Gatsby has hyperthyroidism. Good update! #31

**Cataholic** · 10-06-2010, 07:45 AM

I am sorry to hear this about Gatsby. My RB tux, Tex, was hyperthyroid. The medication worked really well for years.

I did consider the treatment, but it was 5 years ago, and it was somewhat 'new' and since the meds worked, well I went with that option. Today, presented with the same dx? I would do the treatment.

Good luck with it all, and special tuxie pets to Gatsby.

**Medusa** · 10-06-2010, 08:53 AM

I haven't considered either of those options due to Boo's age of 19. Perhaps if he were younger, I might consider the surgery but not the treatment. That just sounds scary to me.

**Freedom** · 10-06-2010, 11:34 AM

None of mine ever had the surgery or the readioative treatment. I wanted it for my first one, RB Amber. My vet said not necessary, he wasn't "that bad," and then he was gone 2 months later.

PetCo has this canned food, Soulistic. I am using the Harvest Sunrise and the Chicken in Gravy for my Sparkle. It has a TON of fluid in it, I bet you wouldn't even need to add water in that. It does come in 4 or 5 other flavors, they are fish related, haven't tried those just yet. It seems a good food, made in a human food facility, so high quality. You may want to check into that as well.

**krazyaboutkatz** · 10-06-2010, 12:37 PM

Originally Posted by Freedom

PetCo has this canned food, Soulistic. I am using the Harvest Sunrise and the Chicken in Gravy for my Sparkle. It has a TON of fluid in it, I bet you wouldn't even need to add water in that. It does come in 4 or 5 other flavors, they are fish related, haven't tried those just yet. It seems a good food, made in a human food facility, so high quality. You may want to check into that as well.

I also highly recommend this food.

I only bought the two chicken flavors mainly for Storm but all of my adult cats loved it. Storm needs the extra moisture for his urinary problems. I read that it's Petco's version of Weruva which is a fairly expensive canned food.

**smokey the elder** · 10-06-2010, 03:07 PM

A lady in my rescue had the iodine treatment for one of her cats, who was only 7-8 years old at the time. It's expensive and the post treatment is a pain (you have to store the litter for awhile; it's radioactive at first) but the cat is doing very well several years later. But, as I recall, this cat was an absolute bear to pill.

**Prairie Purrs** · 10-07-2010, 12:56 AM

Thank you all for the info. I'll have to talk things over with my vet and find out how far we'd have to travel for either surgery or the iodine treatment. Gats is pretty easy to pill, so that's not an issue.

**kittykatharine** · 10-11-2010, 12:44 PM

My sydney has had hyperthyroidism for over a year and a half. My vet has her one one pill 2x a day to keep her levels in check. It took us some time to get the dosage right, so you have to be patient. Sydney has days where she doing well and days were she acts like she is not doing as well. We have managed to get her weight from 6lbs 5 ounces to 10lbs 4 ounces (we are SUPER happy about this!). She has been on the medication for about a year and a half and her monthly kidney values have stayed within normal range. I guess my point is she has been doing well despite the diagnosis - so I would keep my hope up! Good luck!