Cat Question for the cat folks

Hey, I've got a good friend who is struggling with her vet's recommendation and I know that some of you guys are awesome cat mamas, too, with a ton of experience behind you.

Her oldest cat, Kylie, is 18 years old with a thyroid problem. Kylie has been on long term synthroid pills (or whatever the synthroid equivalent is for cats) and it is no longer having an beneficial effect. The vet recommends radioactive iodine treatment or something like that to treat Kylie's thyroid. The latest blood tests show that Kylie's liver enzymes are elevated and the vet thinks that the thyroid problems may be causing the liver problems. Kylie has been wasting for a while and now weighs 6 lbs. At home, she says Kylie acts generally happy and pain free. She sleeps a lot and zones out a lot (or falls asleep while sitting up) but she doesn't see signs that Kylie is struggling or in pain.

I think she's worried whether the radioactive iodine treatment may cause pain or painful side effects. If Kylie is reaching the end of her life and if the radioactive iodine will not improve her quality of life, she's not sure she wants to put Kylie through a stressful treatment.

Any experience with this? I told her I'd put this out to you folks since I trust your overall judgment.

Hi Kendie,

I would supplement with milk thistle for the liver if she's not doing that. And to help gain her appetite back,this is what I did for my elderly cat for close to a year...I had my holistic vet give B12 injections on the acupuncture points for what was ailing her. This made Lizzy ravenous and stopped further weight loss.

None of my cats have had thyroid problems,so no experience there. I think one of my cat expert friends may have. Do you mind if I share this with them?

Thanks,
Trish

Miss Pit wrote:Hi Kendie,

I would supplement with milk thistle for the liver if she's not doing that. And to help gain her appetite back,this is what I did for my elderly cat for close to a year...I had my holistic vet give B12 injections on the acupuncture points for what was ailing her. This made Lizzy ravenous and stopped further weight loss.

None of my cats have had thyroid problems,so no experience there. I think one of my cat expert friends may have. Do you mind if I share this with them?

Thanks,
Trish

Not at all, Trish. My girlfriend gave me permission to share with all of you. Thanks for the suggestion about the milk thistle and B12 shots.

If Kylie has cut back on her eating and since she has elevated liver enyzmes,this could also be a sign of fatty liver disease. Please have your friend ask her vet about this. Fatty liver disease can be tricky to heal and can be fatal if left long enough.

Now back to chopping up my watermelon. That's when things come to me when I'm doing chopping or taking a shower,lol.

Trish

I've never had a cat with thyroid problems, but I had had Graves Disease and had my thyroid nuked with radioactive iodine. There's nothing painful about it, you just need regular blood tests to get the dose of supplemental thyroid correct and it takes a while for things to even out.

I'm more concerned about the liver problems and I have never known of any connection between thyroid issues and liver disease. My liver enzymes were not even a concern when I was dealing with Graves. I think it has more to do with her lack of weight (6 lbs!!!!!) and fatty liver disease than something related to her thyroid.

Thanks, Lisa. I'll have her ask her vet about fatty liver disease. Is there any treatment for that? She didn't ask her vet if Kylie needs to be sedated for the treatment, but you wouldn't want to put an 18 year old 6 lb cat under general anesthesia, would you?

Here's an excellent article Kendie on two different ways to test for fatty liver disease. I would go the less invasive route http://www.thensome.com/sandra/

Trish

I've never had a thyroid cat, but I do know that our local emergency and specialist hospital offers this treatment for cats. Up here, it can only be accessed through the Referral and specialist vet clinic and isn't cheap. And that's all I know about it.