Feline Hyperthyroidism

[Steff]

So... after finding the pooches a new home and all the trama that went with that Sid starts loosing weight for no apparant reason. Take him to the vet and bam... hyperthyroidism. Which I have heard of a gazillion times in humans but never in felines. Anyhoo... any of my fellow feline lovers have any experience with this? Apparantly it's very common. Tried pilling him but that's so stressful on him. He's 15 so surgery is stupid. The options are some radioactive shot, or continue pilling - which is going to end up ruining all my carpet in furniture eventually. Bri and him have become good buds so I really want to do whatever I can - within financial reason - to keep him around. Other than this he has no issues and still runs around like a 5 year old kitten. Anyone heard of this shot? I read the info on it, but I was hoping to find someone that had some first hand info.

[Kyyle23]

My dad has had two dogs that had this problem, but they GAINED weight, not lost weight.

 

 

Giving cats pills is the worst, I recently was sent this forward about it:

 

How to Give a Cat a Pill

 

1. Pick up cat and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a

baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and

gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat

opens mouth, pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

 

2. Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left

arm and repeat process.

 

3. Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away.

 

4. Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm, holding rear paws

tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with

right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.

 

5. Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call

spouse from garden.

 

6. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear

paws. Ignore lo w growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly

with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler

and rub cat's throat vigorously.

 

7. Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make

note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered

figurines and vases from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.

 

8. Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just

visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth

open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.

 

9. Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink 1 beer to take

taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet

with cold water and soap.

 

10. Retrieve cat from neighbor's shed. Get another pill. Open another

beer. Place cat in cupboard, and close door onto neck, to leave head

showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with

elastic band.

 

11. Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges.

Drink beer. Fetch bottle of scotch. Pour shot, drink. Apply cold compress

to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Apply whiskey

compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw Tee shirt

away and fetch new one from bedroom.

 

12. Call fire department to retrieve the damn cat from across the road.

Apologize to ne ighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat.

Take last pill from foil wrap.

 

13. Tie the little bastard's front paws to rear paws with garden twine and

bind tightly to leg of dining table, find heavy-duty pruning gloves from

shed. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of filet steak. Be

rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour 2 pints of water down throat

to wash pill down.

 

14. Consume remainder of scotch. Get spouse to drive you to the emergency

room, sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill

remnants from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new

table.

 

15. Arrange for SPCA to collect mutant cat from hell and call local pet shop

to see if they have any hamsters.

 

 

 

How To Give A Dog A Pill

 

1. Wrap it in bacon.

 

2. Toss it in the air.

 

[ChiSox_Sonix]

I watched my parents cat and dogs when they were away this summer and I had to give the cat a pill every day. It was a capsule and my mom told me to open it, dump the powder out into a can of "wet" food, mix it up and give it to her. She ate the food as normal as if nothing was in it. If its a solid pill, try grinding it up and see if that works

[Steve9347]

I have extensive experience with giving a cat a pill.

 

Take an old towel and wrap the kitty up like he's a baby in a blanket. Sit on the floor (with pill bottle open already) and sit indian style. Put the back legs (under towel) under one of your legs so he can't kick out. With him entirely wrapped up, he resists a bit less.

 

Lean in and force open his mouth, drop in pill and then close mouth. He'll eventually swallow it.

 

After a few times, they realize it's a process and are much better about it. The towel is key, less bleeding body parts that way.

[Soxbadger]

If you get to Petsmart (probably Petco too) they have treats that you can put pills into. If you dont touch the pill with the same hand as you close the treat often times the cats wont realize that there is anything going on. If you touch the pill and the treat, they can smell the pill off your fingers and wont touch it.

 

Good luck

[Texsox]

Good luck Steff. 15 years is a long time to be in a relationship.

[Steff]

If you get to Petsmart (probably Petco too) they have treats that you can put pills into. If you dont touch the pill with the same hand as you close the treat often times the cats wont realize that there is anything going on. If you touch the pill and the treat, they can smell the pill off your fingers and wont touch it.

 

Good luck

 

 

Getting him to take the pill isn't the issue. He does it, though with any pet he would prefer not to. Plus, pilling is not exactly the best method of treatment and he's going to have to continue to get bloodwork done on a regular basis to be sure the dose is right, etc.. This shot is a 1 time thing that cures the problem and he goes back to normal (98% sucess rate and they've treated over 25K cats, many as old as 20 years). So I was wondering if anyone here had any knowledge of a cat getting the shot.