Overactive thyroid in a cat

wornoutmumoftwo

My cat is 17, on borrowed time, and very skinny at the moment.
He is on medication for his overactive thyroid, has a heart rate of about 200 and is quite light to pick up.

I just wondered if there was any high protein food I could give him to build his weight up. Normal cat food is ok some times, other times it gives him a funny belly.

He can't really eat felix or whiskas as they seem to be too rich for him and he doesn't like to eat only dried food.

Thanks in advance

chris_n_tj

So to hear about your poor kitty, has he had a blood test done recently? Maybe his meds are a bit on the high side?

I would maybe try chicken and rice, or fish and rice. I know what you mean about foods being ok 1 minute then upsets the tummy the next. (TJ has under active but he a dog)

Sorry I cant be of more help, but some one will around soon and will give you more ideas.

I hope kitty picks up soon, hugs Chris n TJ xxx

ljonski

I doubt if he will ever put weight on again. The best plan is as much TLC as poss.
Yours Sincerely
Lj

wornoutmumoftwo

He gets loads of TLC. I think his time in coming though. He's sleeping a lot now.

Booley

I'm really sorry to hear about your cat.

Our cat had the same problem, she went from being quite hefty to very thin. She would eat absolutely anything though and was always hungry. The worst moment was when a neighbour called to me from her garden to ask if the cat was mine. She said she'd seen my cat going through rubbish bags in the street and wondered if it was a stray

She was on medication and eating for England but never put any weight back on.

wornoutmumoftwo

He's had good innings. He's as thick as two planks of wood (sunbathes in road) and has outlived my other two other cats.

I'm going to ring the vets tomorrow and ask about the operation once he's heart rate's down, (going to attempt to find out his heart rate in a minute once he's sleeping. He's just had his third sachet of food this morning).

The vets have been great, told me my options (not the sleeping one), and leaving it to me decide, but I think we all know he's an old man now. He could have the op and live for a month, or have the op and live for a couple of years (to spite the husband).

He's still happy/eating/drinking/goes outside. Just slower and sleeping more.

PinkTiger

hi, just wanted to say i'm thinking of you & your fur baby. my oldest cat turned 20 on friday & i have been giving her kitten food as its higher in calories. she is still thin but her weight has stabilised, maybe its worth a try.

wornoutmumoftwo

PinkTiger wrote: »

hi, just wanted to say i'm thinking of you & your fur baby. my oldest cat turned 20 on friday & i have been giving her kitten food as its higher in calories. she is still thin but her weight has stabilised, maybe its worth a try.

Thank you, I might try that. He's out in the hall having a kip at the minute.

Sooz00

Hi

I have a 10 yr old old hyperthyroid cat Tess. She's on felimazole at the moment (2.5mg twice daily). We tried her on carbimazole but her body wouldn't tolerate it and she continually vomited so couldn't get her stabilised.

I've managed to get her weight up a bit by feeding her 4-5 meals a day, mainly wet food but some dry too. As kidney problems are common in older cats and can be masked by hyperthyroidism, I'm trying to keep her fluid intake up.

You mentioned discussing surgery with your vet but I just wondered if you'd considered radioactive iodine therapy? It's an injection of I131 which destroys the abnormal thyroid tissue and leaves the healthy tissue. In most cases it is a permanent cure and not as invasive as the surgery although as with surgery, they do like to have the cats stabilised on medication first. I don't know where you are based and whether cost/insurance is a factor (though our vet said cost was similar) but I just thought I'd mention it. There are only a handful of referral practices that are licensed, including the RVC and AHT. We were referred to the AHT in Newmarket which is 2 hours from us. Tess had her tests last Wednesday and we get her test results tomorrow.

I hope your cat is doing ok and you can get some more weight on him. Orijen and Applaws dry foods both have a really high protein level. Tess also likes Nature's Menu pouches. If you were interested you could also supplement with home made (I've not tried it myself but I've seen various recipes online).

wornoutmumoftwo

Thank you Soozoo, I actually have an overactive thyroid myself and am on carbimazole, higher dosage than the cat. I didn't realise you could do the Iodine on a cat, but I have young children, so not sure that would be an option but I'll ask.

I've just bought some kitten food, read the ingredients first and it looks like it has higher protein, though only slightly so I'll see how I get on. Thanks very much for all your advice.

Sooz00

wornoutmumoftwo wrote: »

Thank you Soozoo, I actually have an overactive thyroid myself and am on carbimazole, higher dosage than the cat. I didn't realise you could do the Iodine on a cat, but I have young children, so not sure that would be an option but I'll ask.

I've just bought some kitten food, read the ingredients first and it looks like it has higher protein, though only slightly so I'll see how I get on. Thanks very much for all your advice.

Sorry to hear you have a thyroid problem too. Hope the meds are doing their stuff.

I just thought I'd mention the iodine treatment in case as it seemed to the best option for our Tess. I was worried about the radiation they keep cats in for 2-3 weeks until the radiation is gone. The AHT were helpful as my vet spoke to them a couple of times prior to our appt. there as we were really struggling to get Tess stable on the meds. The links below have more info (the 2nd has lots incl. in depth about surgery/iodine/tablets.

http://www.aht.org.uk/pdf/feline_hyperthyroidism.pdf

http://www.felipedia.org/~felipedi/wiki/images/7/7f/Hyperthyroidism.pdf

Keep us posted on how your boy does x