Hello from Lamborghini

My cat Lamborghini is a 12 year old male. He is not definitively diagnosed as diabetic, but the vet says it is probable, as his glucose level was 240, and a couple of years ago there was a result that was also a bit higher than should be.
However, along with the diabetes possibility, his bloodwork showed he is severely hyperthyroid. His bloodwork showed a T4 of 14.4. We only found all this out yesterday. Vet has given us medicine for that (the gel stuff that goes in his ear) and a bag of insanely priced Purina DM food, dry, and told us to use Fancy Feast Classics for wet food. His kidney tests look fine, his liver tests show some that are somewhat high. But from what I read, hyperthyroid can artificially elevate liver tests, and suppress signs of kidney damage, so we can't trust either yet.
A few years ago Lambors had one episode of urinary tract sludge, and we were told to put him on the Purina UM food. He has been fine since then.

We have another cat, Ferrari, a 12 year old female. Both cats have dry food available at all times, and get a portion of wet food twice a day, at the same time our two dogs get breakfast and dinner. Dry food is in a cage with a cat-sized entrance, to keep the dogs from it, tho one dog is somehow able to make herself amazingly cat-sized when she really wants to (she's 17 inches tall at the shoulder, weighs 33 pounds, but with a skinny build can somehow squeeze herself through a cat door when she wants to). Wet food is given in the kitchen, right at our feet, so we can guard them from the dogs.

Just recently I have learned just how awful dry food is for cats. Three previous cats, over the years, each lived to 19 years old on just plain, cheap, grocery store, dry cat food, with no problems, so we never thought twice about it. Now I have a severely ill cat, who happens to be my son's most precious pet (of all the animals in our house, it HAS to be this one!) and we have to figure this out, quickly. But I'm not sure radical food changes are a good idea right now, until we get his thyroid under control.

Will be asking questions on the main board, since I read this is just the introductions place. The thyroid problem is the critical one right now, but if we can head off the diabetes with diet changes, that would sure help.

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome. Love the kitties' names! Please do post in the Main forum. I know you are going to get lots of input from members who have similar experiences and concerns.

 

Welcome Gracie! Maybe my Harley can take a road trip with your Lamborghini and Ferrari! Zoom, zoom...…

I will share my experience with hyper -T and hopefully you will glean some info to help you. Serena has HyperT, non diabetic. She is 18 years old. Last T4 was 5.5. She started out around 14 or 15 on the T4.

-I don't know about effect on liver but my Vet has told me HyperT can Mask kidney disease. Serena is showing some mild kidney disease.

-I have a personal loathing for Any so called Prescription food. Extremely overpriced and garbage ingredients. I have tried almost every holistic, organic , high priced fancy food for my cats over the years and I have finally Seen the Light from info on this forum. I now feed Dr Elseys dry kibble, and canned Fancy Feast, Friskies, and Luvsome. Their poops do not smell, their coats are soft and shiny.

-I would not use the Methimazole Gel. I had to use that for my cat Sam, and we were never able to get his thyroid level anywhere near normal. He was an extremely smart cat. I crushed the Methimazole pill in his wet food, he would not eat it. He promptly stopped eating the wet food for several weeks until he was sure there was no med in it. He was impossible to pill; he turned into the Tasmanian devil. I could not catch or hold him if he ever thought I was going to give him a pill; he would stare at my hands looking for a pill. He was weirdly intelligent!

-I was recently given Felimazole (by a new Vet) which is a tiny orange pill which is very easy to slide in her mouth. I was using Methimazole which was a tiny white tablet easily crushed in food or popped in the mouth. Serena is not as smart as Sam and gobbles her wet food quickly.

-If it is financially feasible, I would suggest considering the Radiactive iodine treatment. It is expensive, cat needs to stay Vets office for several days until radiation levels decrease. It supposedly is a cure for HyperT. I have read that ill or diabetic cats on insulin will not be considered for this treatment due to the need to isolate the cat secondary to active radiation. I will not do this treatment on Serena due to her age. Oddly enough, I have started my own piggy bank of savings as I will do this treatment on any future cats that develop HyperT.

-It is difficult to manage multiple illnesses in one cat as treatments are often contradictory. With discussion with your Vet you will need to decide which illness can be treated to provide long life with least side effects. I have basically put Serenas' kidney issue on the side as the thyroid issue is what will take her from me first. She is currently very active, spunky, great appetite etc but she is horribly thin. Weight has finally stabilized at 7.5 pounds. She was 16 pounds many years ago. This thyroid disease and inability to get her regulated has caused this issue. They have a very rapid metabolism with hyperT and just loose so much weight with muscle wasting. My intent is not to scare you but to inform. So, IMHO, try to get that thyroid level to normal as fast as you can!

Below are some very helpful links:

https://catinfo.org/feline-hyperthyroidism/

 

http://www.animalendocrine.com/wp-c...agement-of-Feline-Hyperthyroidism-VMA-NYC.pdf

 

Thanks, all.
HB&M, thank you for the link to the article about hyperT and diabetes/insulin resistance. Sounds very much like I do indeed need to treat him as if he has full blown diabetes, and get his diet changed to accomodate it now, rather than wait until we clearly have another serious problem to deal with. Interesting to read about the quality of the protein they get, as well. And to understand why the weight loss, and why it follows the pattern it does. My family still says Lamborghini has a fat belly, despite his weight being down, and I can feel the ridges of his skull, spine, and shoulderblades, they weren't believing me when I said he was feeling too skinny, because of what they saw.

I too believe the hyperthyroid is the #1 priority problem to deal with, then #2 would be the diabetes, then #3 would be kidney, liver, whatever else shows up. Thyroid will kill him fastest and do the most damage to the rest of his organs. Diabetes will take over when the thyroid is under control, and continue to do damage. If we can stop the damaging diseases, then maybe the other organs will hold up better and longer.

Poor kitties. All they want is to eat, be warm and cuddled, sleep, and roam the house late at night howling and clunking things.