Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Calling cats with hyperthyroidism

65 replies

purpleme12 · 27/11/2021 17:29

Hi
To anyone who's got/had cats with hyperthyroidism
Can you tell me about your experience
And what treatment process you decided to go with
And how that was for you
And cost

OP posts:
SleepingPanda · 30/11/2021 10:38

@purpleme12

Those of you who gave medicine (rather than radioactive stuff) what was the reason you chose that rather than the radioactive route?
I thought the liquid/syringe would be easier than the tablets so that's why we opted for that option. The vet did talk us through the radiation therapy treatment, but as our cat is 17 and very affectionate we ruled this out immediately when he said we would have to be separated for a few weeks (she would hate this!)
Original poster
purpleme12 · 30/11/2021 15:39

Mine is affectionate too but I'm thinking short term pain for long term gain...
Plus the stress of putting medicine in him for the rest of his life....

OP posts:
Elzbells · 30/11/2021 15:48

My vet didn't want to go down the radioactive route but I think it's because mine is super stressed out of the home, is quite frail (arthritis and high blood pressure that keeps temporarily blinding her) and she's 16.

We used the tablets for a while until she sussed it and now we can't hide them in anything - now we are back on Theronorm which I don't think works as well on her but at least I don't find spat out pills all over the house.

Original poster
purpleme12 · 30/11/2021 15:50

Mine is a bit younger than yours then

OP posts:
Elzbells · 30/11/2021 15:51

I bought the vet prescription and buy a 100ml bottle of the medicine online for £50 which lasts months and is a lot cheaper than buying from the vet!

Elzbells · 30/11/2021 15:53

To be honest if mine had been diagnosed at 11/12 yes and she was in full health otherwise I would 100% have gone the radioactive route.

Original poster
purpleme12 · 30/11/2021 15:57

This is very helpful thank you

OP posts:
Original poster
purpleme12 · 30/11/2021 15:59

@SaggyOldClothDog

Our cat was diagnosed at 14. We opted for the radioactive iodine injection as the vet didn't think the op was an option, and she's a bugger for taking any kind of medication. It was about £3k by the time you factored pre and post op tests but it was covered by insurance. She had to go into hospital for 2 weeks (it's only one injection, but they have to be isolated until the radiation has passed through their system) then we had to keep her separately at home for about another 2 weeks. I was worried about how she'd cope, but she did really well (although she was desperate for cuddles) and she had no ill effects afterwards.
Hi What did the £3000 consist of? I mean how much was for radioactive treatment and how much was for extras and what were the extras?
OP posts:
Defiantly41 · 04/12/2021 00:05

I have one on Vidalta and one on Thyronorm. Thyronorm is really easy to administer but didn't suit one of ours.

I ruled out radioactive treatment as i was told if they develop any other problems whilst they are radioactive, they can't be treated and would be euthanised. Teeny tiny risk but I couldn't take it.

SaggyOldClothDog · 04/12/2021 12:08

The iodine treatment itself was about £2200, then she had to go for a pre-op assessment to check she was a suitable candidate (which was probably a couple of hundred) plus follow up bloods (we had the option of having the latter done at the hospital, but just had them done at our local vets instead). Then there was the cost of the initial vet consults/pills before we got the referral. It may not have been £3k in the end but wasn't far short. Like I said, I was concerned about how she would be away from us all (she's quite nervous and isn't fond if strangers, but demands attention off the chosen few 😂), but as soon as she was home, it was like she'd never been away.

Original poster
purpleme12 · 04/12/2021 12:13

Oh wow i mean i knew it was over £2000 but gosh that's a lot :-(

OP posts:
SaggyOldClothDog · 04/12/2021 12:19

The insurance covered a fair chunk (I made the schoolgirl error of dropping the cover down, after the policy starting going up despite not being to the vets for anything other than jabs and health checks for years🤦), so if you have that option, I would recommend it. (Having said that, if she would have taken the pills, we probably would have just gone down that route).

Iamanicepersonreally · 04/12/2021 23:15

My cat had the radioiodine treatment. I think it came to just under £5,000 as she needed an MRI scan as well. My insurance paid

Original poster
purpleme12 · 04/12/2021 23:31

Why did she need an MRI as well?

OP posts:
Iamanicepersonreally · 05/12/2021 07:09

She had a seizure when they were preparing her for the radioiodine treatment. Never happened before or since. For what it's worth, the treatment was highly effective and gave her a new lease of life

Mia400000 · 05/12/2021 07:44

My cat is on thyronorm. I put it on his food twice a day. No problem.

He has blood tests a few times a year to check he's on the right dose.

Original poster
purpleme12 · 05/12/2021 07:56

@Mia400000

My cat is on thyronorm. I put it on his food twice a day. No problem.

He has blood tests a few times a year to check he's on the right dose.

What is the cost of this medicine and the blood tests? and how often does he have blood tests?
OP posts:
AliceAldridge · 05/12/2021 08:27

Mine is on Thyronorm too. Blood test was about £65, and we had to have two to initially diagnose hypothroidism because he was borderline but had symptoms, and the medicine costs maybe about the same (I can't quite remember) per bottle. Our bottle lasts a fair while because he is currently on a low dose. He had a follow up blood test at six weeks then another three months later to check he was stablising and not since but I am guessing he'll have another at some point.

AliceAldridge · 05/12/2021 08:29

Ps it's not at all stressful to give him the medicine by the way, it just goes on his food twice a day.

Original poster
purpleme12 · 05/12/2021 08:37

I am giving him some different medicine now and it would get missed a lot of the time on his food so i'm just wary about giving medicine...

OP posts:
Catscratched · 05/12/2021 09:01

Ancientgirl is on Methimazole cream rubbed onto her ear twice a day. I daren’t even guess how much it costs per month but much higher than the Thyronorm figures here but she’s such a fussy bugger about food and impossible to give pills to. She has regular bloods.

She had a partial thyroidectomy which wasn’t successful for very long and we didn’t think she’d cope with being away for the radio treatment.

She’s 17 and has been unwell for about 3 years. Every few months she has a bit of a dip and she’s really quite frail now so I don’t expect her to last the next year.

If I was to choose again, I would have chosen the radio treatment.

Ohbotherpiglet · 05/12/2021 13:08

For the food, we had one blood test to check the food was working (maybe a month later) and she’s not needed to see a vet for it since. She’s just had to see the vet for something else and we got a blood panel done as part of that and it’s still working!

Cecillie · 05/12/2021 13:17

In a young cat, and 12 is young for hyperthyroidism, the radioactive route is great .
It’s usually a one off, very non invasive , only downside is two weeks stay away.
No blood tests every 6 months, no medication check ups,no struggling to give tablets . Really a no brainer for cat of this age , if you can afford the initial outlay.
Medically better as well as zaps the hormone producing tissue so no up and downs if you can’t give meds for a few days or cat vomits them up etc.

Original poster
purpleme12 · 05/12/2021 13:17

I wonder if different vets work differently and some vets are happy for no regular blood tests and some vets need them

OP posts:
gunnersgold · 05/12/2021 13:27

I chose to treat with the food , I didn't want a fight daily to give him a tablet and wouldn't have operated on a 16 year old cat . It gave him two more years and he died of heart failure in the super hot summer 5 years ago! I loved him so much but it felt like the right option for me and him. He would have hated a tablet daily !