I thought this was important to share with other cat people.

I have an 18.5 year old kittly, Lucy, who has had a double thyroid-ectomy. Both times it was a great decision. Recovery was rapid, even though the 2nd 1/2 was removed when she was almost 15. We didn't have to traumatize her at each morning meal with pills, etc.

Well, about 3 weeks ago Lucy started SCREAMING, demanding food. She's probably hard of hearing so those insistant screams almost had us twitching in place, trying to get food in front of her as quickly as we could. The problem is that she'd wake herself up with these awful, loud Merooooooowwwwww-squawks!

I thought to myself, "Self? If I didn't know better, I'd think her thyroid was acting up!"

When she began to lose weight, since she was already a small cat, I began to worry and into the vet she went. (The vet commented on her squawling and couldn't even get a heartbeat, she was yelling at them so loudly!)

Anyway, we did bloodwork and threw in a thyroid level test just for kicks. Sure 'nuff, she's got elevated thyroid levels.

It seems that even though the thyroid was removed, there can be thyroid tissue elsewhere in the body. Just like endometriosis!

They don't do surgery anymore because the cost of the isotopes has come down. They specifically target the thyroid and the kitty pees it out. No invasive surgery, no danger of taking out the healthy tissue that actually causes them to eat regularly. No recovery period. So she'll have that in the beginning of February. In the meanwhile, pills it is.

My point in this saga, is that if you have an older cat who shouldn't be acting like she's NEVER fed, demanding food at every turn and losing weight? Even if they've had thyroid surgery, don't rule it out. The radiologist said this was surprisingly common.

We want to have Lucy live forever, so I'm glad she's not too old to have this procedure. In the meanwhile, we're feeding her all she wants. At 19, why not!