Mage: feline hyperthyroid?

Mage has been throwing up once in a while so I took him into the vet.
Everything looks good, but he's lost 5 pounds of weight since his last
checkup and now they want to do a blood test for hyperthryroidism.
Is hyperthyroidism fatal in cats?

He's usually a tough kitty, but now I'm worried about him.

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"FragSinatra" wrote in message
. ..
Mage has been throwing up once in a while so I took him into the vet.
Everything looks good, but he's lost 5 pounds of weight since his last
checkup and now they want to do a blood test for hyperthryroidism.
Is hyperthyroidism fatal in cats?

He's usually a tough kitty, but now I'm worried about him.

--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to
---

it can be and have some serious alignments that go along with it if
untreated
http://www.petside.com/condition/cat...roidism-feline
http://www.peteducation.com/article....1+2130&aid=218
What is Hyperthyroidism?
Like an engine, the butterfly-shaped thyroid gland regulates many aspects of
the body's metabolic rate. Your Hyperthyroid cat has a tumor (98% are
benign) that is producing too much thyroid hormone, which in turn keeps the
cat's "engine" running at an abnormally high speed. This condition
over-stimulates virtually every organ system and causes reactions including
behavioral changes, weight loss, excessive or decreased appetite,
hyperactivity or lethargy, fever, rapid heartbeat and/or arrhythmia,
shedding, increased water consumption and litter box output, diarrhea and
osteoporosis. While fatal if left untreated



I had a cat who lived to 16 years of age; who passed 4 years ago, name
Phantom. He was diagnosed with it when he was 8. He took a pill every day
via pill pocket and was fine. There is an expensive treatment ( at least it
was back than) that is a one time deal but it can be some good $$$ out of
pocket http://www.radiocat.com/radioiodine-therapy.html

"Matthew" wrote in news:4fdd3066$0$25455
:

http://www.radiocat.com/radioiodine-therapy.html


Thank you for that information Matthew.

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On Sat, 16 Jun 2012 22:39:40 +0000 (UTC), FragSinatra
wrote:

Mage has been throwing up once in a while so I took him into the vet.
Everything looks good, but he's lost 5 pounds of weight since his last
checkup and now they want to do a blood test for hyperthryroidism.
Is hyperthyroidism fatal in cats?

He's usually a tough kitty, but now I'm worried about him.

--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to ---

5 lbs is a LOT. No, not fatal. Hyperthyroidism seems to be pretty
common in older cats. Others here should know more but I know that
some have done the radiation treatment - it kills part of the
overactive thyroid so no further treatments are needed. But the cat is
radioactive for a bit and needs to be kept in the hospital. Or surgery
can remove some of the thyroid but that requires anesthesia which may
not be a good move for a cat that lost 5 lbs.

Maybe Mage can be stabilized for a while and then surgery? But your
vet really should be up on this since it is pretty common.

On 6/18/2012 5:45 AM, dgk wrote:
On Sat, 16 Jun 2012 22:39:40 +0000 (UTC), FragSinatra
wrote:

Mage has been throwing up once in a while so I took him into the vet.
Everything looks good, but he's lost 5 pounds of weight since his last
checkup and now they want to do a blood test for hyperthryroidism.
Is hyperthyroidism fatal in cats?

He's usually a tough kitty, but now I'm worried about him.

--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to ---

5 lbs is a LOT. No, not fatal. Hyperthyroidism seems to be pretty
common in older cats. Others here should know more but I know that
some have done the radiation treatment - it kills part of the
overactive thyroid so no further treatments are needed. But the cat is
radioactive for a bit and needs to be kept in the hospital. Or surgery
can remove some of the thyroid but that requires anesthesia which may
not be a good move for a cat that lost 5 lbs.

Maybe Mage can be stabilized for a while and then surgery? But your
vet really should be up on this since it is pretty common.



my 17 y.o. cat was just diagnosed with this. the treatment was $1600 for
radiation treatment, or 1.25mg of methimazole/day. that turns out to be
1/4th of a 5mg pill (which is really small anyway, which is available
from cvs for $14 for a 4 month supply.

Is IS treatable, so don't worry. Also, if he's lost that much weight,
you might want to have the vet check for diabetes too, just as a
precaution.

Rene

On Sun, 17 Jun 2012 06:23:21 +0000 (UTC), FragSinatra
wrote:

"Matthew" wrote in news:4fdd3066$0$25455
:

http://www.radiocat.com/radioiodine-therapy.html


Thank you for that information Matthew.

--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to ---

I had a cat that had feline hyperthyroidism too. She lived to age 15+,
and died of something unrelated to her thyroid.

While there were some vet expenses, it wasn't too expensive, using the
oral medication to threat the condition.

My veterinarian used to write prescriptions which I used to get filled
at either Sam's Club, or Costco. You do NOT need a membership to get
prescriptions filled there; it's a Federal law, in the USA, at least.

Sam's Club charged less that HALF as much for the same medication as my
local Walgreens.

The pharmacist mentioned one time when I picked up the medication that
he was filling quite a few prescriptions for peoples' pets. Likely this
was because they were the cheapest, or close to it, in my city.

IIRC, $20 to $25 paid for enough medication for about 2 months. Once my
cat was stable on the medication, she just needed a blood test every 6
months.

I felt very fortunate to have a really, really good veterinarian: just
scary smart, very friendly, and always nice to my cat and myself.

The radioactive iodine treatment is fairly expensive, but it does mean
you cat doesn't need medication every day. Some cats are just very
difficult to give pills to, and for them, it's worth the expense, if you
can afford it.

Good luck with your cat. You should ask your vet, always about things
like this, but my cat lost weight too, and I fed her kitten food for
awhile, to help her gain some weight.

dgk wrote:
On Sat, 16 Jun 2012 22:39:40 +0000 (UTC), FragSinatra
wrote:

Mage has been throwing up once in a while so I took him into the vet.
Everything looks good, but he's lost 5 pounds of weight since his
last
checkup and now they want to do a blood test for hyperthryroidism.
Is hyperthyroidism fatal in cats?

He's usually a tough kitty, but now I'm worried about him.

--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to
---

5 lbs is a LOT. No, not fatal. Hyperthyroidism seems to be pretty
common in older cats. Others here should know more but I know that
some have done the radiation treatment - it kills part of the
overactive thyroid so no further treatments are needed. But the cat is
radioactive for a bit and needs to be kept in the hospital. Or surgery
can remove some of the thyroid but that requires anesthesia which may
not be a good move for a cat that lost 5 lbs.

Maybe Mage can be stabilized for a while and then surgery? But your
vet really should be up on this since it is pretty common.

Cats can do without thyroid glands altogether. One of ours had hers removed
a couple of years ago, with no ill effects.....

Gandalf ingold1234(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:

The radioactive iodine treatment is fairly expensive,
but it does mean you cat doesn't need medication every
day. Some cats are just very difficult to give pills to,
and for them, it's worth the expense, if you can afford it.

Another factor in the choice is that a fair number of cats don't
tolerate methimazole very well, even if given transdermally.
--

Wayne M.

My veterinarian used to write prescriptions which I used to get filled
at either Sam's Club, or Costco. You do NOT need a membership to get
prescriptions filled there; it's a Federal law, in the USA, at least.

Sam's Club charged less that HALF as much for the same medication as my
local Walgreens.

The pharmacist mentioned one time when I picked up the medication that
he was filling quite a few prescriptions for peoples' pets. Likely this
was because they were the cheapest, or close to it, in my city.

If you choose to use medication, it pays to call around to the
pharmacies for pricing. For instance, I found that Target was less
expensive than Walmart for the meds we use. Walgreens, overall, is
among the most expensive.