjoying being a cat regardless and we're treating him - just a question of what's best. I guess I'm worrying about the whole moving thing too early - main thing is what we do right now for thyroid.

Having done both types of treatment I would think that as long as he is taking the tablets ok that's probably the best course of action. What has the vet recommended?

We did the iodine treatment with one cat as she wouldn't take the tablets. The time away was stressful for her and we lost her 18 months later anyway (not due to the thyroid issues -just old age). In retrospect I am not sure whether we did the right thing or not. Our other cat took the tablets fine and they kept it well controlled so was definitely the most sensible option.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

My cat was diagnosed with this aged 17, and lived another 3 years on tablets. She took them squashed into a small piece of cheese. The biggest challenge was blood tests which she hated My vet had a zip up bag he put her in to keep her still. When she was diagnosed I was offered surgery to remove the thyroid, but my vet said it doesn't always resolve the problem. Good luck with the decision and your move.

We moved an elderly (older than 16) cat with thyroid problems. He was on tablets and he was not great by the stage we moved. He was happy to stay indoors or go out into the garden only by then anyway.

Thanks for the responses. He takes the tablets fine with Dreamies.

He's not a fan of blood tests and takes 2 vets to subdue him, but it's early days so I don't know how often it'll be needed. I'll see how his next results come out and have a think.

He's definitely lazier now, but still does his 'patrols', catches rodents (and the odd pigeon....) and chases off the young challengers so he's in good shape otherwise.

My girl was diagnosed nearly two years ago at the age of 16. She's always been somewhat nervous, very much a home loving cat, very sweet natured even if we've had to do battle with a tablet. For that reason I've kept her on tablets. She does have a full blood test every three months which isn't cheap but at the same time means we know if there's anything else going in early stages. I've had to increase the strength of her medication a couple of times and we're currently adjusting it now. Generally I've found the condition easy to treat.

As we're adjusting medication I've taken the opportunity to swap over to Thyronorm which is a liquid which you insert into their mouths, as she's starting to struggle with old age and her neck seems a bit stiff to gently adjust for pill insertion. I've got a post on here (if you want to check it out) as I'm getting concerned about her. She's pacing a lot and confused which can be a sign of hyperthyroidism but I feel it's old age. I'm fairly sure we won't have her much longer - could be weeks or months I don't know, but financially it'll probably work out around the £2,000 mark overall.

Hopefully you'll get a response from someone whose been through iodine treatment. If not, talk it through with your vet, but so with your heart about what's right for your cat.