Cat with Over Active Thyroid Advice Please

[ginasevern]

Yesterday I took my cat for his booster injection. To my surprise he had lost weight which wasn't noticeable or typical for him. The vet said she'd take a blood sample as it could all be down to an over active thyroid. So the results unfortunately came back positive. He's approximately 11 years old (rescue cat so don't know for sure). Otherwise he's fit and active. I've been given 4 options for treatment.

1. Twice daily oral medication which I can put in his food.
2. An operation under general anaesthetic to remove one or both glands
3. Radioactive injections at a special facility where he'd be kept for 3 weeks
4. Special food for the rest of his life

I don't know what to do for the best. Initially I said we'd do the daily medication which I am collecting tomorrow morning. I'm fearful of him having major surgery at his age and it appears that thyroid tissue can grow back afterwards anyway. If he goes on the special diet, he won't be allowed anything else for the rest of his life - no treats, no cat milk, no nothing except water. I know this will make him a very, very miserable cat indeed. Finally the radioactive injections. The vet tells me he will be fully cured afterwards but I'm so anxious about it. The thought of him being miles away in a special facility for 3 weeks (presumably in some kind of isolation from what I can gather) fills me with dread.

Sorry this is so long but I'd be so very grateful to hear from anyone else who has had this situation.

We had this with our DCat, who was a similar age (but also a rescue so we weren't sure). We went with the medication. The distance we would have to take her for the surgery/ radiation options wouldn't work, as she hated travelling in the car, so it felt like the medication was the only option really. This was a good few years ago and she is no longer with us.

We went with the medication with our old girl. She found too many ways to hide the tablets so we moved to a liquid form followed by a treat of roast chicken, which worked for about 5 years till we lost her to cancer at 17 years old. The liquid was an absolute godsend, was new at the time and she needed a larger dose to absorb what she needed, but oh my, it was a blessing having it as an option. She'd beg for her medicine as she knew she'd get warm chicken immediately afterwards.

We decided on medication for our cat but she had a very rare reaction to it and wet nearly lost her. So she had the radioactive iodine treatment. She was spoiled rotten for three weeks and came back cured. No pills or food. Thankfully, was converted by our insurance. It certainly gave her several more years.

My rescue was diagnosed at 11 too. We opted for the meds (thyronorm), you can get a prescription from the vet and then buy it cheaper online. My cat actually liked the taste of it but I had to give it to her away from the kitchen, like a separate treat. I syringed it in her mouth as she licked. We did try putting it in food but she would often walk away from it and it reduces efficacy. Like you I didn't want an unnecessary op for my cat at that age. The vet told me the radioactive injections were great but expensive costing around £3k for the whole treatment! Restricted diet sounds a bit sad for your cat. Unfortunately the thyroid did eventually get too much though and I lost her recently 😢 but the meds definitely helped for a while. She had been a stray before we got her though and always had poor health, so if your cat is otherwise healthy I'm sure the meds will help for many years.

With the diet they are not supposed to eat anything else at all. Impossible if you have a mouser!

Thanks to everyone for all your detailed answers. It looks as though the oral medication is the way to go, certainly initially. The trouble is he's a bit fussy with his food and there is no chance of me putting it straight in his mouth but from what you all say it sounds as though the Thyronorm doesn't taste nasty. I don't have trouble giving him Metacam (whenever he's needed it) so fingers crossed this will be similar. That crossed my mind too @DOROteeaitchwhy. My cat isn't a prolific mouser but he's more likely to resort to hunting on the special diet. It's interesting to hear that your cat was fine with the radiation treatment. I was so worried that my boy would be permanently traumatised by the whole experience. If the medication doesn't work or suit him I will certainly go down that route.

Many thanks again everyone.

We use Thyronorm with our girl. At first I mixed it with food because she is a feisty bitey thing. But she was very good at avoiding it so we just apply it by syringe twice a day followed by a kiss and some dreamies. She,s unbothered by it now and has stabilised nicely.

Our old boy had Vidalta tablets as we didn't have the money to pay for him to have the operation (uninsured). After he went, I worked out we spent as much, if not more, on the pills as would have done on the operation. With hindsight I would have had the op.
He hated taking the pills, hiding them was a nightmare as he would be ok with it hidden in X food and then he'd reject it. The only thing that worked was pill putty but it was very expensive.
There was also a lot of blood tests and then later he had to have pills for blood pressure.
He was diagnosed when he was about 12/13 and he died a couple of years ago at the grand old age of 19. He was the best boy.

Our late DCat had I think 11 years on thyronorm before he died last year aged 22. No regrets.

We opted for surgery - however once there, the vet couldn't find the enlarged bit of thyroid so that was that.

Offered radiotherapy - declined as I didn't think our cat would be happy with the isolation. I was probably wrong but that was my decision at the time.

Tablets were incredibly easy as the cat in question would eat anything. Wrapped the tablets in a bit of cat stick, threw them on the floor and the cat ate them like a treat. Occasionally we'd find a tablet she'd not been conned by but she got at least 95%.

Cat was transformed, so much happier and we felt very guilty as she got better as it was obvious the problem had been going on for years and we hadn't npticed.

Mine is nearly 11 she was diagnosed last March and has been on Thyronorm 2 x daily via syringe since.
However its been a stuggle to get her levels stable, checks ups and blood tests done 6 - 8 weekly and meds have been adjusted accordingly every time !

She did put on weight and is ok in her self a but few weeks ago on check up she had lost quiet a bit of weight so meds changed again.

Nothing else showed up in test so bit stumped.

Surgary and radiotherapy discussed last year and every time we visit the vets but I have not gone through with it yet as she was also dignosed with a heart murmer at same time so I didn't want her to be sedated to have a heart scan (which is best / should have) prior to radiotherapy if she ok in herself.

Also the centre is far from us and I do like the idea of long separation / islotaion and I know she wouldn't like it either.

Vet says sometimes some cats are just hard to treat / get stable levels and she seems to be one of them so im a bit stuck as what to do.

I keep thinking what if something goes wrong whilst under sedation for heart scan i would never forgive myself, also if she did have heart disease then im assuming it wouldn't be worth having radatheopy etc so im going round in circles and each visit i end up saying not yet.

But one thing annoyed me a bit was a few wks ago a different vet called me just to give results and change dosage ( we only see 1 vet for continuity unless an emergency ) and asked me if I considered radiotherapy .

I told her my reasons I hadn't decided and she said "well medication is not ment to be for life" she ended up saying so your not there yet ! I said no im not.

Mt vets used to do the treatment on site but it got really hard to on a regular basis so they stopped,
i think if they still did it I may have been more open to it at a earlier stage.

I may ask if hey can give me special treatment and get some and do it.😂

I'm going to speak to my regular vet who is great and ask him why she said that and im not happy as thyroid meds are as far as im aware is given to loads of cats for long term treatment.

Just to add my vet advised that liquid is always best via syringe rather than in food as its more effective.

Please buy your meds online so so much cheaper I use Animed who are great.

Hello,
I've had 2 girls with hyperthyroids my old girl had the radioiodine treatment but was the 1% so it didn't work for her unfortunately and I can't say I'd rush to do it with my current hyperthyroid girly for a variety of reasons.

We are using Thyronorm at the moment, the liquid on the food rather than tablets, but my last girl had something called Methimazole which is a transdermal gel you pop in their ear so if you do start struggling with the tablets/liquid you have an easy option. It's not as cheap understandably but a brilliant option for those not food motivated/easy to pill!

Our rescue boy is on Felimazole twice daily. He takes them no problem, especially as he gets a dreamie afterwards.