I said no to both. He recently had blood work done and all his blood levels are normal, including his thyroid hormone level. Both of these abnormalities can occur in pets, with overproduction of hormone known as “hyperthyroidism”, and under-production called “hypothyroidism”. If your cat shows a combination of some of the signs listed above, it’s important to take them to the vet promptly. My cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism at age 13, after a year and a half of eating a cat food that was “guaranteed” to cause weight loss. Excellent story. That said, there are some cases that do not show fit this picture,and there are some cats that show these signs but have a normal thyroid gland. If a hyperthyroid cat is fed a special diet (e.g. The science is strong on this: for the sake of your cat’s health and longevity, the correct treatment needs to be given, and when this is done, the results are excellent, with affected cats returning to full, normal health. Surgical removal of the thyroid gland and treatment with radioactive iodine are both curative treatments, so there should be no need to have follow up monitoring tests once the initial post-procedure tests have shown that levels have returned to normal. The simplest answer is a daily tablet to suppress hormone production. Rarely, hypercalcemia is seen in cats with hyperthyroidism. Methamphetamine was discovered in 1893 and exists as two enantiomers: levo-methamphetamine and dextro-methamphetamine. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. And it’s not just cat owners who struggle with this question, those of us who have studied these creatures for years still frequently miss signs of feline pain. Typically, the signs of hyperthyroidism develop gradually, over a few months. The ultimate cause of death is not usually associated with hyperthyroidism: cancers and kidney disease are the most common reasons, and these are common in all elderly cats. Every cat is different: it’s important to discuss your own pet’s treatment plan with your vet before deciding which one to choose. Select all that apply.-blurred vision-increased appetite-widened pulse pressure. A formerly placid, easy going cat might become more agitated and more irritable. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. As a cat owner, it is frightening to see your beloved feline suffer from a seizure or other neurological episode. They produce thyroid hormones, which act like the accelerator pedal in a car, giving animals energy and enthusiasm for life. A blood sample is a key part of confirming the diagnosis of hyperthyroidism. Bluffing behavior, such as when a cat arches its back, that doesn't usually lead to an outburst but is instead one cat's way of showing another cat that it's not to be messed with. First off, your cat’s twitching isn’t necessarily connected to the hyperthyroidism, but a link is possible. 1,703 Likes, 64 Comments - Mitch Herbert (@mitchmherbert) on Instagram: “Excited to start this journey! Remember, if you suspect that your cat may have hyperthyroidism, it’s important to get them to the vet promptly so that a proper diagnosis can be made, and a treatment plan put in place. Radioactive iodine is generally considered the most effective treatment and should stop the effects of an overactive thyroid. Many affected cats have characteristic blood cell changes, while 90% have elevations of liver enzymes, as well as other biochemical changes. I also give him raw ground chicken or turkey a couple of times a week, and unsalted bone broth every day because he loves it. Thank you for sharing your experience. However as her thyroid as 160 rather than 60, the vet said that all of her symptoms may be related and therefore to treat just the hyperthyroidism in the first instance. Please consider that the cause of so much hyperthyroidism in cats may be the iodine supplements in cat foods. It should be possible to treat your cat’s asthma along with hyperthyroidism. Both these complaints are common in senior cats. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. I decided instead to try to cut iodine out of his diet. Allergies. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask—I’d also recommend further discussing all of these issues with your veterinarian. The educational cat health content on All About Cats is written by or reviewed by our team of veterinary experts to ensure that it’s in line with the latest evidence-based veterinary information and health guidelines. This can create an itching, tickling sensation. Once the diagnosis of hyperthyroidism has been confirmed, there are here are four main forms of treatment, with the best choice depending on the cat’s individual situation. In around 70% of cases, both thyroid glands are affected, with 30% affecting just one gland only. When the vet told me the treatment options I balked: either surgically remove his thyroid gland and give him thyroid hormone supplements the rest of his life, or give him anti-thyroid medication the rest of his life. Because when it comes to showing signs of pain (or any illness for that matter), cats are masters of disguise. Once treated, cats with hyperthyroidism can live for years—the life expectancy really depends on how long the condition went untreated and how much damage it’s done to the patient’s body. More than 90% of cats respond rapidly to this form of treatment. Generally only offered at selected specialist referral centers, the gold standard for treatment of hyperthyroidism is the use of radioactive iodine: this emits β particles that destroy functional thyroid tissue but do not damage structures in the neck region. It’s too early to be sure but it seems that both of these symptoms have been less of an issue… We were thinking about radioactive treatment for her, but in this article I was shocked to see that the life expectancy of a cat seem to diminish significantly after diagnosis. Decreased neuromuscular excitability may lead to signs of generalized weakness, depression, muscle twitching, and seizures. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. The end result of the laboratory testing phase of these patients is that your cat may now be a confirmed case of hyperthyroidism. Pete is known as "Pete the Vet" on his busy Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages, regularly posting information on topical subjects and real-life cases from his clinic. Too much thyroid hormone causes an animal to behave as if their accelerator pedal is permanently pushed down to the floor, while if there isn’t enough thyroid hormone, the animal becomes sleepy, lacking energy and becoming slow and lethargic. Hyperthyroidism does not get better naturally, and it does not respond to home remedies or alternative approaches. My cat is living proof that hyperthyroidism can be successfully treated with a low-iodine diet. It should be possible to treat your cat’s asthma along with hyperthyroidism. Required fields are marked *. Urine samples may also be recommended to assess kidney function in more detail. Your cat may be allergic to some foods, insects (in particular fleas), plants, and airborne allergens such as pollen. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. There’s an interesting difference between dogs and cats: dogs tend to suffer from hypothyroidism while cats suffer from the opposite disease: hyperthyroidism, or an overactive thyroid gland. (My reasoning was that cats evolved eating whole animals including bones, and raw meat was only muscle, so I assume bone broth should contain some calcium or whatever is in bones that he needs.) Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. These cookies do not store any personal information. senior diet, etc). Some cats with severe hyperthyroidism do experience muscle twitches or tremors. Symptoms of low magnesium levels may be similar to those seen with low potassium levels, such as weakness or twitching . Yet, neurological disorders can occur in cats, just as they can in humans.In fact, similar to humans, a cat's central nervous system works with a complex network of nerves to … The surgery can often be done by your local vet with no need for a referral to a specialist center. However, it does mean daily tabletting for the entire life of the cat, and there is a small risk that the thyroid tumour could end up becoming malignant, so it’s worth considering the other treatment options. A lack of vitamin B may in itself cause loss of appetite, or occasionally may cause twitching or itching. I hope this helped you to make a bit more sense of the situation. ... -twitching of the mouth. Which physiologic responses should a nurse expect when assessing a client with hyperthyroidism? The vet said she’d never heard of treating hyperthyroidism with diet alone, but said I should keep doing what I’m doing because it’s clearly working. Methamphetamine (contracted from N-methylamphetamine) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Daily medication and an iodine-restricted diet do not provide a permanent cure, so without ongoing therapy, hyperthyroidism will recur. The classic picture of a hyperthyroid cat that vets have in mind is an old, bright, thin cat who eats a lot, drinks more than usual and vomits occasionally. This option is probably the ideal treatment, but it is more costly and more complicated, logistics-wise than other options. For this reason, it makes sense to carry out intermittent blood tests to confirm that the tablets or diet are still being effective. There is a small risk that treatment for hyperthyroidism might “un-mask” kidney disease that had previously been lurking under the surface, so your vet may recommend tests to monitor kidney parameters if this is considered to be an issue. Read more here. The thyroid glands are small structures, located halfway up the neck in cats, on either side of the windpipe, one on the left and one on the right. Surgery to remove the small thyroid tumour is another possibility. The radioactive isotope is given by intravenous or subcutaneous injection, and treated cats must stay in special isolation quarters for some weeks after therapy because they excrete the radioactive iodine in their urine, and this could present a risk to human health. Access from your Country was disabled by the administrator. He’s now 15 — and in perfect health! Eventually I found Hill’s prescription low-iodine YD food, and this is mainly what he’s been eating for almost 2 years now. I learned later that the weight-loss cat food he’d been eating contained excessive iodine, which likely over-stimulated his thyroid gland and caused thyroid tumors. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Either would require many expensive vet visits to adjust his thyroid hormone levels until he was stable. Hyperthyroidism occurs when there is an elevated level of thyroid hormone produced by one or both of the thyroid glands in a cat. It sounds like such a simple question, but the answer is actually far more complicated than we think. Use of this site is subject to our terms of use and privacy policy. ... Primary hyperparathyroidism occurs in cats but not as frequently as in dogs. Other than the restricted-iodine diet that is used as a type of treatment, there are no specific diets for cats with hyperthyroidism. Your questions are very complex and specific to your cat’s unique history, so it’s very difficult to give a complete answer to these questions. Nobody knows what causes hyperthyroidism, but the following factors have been noted as possible risk factors: *Flea treatments have been ruled out as a contributing factor. Thank you for this article. The average age at the time of diagnosis is 13 years. The different types of treatment need different follow up approaches. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Some cats with severe hyperthyroidism do experience muscle twitches or tremors. XXX My cat has been diagnosed with severe hyperthyroidism despite being given the all clear when we were initially concerned 6 months ago… She is 13 and has a seizure type head twitch when she is tired, usually when she is falling asleep. Hyperthyroidism is a very common condition in cats, especially over the age of ten years old. ©2020 Cliverse Media Ltd. Thank you. Vitamin B12 in the form of methylcobalamin may be particularly helpful. If hyperthyroidism is not treated, the signs of illness will get more and more severe, with affected cats eventually becoming emaciated and weakened. The vet also said his heart rate was dangerously fast, and he was dehydrated despite all the water he drank. Magnesium testing may be ordered as a follow up to chronically low blood levels of calcium and potassium. The extra thyroid hormones in their bloodstream will prevent this extra food from being used properly, and they will continue to lose weight regardless of how much you feed them. It’s very helpful. The excessive thyroid hormone is produced by abnormal thyroid tissue: technically, it is described as “functional adenomatous thyroid hyperplasia” or “thyroid adenomas”. www.catster.com/cat-behavior/why-do-cats-sleep-so-much-sleeping-cats-facts, Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/83.0.4103.116 Safari/537.36. Do you think that our previous neurological concerns are anything to do with the hyperthyroidism? Dr Pete Wedderburn qualified as a vet from Edinburgh in 1985 and has run his own 4-veterinarian companion animal practice in County Wicklow, Ireland, since 1991. The cat sleeps where he wishes, at will, sometimes with me, sometimes on the couch, the dining chair, the floor, the windowsill, the armchair, the cushion, and so on. I read all the cat food labels and at first I could not find ANY cat food that didn’t contain either fish or iodine supplements, or both. She has also been hunkering down and has been coughing like she has a hairball but with nothing happening. View all posts by Dr. Pete Wedderburn, DVM, The Truth About Grain-Free Diets For Cats, How To Stop Your Cat Scratching Furniture, Making Cat Food: Homemade and Raw Cat Food Diets Explained. First off, your cat’s twitching isn’t necessarily connected to the hyperthyroidism, but a link is possible. “Serum Free T4 Concentration”). An allergic reaction to something may also be the reason why you see your cat shaking head a lot. Pete is well known as a media veterinarian with regular national tv, radio and newspaper slots, including a weekly column in the Daily Telegraph since 2007. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Increased urination, sometimes with accidents in the house. This has been getting worse recently. It is an astonishingly common problem in cats: it’s seen more than any other cat hormone problem, and in one recent study of cats over the age of ten being blood sampled, 21% had elevated thyroid hormones. His latest book: “Pet Subjects”, was published by Aurum Press in 2017. Your email address will not be published. Each different treatment choice carries a different price tag, and this will vary from area to area: you should ask your vet for a full treatment estimate at the start, so that you know how much you need to budget for. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. If an owner feels happy giving their cat tablets, then this can be the easiest way. This is not a disease that will go away by itself, nor will it respond to home remedies of any kind. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. The appetite is often affected, with changes in favorite foods, as well as a significantly increased appetite. Each time you make a purchase through one of our independently-chosen links, we’ll receive a percentage of the proceeds. To be definitive about the diagnosis, it’s necessary to measure the thyroid hormones directly: the serum T4 level is nearly always elevated, confirming that the cat is hyperthyroid. Hills y/d) that has deliberately low levels of iodine (a key component of thyroid hormones) then their thyroid hormone level will return to normal within 4 weeks. In layman’s terms, this is often described as a “benign tumour”: it is not malignant or cancerous, and it will not spread to elsewhere in the body. Often the cat carer notices a number of symptoms developing in their pet. Your vet will advise you on the recommended frequency, but it could be every 3 – 6 months. B vitamin supplements are safe and can often help a CKD cat feel better. While hyperthyroidism is more common with advancing age, it can be seen in younger cats from time to time, with cases in the literature even describing rare cases of cats under one year of age with hyperthyroidism. Malignant cancer of the thyroid gland is rare in cats; it’s known as thyroid carcinoma and it causes only 1-2% of cases of hyperthyroidism. Your email address will not be published. Furthermore, I’m not a vet and this reply is not a substitute for veterinary advice. If you suspect that your cat is having oral problems, take her to your vet for proper diagnosis and treatment. The prognosis for treated cats is good, with an expected life span of eighteen months to two years or more, with around one in three cats still being alive after four years. Vets often start by carrying out a so-called “minimum database”, which means hematology (checking the red and white blood cells) and a biochemistry panel (measuring a range of enzymes and chemicals in the blood stream). on Hyperthyroidism in Cats, Symptoms, Treatment & Causes, Hyperthyroidism in Cats, Symptoms, Treatment & Causes. As soon as I changed his diet he stopped vomiting, and over the next several months all his other symptoms cleared up. Eating a diet consisting of more than 50% canned food. #columbiamed #whitecoatceremony” This educational content is not veterinary advice and does not replace consultation with a qualified veterinarian. The Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine links hypertension to hyperthyroidism and renal failure. Twitching, meowing, and tail swatting. While hyperthyroidism does not cause pain in affected cats, there must be some level of discomfort associated with the signs of a racing heart, irritable nature, and increased hunger that is difficult to satisfy. Changes in the cat’s behavior and habits. Cats that are treated with the other modalities can be fed their usual diets, or as recommended by your vet (e.g. allaboutcats.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. As well as noting that their patient is an older, bright, thin cat, there are three specific signs that vets look out for when examining a suspected case. This can be more costly in the short term, but once it has been done, there is no longer a need for daily tablets, so it can make sense as a long term cost effective answer. Most cats respond well to treatment, returning to their usual, relaxed selves within a few weeks. He also write a regular blog at www.petethevet.com. It also may be ordered when a person has symptoms that may be due to a magnesium deficiency, such as muscle weakness, twitching, cramping, confusion, cardiac arrhythmias, and seizures. Note that some hyperthyroidism medications are contraindicated for cats with asthma. The iodine-restricted diet meant no fish or seafood, no salted human foods because table salt is usually iodized, and no cat food containing iodine supplements in the form of kelp, potassium iodide or calcium iodate. That said, asthma can certainly be exacerbated by hyperthyroidism and, if your vet thinks it would be best to focus on hyperthyroidism alone, that may be a good place to start. However, not all cats enjoy eating this type of diet, and if a cat has access to any other food or water sources (e.g cats that go outside, drink from well water, hunt, etc) then the beneficial effect will not be seen. and Do you think we should be treating her for asthma too? There is no point in trying to help a cat with hyperthyroidism by feeding them more, even if they seem continually hungry. So I fed him raw poultry and unsalted bone broth. The Vet initially said that she had asthma and a chest x-ray was done which found tidy, equal spots on her lungs, indicative of asthma. Vitamin B deficiencies are also known to cause non-regenerative anaemia. For complex reasons, around 10% of hyperthyroid cats have normal T4 levels: these individuals need to have more complex laboratory tests carried out (e.g. There is no need for this to happen: treatment is very effective. This will manifest as a throbbing in the cat’s ears. If you are the site owner (or you manage this site), please whitelist your IP or if you think this block is an error please open a support ticket and make sure to include the block details (displayed in the box below), so we can assist you in troubleshooting the issue. This is why it’s so important to have your cat checked by your vet if you are worried about their health in any way. If a cat has high blood pressure, the blood will flow to its head. Increased vocalization, with cats howling and yowling more than before. Yes, he had lost weight on that stuff, but he’d become very ill, too: he was vomiting several times a day, anxious and yowling all the time, drinking and peeing great volumes of water, was too weak to jump up on a sofa, he even got aggressive with me sometimes. Diagnosis of hyperthyroidism is impossible without doing a blood test, and the sooner the diagnosis is made, the sooner treatment will be given, and the sooner your pet will be on the road to being fully healthy again.
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