Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => Pets without Feathers => Topic started by: spottymint on March 27, 2013, 10:03
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Just been to see that man at the vet's (for pet owner's, you know who I mean), the one who always wants to empty your pockets.
Well, the stray kitty we took in 4 years ago, has had all her vaccinations from scratch, been wormed, flea'd , cost nearly £300 for her teeth to be done.
Now he reckon's she verging on the edge of hyper thyroid-ism, she ain't cheap. ::)
Any tip's & what to expect if we head on down that road ?
I know it's daily med's, my sisters cat had it, before she totally collapsed & had to be put down., but she was 18 odd.
This girl we say is 13, but truth is she could be a lot older than we guess.
(http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm265/spottymint/Slinkey.jpg)
Bit of an old pic, she does look older now, bit more grey, bald patch on her leg & slimmer (to me anyway), vet say's she same weight as last year. :)
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I do feel for you spottymint, none of use like or pets to be unwell. She may be older than you say if she is loosing muscle rather than just being thinner. I used to go by the view looking from above when Bagpuss was walking to gauge the muscle loss. It is usually evident in the back legs first.
Sorry I don't have any experience with hyper thyroid-ism so can't give any advice, but sending you both big hugs.
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you can get a prescription from your vet - they will charge, then get your medicines from petmeds - http://www.petmeds.co.uk/
we did for our diabetic cat, who also had hyperthyroidism and a lot of other issues he was about 10 or so (rescued from living rough) in fact what we did was get all the non prescription bits from them (insulin hypodermics and needles etc) and the insulin from the vets, as they could get smaller vials that didnt go off in the timescale of the shelf life of the insulin, the petmeds had a bigger bottle but on the dosage you would throw 1/4 of a bottle when it went out of date.
If you work it out - even paying for a consultation and prescription (your vet will normally write one which allows you to get 6 months of prescriptions) the cheaper cost of the medications should make it worth while, at the moment we have one cat on heart medication and diaretics, but the cost is only working out about £12 a month, so not quite worth swapping over yet.
Grendel
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Yep, it more muscle she is losing, she does not look as plump as before & he legs at the back are going a bit bald & weedy looking.
She still has her " kitten days", running up & down like a looney, so still active, just looking like an old lady more.
Petmeds, thanks Grendel, forgot about them. Looking at costs to budget for her needs, we took her in, so we take on the bill's too, she 100% better after her teeth op.
Vet was impressed by her clean teeth, but a few missing, we pointed out that his colleague took them out just last July.
Our 10 year old has good teeth, only had her 5 years, another throw away kitty. The 3rd cat was re-sold after just 2 weeks as a 13 week old kitten. :mellow:
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we have 8 cats at the moment ranging in age from just over 1 1/2 to over 20 at the moment, 3 are burmese rescues, when we got them one had no teeth, one had 2 and the third about 6 teeth (she has since had a couple more out (they had been breeders and over 60 cats were rescued in one go) these 3 are related (we think mum daughter and granny) the oldest is now 14 !/2 (all 3 are in a cat heap on a chair on top of a heat pad, I can only see a head and one paw of one of them.
Grendel
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Bagpuss still had her kitten moments which was lovely to watch and is part of our fond memories. :)
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you should see the kitten and the 20 year old playing.
Grendel
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I've seen a 10 yr old & kitten play. :D
kitten on my lap as we speak, old fluffbags.
Not certain yet, but he can feel a swelling in her neck, what with age.
8 cat's,I know someone with 6, but 3's plenty.
Vet keeps moaning the 10 yr old is tubby, diabetes ect, but no dieting, kitten to liven her up has made her shed a ounce.
Grendel, hats off to you treating a diabetic cat, that must be hard.
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Our cat (aged 14 at the time) had hyperthyroid last year - went in for an abscess and came out with a diagnosis for a bigger problem! She was looking a bit old lady-ish, but the vet reckoned it was a reasonably new problem for her. She had a month on meds twice a day which she hated - and as a result started to avoid my husband whose lap she loves. All a bit traumatic for all concerned.
So at the end of the month once the abscess had healed and the thyroid levels stablised, we took the chance and she had the thyroid out. A general is always a bit of a risk at that age but her heart etc were going strong and the meds were reducing the quality of all our lives. Once over the anesthetic (she goes a bit nuts for a few hours, but I knew that and expected it), it took the best part of a month for her appetite to settle - one day she would be ravenous, the next completely disinterested in food - presumably with her hormones all over the place, and now she is as good and cantankerous as ever. All the weight back on and the muscles firmed up. Not impressed by snow, though!!
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Our pair of mogs are 11 this year and they go mad and kitten-like on a daily basis.
Love playing with toy mice, anything with catnip and their scratching post.
Thankfully they've never been ill, but I would spend whatever to keep them well. :)
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My 'little girl' was on thryoid tablets for about 8 years. She used to have one in the morning and another in the evening. For the last year or so, she changed tablets and just had one a day. I used to squash the tablets in tuna and she would just take them from my hand.
She lived a happy life until she was turned 19.
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My Mum's cat Lucky (my little sister) is 18 this year weighed no more than a feather but after being diagnosed with thyroid problems and having tablets daily, she is doing so well (weighs at least 3 feathers now). :)
You know she's worth it Spotty and I completely agree with Grendel, is much cheaper to buy meds on line with a prescription. :D
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Thanks for the replies, she's looking good, so hopefully the vet is wrong
Only time will tell, looking at all the options, she may be difficult with tablets, she hates any change & run's off, so the operation may be better for her.
Nice to see other people experiences, helps make the best choice for her.
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Hi Spottymint, there isnt much i dont know about cat ailments, especially hyperthyroidism and kidney disease. I can get really complex if you want, or i can keep it basic. If your girl is "on the edge" of hypert, i wouldnt do anything yet, hypert should only be treated once the levels of the T4 (thyroid hormone) are pretty high. the meds they use to bring the thyroid down are called Vidalta, Ive seen many problems with this drug, in that the dosage is too high, and many cats go hypOthyroid (under active thyroid) and this is very dangerous, especially to the kidneys.
The thyroid levels have to be be bought down SLOWLY and this is why.......
When a cat (or any species) has hyperthyroidism the whole body is running fast, meaning that the heart is faster, the organs work faster, the digestive system works faster (which is why SOME cats eat like crazy and still loose weight) we also often see diarrhea. Anyway, the most important factor is that the filteration of the KIDNEYS is FASTER. So before any treatment is commenced a blood test is taken, this tells us what level of the T4 (thyroid hormone) is, but it also shows kidney function, and when the filteration of the kidneys is running high, the blood levels (the kidney Urea and Creatinine) numbers look great. However, a word of warning, once treatment is started it has to be at a low dose, this is because the kidneys need time to adjust to the slow down in filteration, and if they dont, then the kidneys can fail. So Vidalta is a high dose drug, often used as a first choice drug by vets at the slightest onset of hyperthyroidism which will bring the thyroid hormone down too fast, sometimes too fast for the kidneys to cope with. So, i wouldnt treat hypert with this drug. I would use the old drug Felimazole which is available in smaller doses, 2.5mg a day. There is quite a bit of blood testing until the levels get right, and that can be costly. But if the kidneys are coping well once the thryoid levels are back to normal, then there are other options of treatment. The 131 radiation treatment is one of them, it is a single injection given under the skin, but the cat has to be kept at the vet facility for 3 weeks because they are radioactive. This is a cure, but it is expensive, i think around £2000 in the UK. The other option is a bilateral thyroidectomy, where they remove the benign tumor on the thryoid, this is not a permanent cure, lasts for around 2 years but it is only a day operation. In the case of cats who are not candidates for either of the above, then medications are the only option, testing every 3 to 6 months and adjusting the dose accordingly. Hope this makes sense. ::)
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That's a very good explanation Compost. Felimazole was the drug that my Jenny started on ...... the 5mg in the mornings and 2.5mg at night. Then she went onto Vidalta.
Spottymint, your 'little girl' is about the same age as Jenny was when she started with the tablets. She did very well on them until, as I said earlier, she was just turned 19.
Compost, are you a vet or vet nurse? You have a lot of very good knowledge ;)
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I work with vets, and I know one of the top feline specialists in the UK, and in the US, I pay attention, and learn only from the best ;)
Plus, I am a member of online support groups for cats with hypert and chronic renal failure (anyone can join) the group is now recognised by vets, and we have saved a lot of cats' lives along the way.
As long as the dose of thyroid meds is introduced slowly and at a low dose, then the kidney function can be guaged, it does involve a few blood tests tho, 3 weeks after starting the first dose, blood tests are the most expensive thing, the meds are cheap.
In saying this, i know nothing about dogs lol.
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I thought as much ;) Thank you. xx
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Thanks, composthappens.
I'm glad you kept it simple, I see what you mean about the kidneys though. kidney failure in cat's seems quite common without the help of thyroid meds.
We say 13, but as a stray she may be a lot older, she's certainly had a hard life, digging in bins, drinking dew.
Looks like day med's or the day op, Isotope, £2,000 is a bit much, O/H won't go for that & need to travel to a veterinary hospital or Yorkshire for treatment. Place must be licensed, our vet is not.
I'd like the trip to Yorkshire, not sure Slinky would. ::)
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She looks beautiful Spottymint, a real credit to you xxx