How to Recognize and Treat a Hyperthyroid Cat

One of the most common things that go wrong in aging cats is excess production of thyroid hormone. In general, thyroid hormone 'ups the octane' on all of the body systems, but at the cost of breaking down the engine. Thus, if thyroid disease in cats is not recognized and treated, life span is severely limited. The signs of thyroid disease are relatively easily recognized and it is treated relatively inexpensively.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Cat
• Observant human eyes
• Weighing scale
• Stethoscope

1. Be aware of the signs of hyperthyroid disease in cats, which include:
   -Weight loss (more than 10% of body weight per month, or year) with increased appetite.
   -Polyphagia (increased and voracious appetite)
   -Vomiting
   -Exopthalmus (eyes seem large, pupils dilated, seems like eyes are popping out of the socket)
   -Increased heart rate (over 240 beats per minute, which you can detect by putting stethoscope just under shoulder, on the chest).
   -'Hyperactive' behavior.

2. Have your cat tested for thyroid hormone levels through a veterinarian. If possible, ask to have albumen levels and total protein in the blood determined as well, as approximately half of the circulating thyroid hormone in cats is normally bound to these circulating proteins, and thus 'inactivated'. Thus, you could have high active thyroid levels if there are low levels of thyroid hormone.

3. Treat your cat with methamizole, a cheaply obtained drug which is available through veterinarians, if thyroid levels are high. If the drug is working (pill usually given once or twice a day), body weight should start to increase, vomiting should stop and (perhaps) heart rate may slow down to normal levels. The cat should also be less excitable and 'hyper'.

4. Recheck thyroid levels two weeks later and at least twice a year to insure that the drug is working. If methamizole is not working, consider other therapies, such as removal of thyroid gland or radioactive iodine treatment.

Tips & Warnings

• Thyroid disease in cats is easily treatable if observed and dealt with early.
• Don't assume that your cat has hyperthyroid disease unless it is confirmed with blood work.

Who Can Help Sponsored

[wendyr]

on 3/1/2008 Good suggestions. I have a hyperthyroid cat. The first sign I noticed was rapid weight loss. I assumed she wasn't eating, but she really was. She was also very vocal about begging for cat treats several times a day.
My cat takes methamizole. I asked the vet about buying larger quantities of medicine to help reduce the cost, and they did. Instead of paying 40.00 for 60 pills, I now pay 50.00 for 100 pills.