My poor tabby boy, Thomas, has just been diagnosed by our vet as having hyperthyroidism (we took him because he had signs of overgrooming on his flanks). It seems we have three options:
1) medication, likely 2 tablets per day for life
2) operation to remove one of his thyroids
3) radioacive iodine treatment (which would mean he'd be in quarantine for about 6 weeks)

Does anyone have any personal experience of this? I think we're leaning towards option 2 (operation) because we've found it really difficult to give Thomas tablets in the past (we've hated it and so has he) and, because he's a rescue cat, 6 weeks without us will make him feel like he's been abandoned again.

Any advice much appreciated...

Yes i have. A few years ago my 14 year old had it and because we would have had major problems giving her tablets everyday of her life we had the op.

For the first 3 weeks we had to give her tablets to get the heart rate down.
These could not be crushed as they have to be slowly released in the body.
We managed this but it was not easy.
Then we took her for the op.
Afterwards the vet did a blood test to see if it had worked and it had.
She will be 18 next April and she is fine.

Hope this helps.
If you need any more info just ask x

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Simba had both his removed at 15yrs old after a couple of weeks on medication, he is nearly 18 now & still like a new cat

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All my children have paws!

As above - my darling old Slugger had a partial thyroid removal when he was 12-13yo and went on to have a very happy little life until he left me at 17.5yrs.

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I think the problem with the op is that they can need another surgery further down the line if the other half of the thyroid needs attention.
When I last enquired about the radio active therapy I am sure you can choose a much shorter isolation period as long as there are no women of 'child bearing age' in the household and you limit contact with the cat for a couple of weeks at home. Nellie slept on my head/pillow so this wasnt really an option for her!

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Nellie Paddy Mitzy Milo Peggy Murphy

Millie and Monty, the White Devils!

My Henry was just diagnosed about 7 weeks ago, so in the meantime I've had a crash course in hyper-t. On the advice of Spid I think it was, I joined the yahoo group for hyper-t cats. The best advice I've had in a long time

feline-hyperT@yahoogroups.com

Join in, post an intro and you will get a wealth of info. They'll help you understand your cat's bloodwork, how to train your vet (as vets aren't really very informed about this, just like doctors aren't so good with human thyroid issues), what your options really mean, etc etc.

The short version, though, is this---your cat has a benign tumor on its thyroid which is making the thyroid work too hard and will eventually wear on its other organ systems, mainly the heart and liver. The pills are only management and they are in the same class as cancer drugs. Over the years, the dose will have to be increased as the tumor grows. The surgery will either take out the tumor or, more likely, take out some of the thyroid gland in order to get rid of the tumor. If any tumor tissue remains then another surgery will eventually be necessary. The 3rd option, radioactive iodine, will destroy the tumor. There is about a 5% chance this will leave the cat hypo-t, but in this case it's only a hormone supplement, not a cancer drug. In most cases, it's a cure, however, despite the unpleasantness of the whole radioactive poo and wee afterwards.

Anyway, please join the forum. You won't be sorry--they have taught me so very much!

Good luck!

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My babies
Aber, Ragnar, Kelso (the corgi trio), Daisy (our rescue mystery-mix puppy), Ellie, Henry, Gwennie, Jezebel (the kitty quartet), Blake, Chaucer, Molly and Milton (the kittens), and Bingo the African Grey parrot

Over the Bridge:
Pippin: 1/6/08-17/5/11
Freja: 11/8/10-30/10/10
Kirby: 11/8/10-1/11/10

"Praise liberty/The freedom to obey/It's a song that strangles me/Well, don't cross the line" Billie Joe Armstrong

Hi Emma,

I'm sorry to hear about Thomas.

Our cat Nina had the exact same problem earlier this year. We decided to go with option 1 at first as we were worried about the anaesthetic of an operation as there are risks for older cats (she is about 17/18). However getting tablets down her is impossible unless we crush them. These tablets couldn't be crushed so we first put them in her food, but she cottoned on to this and just refused to eat. Trying to force them down her put her under so much stress she started being sick.

After a few days at rubbish attempts with tablets we went for the operation. I was so worried, but Nina reacted really really well. The vets were brilliant with her, she stayed overnight after the operation and then we took her home, and she recovered very quickly and seemed back to normal.

BTW We were also offered the option of radioactive treatment, but she would have had to go to Scotland I think (as that was the nearest centre) and be away from us for a long time so we dismissed this option.

Good luck, hope Thomas gets better

Clair

PS Did the vets say the overgrooming was to do with the hyperthyroidism? Nina used to overgroom too, but that turned out to be because she had lots of allergies.

Thanks everyone for the advice, stories and support. After a much longer follow-up chat with our vet (who has been super) on Friday afternoon, we decided to start Thomas on the tablets while we decide between surgery and radioactive iodine treatment.

Apparently over active thyroid in cats can mask underlying kidney problems, because it raises the metabolism. So, before going for either of the two "cure" options, it's usually a good idea, particularly with older cats, to bring the thyroid levels back down using the tablets for 3 or 4 weeks so more blood work can be done to double check that the kidneys are functioning fine. If they are, great - then we decide which cure option to go for. If not, we discuss further with the vet because one of the options is to manage the dosage of the anti-thyroid tablets so that the levels stay manageable but also at a level where they are still supporting the kidney function. Hopefully Thomas is fine, though.

We're not 100% sure that the thyroid problems were causing the overgrooming, but the vet did say this is quite possible as one of the symptoms can be irritable skin.

Thomas has been on the tablets since Friday evening. It has not been much fun for him or me, but I think he's starting to get used to it. I give him his tablet before I put his food out, and he's definitely starting to associate the two... this morning, as soon as the tablet went down he scampered straight over to his food bowl and sat there expectantly. So, the first few times were awful but it's getting better every day. And I think I'm starting to see an improvement in his stubbly fur patches!

Thanks again everyone, so nice to hear lovely stories of our little furry friends recovering from this. Fingers crossed we will have Thomas all fixed up within a few months!

xx

Pebbles was diagnosed as being hyperthyroid and ended up having a cyst form in the her throat caused by fluid from the thyroid gland. Prior to the cyst she was on Vildalta to control the hyperthyroidism which seemed to work ok.

She had to to have surgery to remove the cyst and at the same time they removed the affected part of the thyroid. She is much better now, put weight back on, looking much healthier.

Cyst on throat (hyperthyroid cat)

We would've much preferred the iodine therapy treatment, it sounded much safer and more effective, but wasn't an option for us. I know they'll be separation issues, but at least you won't have the worry of surgery.

Pebbles was over grooming on her belly too and still is. We put it down to her being a stressy cat.

How do you give the tablets? We found sticking it inside a little bit of cheese always did the trick. Are they Vidalta?

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Pete.

Well that's all good news and it sounds like you actually have a vet who knows a few things about hyper-t . My vet, for instance, commented that Henry has been overgrooming his stomach, but didn't connect it to the hyper-t--just put it down to stress, which is laughable. I'm convinced Henry doesn't know the meaning of stress, he's so laid-back.

Anyway, keep us informed on Thomas's progress and adventures. We're planning to send Henry for the I131 too in the spring or summer (depending if we have to move), so we could be comparing notes

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My babies
Aber, Ragnar, Kelso (the corgi trio), Daisy (our rescue mystery-mix puppy), Ellie, Henry, Gwennie, Jezebel (the kitty quartet), Blake, Chaucer, Molly and Milton (the kittens), and Bingo the African Grey parrot

Over the Bridge:
Pippin: 1/6/08-17/5/11
Freja: 11/8/10-30/10/10
Kirby: 11/8/10-1/11/10

"Praise liberty/The freedom to obey/It's a song that strangles me/Well, don't cross the line" Billie Joe Armstrong