cat with thyroid problem, advice please

grandtante My neighbour's cat had the same but he had to take the pills for the rest of his life, which turned out to be about 3 years. He died of natural causes. He regained his energy although he always looked a bit scrawny but he was a lovely affectionate cat, and he seemed to be happy with life right up until the end.

I hope your little cat will be fine too. 10 years is nothing these days for a cat.

My lovely boy had this condition, for about the last 3 years of his life. The trouble was, the vet said they have to do blood tests at least every 6 months, at times it was every 3 months, before giving more meds. My cat got terribly stressed by this procedure, I'm not sure they were very kind. One time he was so upset on the way home, I thought he'd died. It was awful to see.

I could see myself how the drugs were going with him, and if he needed more, by just watching him. I know they have to do this though.

In the end, he had something else wrong too, we never got a real answer, in spite of lots of tests. We decided he'd been through enough. Looking back, I would part with him earlier than we did.

I would just try the meds for now, and hopefully you may get several more good years together, but sooner or later you will see that he is not his old self and will know the kind thing to do.

Thank you both for answering so promptly. I certainly intend to put my foot down firmly if they are going to insist on blood tests every 3 months or so, because like you seacliff DH and I are quite capable of judging whether things are going all right or not.

After writing my thread, we have more or less decided that when the course of pills are done in 3 weeks time, we will ask for a new prescription or not, solely upon the quality of life Storm has regained then, and that we will consult another vet before deciding whether further treatment is an option, or whether we owe it to ´the cat at let him be put to sleep.

Obviously, I am hoping for an outcome like yours, Sparkelfizz, as you say 10 is not really all that old for a cat.

TH was a vet, and he just operated on the cats and took the thyroid gland out. They seemed to recover well.

I meant DH- stupid phone!

Grantante, usually they are good and quite well and happy for the first year or two, once the meds are balanced. Our boy was on Felimazole but that was over 5 years ago now.

I remember now, we sometimes reduced the dosage a little ourselves, when we felt it was right.

This link has some info, including importance of time of blood test, after last meds, which our vet didn't tell us.

forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/1004519/hyperthyroid-cat

My daughters elderly cat was diagnosed with the same problem about a month ago, the medication did not agree with her cat so at the moment she is having long lasting steroid injections however I think poor Daisy will soon be breaking my daughters heart, poor mite

It looks like the dosage is correct, as he had the first tablets on Wednesday and is already putting on a little weight again and is cleaning his fur , biting his back claws and haunting the kitchen whenever I am there - in other words beginning to look like himself again.

Thanks everyone for your help.

LadyGracie so sorry to hear about poor Daisy and even sorrier for your daughter. My aunt very wisely said that the last thing we can and should do for a loved pet is recognizing when we must allow them to die with dignity, but it is a horrible wrench every time you are faced with that decision. Cats I find are quite good at making it clear when they have had enough, hug your daughter, please from me.

Thank you grandtante. We’ll be having lots of hugs soon I fear, but as you say and I agree we must allow our animals to die with dignity. I lost my own cat last December due to kidney failure, I still miss him daily.