my cat may have hyperthyroid

[TravelBug Member Find all posts View Profile Close TravelBug]

Can you entice him out with some tuna? Works for ours! Now that I recall, that was another of my cat's symptoms. She would hide under the bed and not come out at all except to eat

[TravelBug Member Find all posts View Profile Close TravelBug]

rapmarks, is your kitty OK? Is he hyperthyroid? I hope everything worked out OK.

Our little girl went blind last night due to severe hypertension caused (most likely) by the hyperthyroidism. Her retinas detached. We're hoping once the BP is stabilized, her retinas will re-attach. I'm kicking myself for not noticing her pupil dilation and taking her to the vet earlier.

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

we just arrived in Florida last night.
Rez has been mostly under the bed since we got here, but that is not unusual.
doctor said he was borderline and would not treat him. I would rather him not go thru all those blood tests. Now I see there is another thing to watch for. oh my!!!

About three years ago, we returned from a trip. Rez was behind the desk and would not come out. He also did not groom himself or eat. We took him to vet three times, they said nothing wrong with him, he was on an iv line each visit. Then i took a can of food, made it very watery,put it in a turkey baster and made him take it. Finally one night he came out and ate on his own. His fur was totally spiked out from not grooming himself for ten days. then he got better and has seemed fine.

[TravelBug Member Find all posts View Profile Close TravelBug]

Glad to hear he's not at the point of needing meds yet, but he may soon. Unfortunately, this comes on very suddendly. Our baby was borderline for several months, then we came back from a 2 week vacation and she was full blown hyperthyroid.

Vet said the same with the retina detachment. Although, she clearly had severe pupil dilation in bright light for several days and I should have taken her to the vet immediately. Isn't hindsight great! We'll get blood and urine work back today. Her BP is better, but still high, so they increased the dose and she goes back to the vet tomorrow morning for another BP test. Our vet was not as optimistic as the emergency vet about reattachment of the retinas. Says chance is about 50/50 and then only partial vision is likely...but partial is better than what she has now, althouh she's a real trooper and is getting around amazingly well. It astounds me the way she is able to compensate with her other senses...she easily finds her food, potty, etc., although she got overoptimistic last night and head-butted the wall a bit too hard!

I'm surprised your vet didn't put Rez on antibiotics during that episode as he clearly was ill. Sometimes it's hard to diagnose and I'm no doctor, however, that behavioral change as well as the duration, IMO, warrants antibiotics.

He'll come out of from under the bed once he gets comfortable with his surroundings. I remember when we moved to our new house, one of ours didn't come out from under the couch for 3 days.

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

Usually we don't have too much trouble getting Reznor in the car for the trip. This time he remembered his last trip to the vet and hid very well, under the bed, in the middle, a bed with a bookcase headboard that is very hard to move. We actually got the imposible cat out before him. Then he pooped under our bed (that can't be moved). so the poor little thing was really scared, but an angel in the van for the trip south.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

rapmarks, is your kitty OK? Is he hyperthyroid? I hope everything worked out OK.

Our little girl went blind last night due to severe hypertension caused (most likely) by the hyperthyroidism. Her retinas detached. We're hoping once the BP is stabilized, her retinas will re-attach. I'm kicking myself for not noticing her pupil dilation and taking her to the vet earlier.

Don't kick yourself. Sometimes the obvious isn't so obvious, especially when you are with them everyday! My friend had a blind diabetic cat for eons and you'd never know Benny couldn't see you! He was a happy guy.

we just arrived in Florida last night.
Rez has been mostly under the bed since we got here, but that is not unusual.
doctor said he was borderline and would not treat him. I would rather him not go thru all those blood tests. Now I see there is another thing to watch for. oh my!!!

Pat keep close tabs on Rez's weight. When they go they go fast!

Did you ever find out if that clinic near your complex is the one that does radio-treatment?

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

My old guy is on his last legs. His blood test was good but he dropped to a mere 13 lbs. and was fur and bones. He's been sick for months and his heart murmur was worse on his last trip to the vet. He's been an outdoor cat and fought about anything that came around, but he's been indoor and subdued for the past year. He's gained some weight back with daily medications but is nowhere near his 22 lb fighting weight. It looks like he may not make to 20.

PS- the black cat in the avatar is our little girl about 1-1/2 and relegated mainly to the basement by the sick old guy.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Glad to hear he's not at the point of needing meds yet, but he may soon. Unfortunately, this comes on very suddendly. Our baby was borderline for several months, then we came back from a 2 week vacation and she was full blown hyperthyroid.

Vet said the same with the retina detachment. Although, she clearly had severe pupil dilation in bright light for several days and I should have taken her to the vet immediately. Isn't hindsight great! We'll get blood and urine work back today. Her BP is better, but still high, so they increased the dose and she goes back to the vet tomorrow morning for another BP test. Our vet was not as optimistic as the emergency vet about reattachment of the retinas. Says chance is about 50/50 and then only partial vision is likely...but partial is better than what she has now, althouh she's a real trooper and is getting around amazingly well. It astounds me the way she is able to compensate with her other senses...she easily finds her food, potty, etc., although she got overoptimistic last night and head-butted the wall a bit too hard!

I'm surprised your vet didn't put Rez on antibiotics during that episode as he clearly was ill. Sometimes it's hard to diagnose and I'm no doctor, however, that behavioral change as well as the duration, IMO, warrants antibiotics.

He'll come out of from under the bed once he gets comfortable with his surroundings. I remember when we moved to our new house, one of ours didn't come out from under the couch for 3 days.

I hope your kitty will be OK and that she will get her vision back or at least partially. If you had known what was happening, you would have taken her to the Vet immediately but you are not an expert. We learn by trial and error and by having multiple pets over the years. You certainly have taken care of your cat with her thyroid disease which requires constant monitoring.

What you wrote about borderline thyroid changing suddenly is so true because it happened to our cat, Taffy. He was borderline and had lost some weight but when we came back from vacation, he had lost so much weight that I got really worried. He would always lose weight if we went on vacation because he didn't want to eat alone. The last few times, our petsitter was staying with him until he was finished with eating but he still had lost the weight.

The Vet did the blood tests again and put him on Tapazole tablets which stopped the weight loss and the blood tests showed that he was OK. He had no other problems as he never stopped grooming himself but we lost him very suddenly which wasn't related to the thyroid disease but an accident.

The Vet will keep monitoring the blood and adjust the medication if it is needed. I still have a 3 months' supply of the Tapazole tablets left that will expire in March 2010 and I have tried to give them away but even our local private shelters wouldn't take it. I will have to throw them out but I wished I could give them to someone who can hardly afford buying the pills but it is against the law to advertise, I found out.

[TravelBug Member Find all posts View Profile Close TravelBug]

Thank you so much for your kind words and hugs...they are sorely needed. Both of our babies have had medical issues for a number of years and I watch them like a hawk, knowing that small behavioral changes can indicate problems. Especially Cassandra, who has had bad arthritis, then hyperthyroid and now her kidneys are also slowly failing. At least now I know what to look for in Electra who has kidney disease as well as high BP due to that!

Cassandra's BP is now in the normal range and she goes back in a month for another BP check. One of the other vets was on duty this morning and her prognosis of sight return is slim to none given her other medical issues. She also mentioned that she has another patient who's parents didn't know for several weeks that their boy had lost his sight. Unfortunately, with Cassandra's arthritis (and age), she is not as agile as she once was. We have stair steps up to the bed and couch and have had them for a number of years now.

I've had hypertension for years and we're monitoring hubby who's BP appears to be slightly elevated. Next time we go to the Dr. we can let them know it's gone cross species in our household

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

Reznor passed away today.
he was not hyperthyroid.
His kidneys failed.
We will miss him very much.
I am sure he is in Kitty heaven.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Reznor passed away today.
he was not hyperthyroid.
His kidneys failed.
We will miss him very much.
I am sure he is in Kitty heaven.

This always makes me cry, but brings hope as well. Hope it helps you too.
The Rainbow Bridge

Reznor waits for you.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Reznor passed away today.
he was not hyperthyroid.
His kidneys failed.
We will miss him very much.
I am sure he is in Kitty heaven.

I feel for you as it is so hard to lose a pet if you love them. Remember that you gave him a good home and that the happy memories will come back and the loss will get less hard eventually.

[TravelBug Member Find all posts View Profile Close TravelBug]

I'm so sorry to hear that Rap. I was thinking about your kitty the other day and wondering how he was doing. He's in a better place now.

[1950bing Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 1950bing]

Just learned one of my cats have this. She is small to begin with so she can't fall off much. There is a vet school in my town, good hands.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Sorry to read this, Bing. I wonder if your Vet at the Vet school will put your cat on Zapatole pills as it helped our cat and he stopped losing weight. He never acted sick except for losing weight. It seems that a lot of older cats end up with hyperthyroidism. I hope that your cat will be OK. Is she an older cat?