Hyperthyroid older cat.

Dr. Marie replied:

These are very valid concerns! First of all, though, I would like to say congrats on having a cat who is 25. I don't see too many in my practice who make it to this age.

With this being said, if I were your vet I would still be definitely advising you to give the treatment a try.

Hyperthyroidism is a disease that can be controlled relatively easily in cats. Of all of the conditions that cats get, a thyroid problem is one of my favorite diagnoses to have because I see some wonderfully dramatic improvements once we start medication.

The high blood pressure, possible kidney issues and anemia may be directly related to the thyroid problem and there is a good chance that they will resolve once the thyroid problem is better. However, it's hard to comment on the mass. If there is a tumor in the stomach then we are not likely going to be able to do much to help.

Most cats will take thyroid medicine well. What are the other two medicines that he is on? Possibly blood pressure medicines? I usually will not prescribe blood pressure meds right away unless the levels are dangerously high. Rather, I usually try and see how the cat does with thyroid medicine and then see after a few weeks whether blood pressure meds are necessary.

As an aside, I just wrote an article about an exciting new development for cats with hyperthyroidism called y/d. It is a food by Hill's that will apparently make it possible to treat thyroid disease without medicine. You can read about it here: Hill's y/d. This food will be available some time in October.

I would love to see you give the medication a try. But what I would recommend is to set some guidelines. So, I would say, "If this is happening, then it is time to talk about euthanasia." "This" could be that his appetite stops for 48 hours, or that he doesn't come upstairs to your room, etc. etc.

I hope this helps with your decision. Feel free to respond. I am heading offline right now (it's bedtime here) but I'll be back on in the morning to check on you.

Dr. Marie.


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Dr. Marie replied:

You're very welcome!

I would agree, with a BP of 220 he should be on some blood pressure medicine. With blood pressure of this level he is at risk for serious heart disease or even blindness, so we definitely want to work at getting this down. It's possible that once his thyroid is controlled he may not need it or need less of it.

Most cats with thyroid problems have significant improvement within 2 weeks of starting medicine.

I think you'll find that your vet is actually more receptive than you think. At this point, all of Midnight's "conditions" are potentially quite easily manageable and so I likely would have had the same attitude in strongly suggesting treatment.