I’ve just found out a few hours ago that my little Sorcire, who is 12, has hyperthyroidism.
Obviously, I can’t just leave her like this, so we need to get her started on treatment.
I’ve got two choices: prescription dry food that already contains the medication, or tablets to be given once or twice a day.
Regarding the food, we have two other healthy cats and Sorcire can’t stand being kept indoors...
So we’re leaning towards the medication; for now, the vet is going to give us the once-a-day dose.
Now I’m starting to worry about the 'practical' side of things. How do you cope with a cat that needs regular meds? First off, actually getting her to take the tablets is going to be a challenge – Sorcire is quite feisty when it comes to being handled for medical stuff...
But I’m also wondering how people in our situation manage, for example, for going on holiday... Up until now, we’ve always used an automatic feeder and water dispenser, and someone would pop in every two or three days to top them up and give her some cuddles. I can’t see myself asking friends to give her medication, especially not asking them to come over every single day (none of my circle have cats). So, what do you do? No more holidays? No more weekends away?
I’m feeling really lost (on top of how upset I am that my poor little girl is so poorly...).
Thanks in advance for your replies.
Translated from French
The forum content is sometimes translated from another language, and posts may concern countries with different animal laws. Do your research before making any decisions.
Since the forum is translated by AI, the translations may contain errors.
Hi there, Isis is 13 and after some significant weight loss, she’s been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. She’s been on Apelka for a month now. We went to the vet yesterday and she’s put on about 0.9 lbs and is eating again. Are there any natural remedies for hyperthyroidism? I’m not a big fan of meds, and is there a specific dry food available? Thanks everyone, and best of luck to all your furry friends!
Hi everyone, my 14-year-old cat has been treated for hyperthyroidism for two years now. She’s currently on 5mg of Thiafeline once a day. We’ve recently moved and seen a new vet, who suggested it would be better to split the dose: 2.5mg in the morning and 2.5mg in the evening. During our last visit, her TSH levels came back at 105! That’s incredibly high... but we had forgotten to give her the tablet the night before, so we’d only given her 2.5mg that morning. Anyway, we’ve got to redo the blood tests in a month. I was wondering what time of day I should book the appointment? Surely if the test is done 20 hours after her last pill, the levels are bound to be high... I was also wondering if thyroid-support dry food might be a good idea, especially for when we go away for the weekend or on holiday. Does anyone have any experience with the Hill’s thyroid-specialist dry food? Thanks! :)
The best thing by far is Hill's y/d Thyroid Care dry food!!! It’s a bit pricey at the vet's but about a third cheaper online!!! It’s really effective but you can’t give them anything else!! The blood results after a month are a real joy to see!!
Replying to @Camil: to manage kidney failure, you’ll need to buy Royal Canin ‘Urinary’ dry food (it comes in 0.9lb and 4.4lb bags and is available from online pet shops like VioVet).
I have a 14-year-old cat who has hyperthyroidism, and she's started on 2.5 mg of Thiafeline and Amodip as of today.
I took her to the vet after noticing she’d lost a lot of weight and was looking unusually exhausted. I’m really hoping she’ll manage to put some weight back on (she’s only weighing in at 8.6 lbs at the moment).
The vet mentioned that Thiafeline usually produces positive results very quickly. We have more blood work scheduled in a month’s time to check her T4 levels.
Hi everyone,
My 11-year-old cat is suffering from severe hyperthyroidism and stage 3 kidney disease... She’s been on Semintra and y/d wet food for three months now. She’s currently weighing in at only 5.5 lbs, which is honestly terrifying.
If anyone has any advice on how to get her to put on a bit of weight without it interfering with her treatment, I’d be so grateful. I’ve thought about mixing some chicken breast into her wet food; she used to have an appetite for it sometimes depending on her mood, but because she’s eating so little, I’m worried she’ll end up with even more nutritional deficiencies. I gave her some Nutri-plus gel for a bit but it didn't seem to make a difference. Plus, the packaging doesn't mention iodine, but the list of ingredients online says it does contain some... I’m at my wits' end. Thank you.
Hill’s y/d dry food is a specialised diet for cats suffering from hyperthyroidism. It is designed to replace medical treatment, but if you decide to manage your cat’s condition with this food, they must not eat anything else at all (it also comes as wet food).
Regarding Apelka, it’s worth checking with another vet. Last month, my pharmacy told me that the manufacturer was out of stock, even though my own vet had some and hadn’t heard anything about a shortage.
Have a good day!
Hi everyone,
My cat Mélisse has been on Apelka for a good two months now, and her blood test results are looking good.
However, it’s been over a month since the manufacturer stopped supplying it for unknown reasons, and I’m about to run out. It’s so easy to give her this medicine, and I’m really worried.
If any of you are dealing with this problem as well, how are you getting on? My vet is telling me to switch to tablets, but there’s no way Mélisse will ever take them.
@Patmimiekiki, what is this y/d dry food?
Thanks for your help.
Have a good day.
HELLO, my cat Mimie (about 15 years old) has had hyperthyroidism for 6 years. She was treated with Felimazole tablets and then Apelka twice a day since the summer of 2017. We also have a second cat who doesn't have any health issues. We go on holiday every year and, at those times, we transition her from her medication to y/d dry food. This means that while we’re away, we only leave out y/d dry food for both cats. We have someone pop in every 2 or 3 days to give our sick cat a bit of y/d wet food and the other one some normal wet food. We’ve been doing this for 6 years now and haven't had any particular problems. Hopefully, this might help other owners of hyperthyroid cats feel a bit more relaxed about going on holiday...
Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying, though maybe I didn’t make it clear enough: for this nasty disease (and it’s the same for humans too!), an ultrasound is absolutely useless! Yes @Fonfec, I have a very good vet (the only issues being she doesn’t know much about nutrition or alternative therapies!). Is that the only vet in your area?
