Advice for aging cat?

Kat2002

Kat2002

Cathlete
Wondering if anyone has any advice for dealing with the symptoms of hyperthyroid in an elderly cat. My cat is 17 years old and currently on some medication prescribed by the vet for her hyperthyroidism, but some of the issues that we're still dealing with are: 1) that she often vomits clear fluid in the middle of the night (4-5 am-ish). I'm thinking that her stomach may be 'acidy' because her sped up system has already metabolized the food given to her at night. And, 2) she's also still underweight--we've tried the 'high calorie' cat food and kitten food, but she is extremely finicky with the current flavor of food that she will eat.

I know a lot of this may be typical aging, but wondering if there's something I haven't tried either for soothing her stomach or for weight gain. Hoping the animal lovers on the forum may have some tips for me.

Thanks!

-Kathleen
 
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Have they rechecked her thyroid levels yet? We had to up the dose for my 13 yo cat. He doesn't have the throwing up issues but has the weight and coat issues. Wish I could be more help.
 
I have a 19 yr old hyperthyroid cat and I give her famotidine daily to settle her stomach. I get it at the animal hospital where I work, but I believe you can buy it at the drugstore.
She weighs 10.5# and I give 1/4 of a 10mg tab once or twice a day.
I don't have any advice for what kind of food to try; but if her stomach isn't upset she may eat better.
Hope that helps :)
Kara
 
I don't have any advice for you, but am interested in hearing people's responses and experiences. My 18 year old, 5.5 pound cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism yesterday. I still haven't talked with the vet to discuss treatment. I actually just took her in because she hasn't been eating quite as much lately, and I though she might have some tooth sensitivity. When they weighed her and I saw that she has lost 5.5 pounds over the past three years, I figured there was something going on... It's strange, because she actually seems more energetic and healthy than ever. I don't notice increased throwing up or any of the other major symptoms. I guess I'll find out more today when I call the vet.
Hope you can get some helpful advice for your kitty.

Wendy
 
I could be totally off base here, but the vomiting at 4-5 am is what my 13 yr old dog would do (more bile than clear). She had kidney failure and we just had to put her to sleep because she started seizures :( I gave her pepcid but then found zantac worked better. Have you had a complete blood work up on your cat recently? I also have a 17 yr old cat that so far (knock on wood) seems healthy for her age. When I lost my dog I googled to find out what I could be facing with an aging cat and found that older cats most often die of cancer, kidney failure, and feline leukemia. I was not happy to see the kidney failure....it was a tough journey and one I"m still trying to recover from after losing my dog less than a month ago. If you haven't had your cat to the vet recently for a full checkup I think that is in order.
 
Hyperthryoidism is one of the major "older" cat diseases -along with renal disease, diabetes, and cancer. Main symptoms one will see is vomiting,diarrhea, weight loss despite an excellent appetite, increase thirst/urination, and sometimes a poor unkept greasy haircoat. Diagnosis is easy and these are one of the easier older cat diseases to treat/manage.

Treatment comes in the form of medical treatment (methimazole), radioactive iodine treatment, or surgical removal of the affected thyroid gland. Most opt for medical mgmt in my experience as radioactive iodine is very expensive (although the treatment of choice) and some don't want to put their geriatric cat through major surgery - which is understandable.

Usually I find starting them on methimazole does help with the vomiting, but sometimes meds like pepcid can be used and are effective. Be sure you have the thyroid level rechecked after meds are started to be sure the appropriate dose is being used. Also, unfortunately, sometimes instituting therapy for hyperthyroidism can unearth smoldering renal disease, so not only should pre-treatment renal values be evalauated, but a few weeks after treatment is started. Also methimazole can have GI side effects - so, it can be a rocky start for some, but in my hands it has been very effective and very well tolerated for the most part.

Hope this helps - it really is one of the better old age kitty problems - the least of all the other evils!

Heidi
 
Hi Kathleen,
Our kitty, Franny, lived to be over 20 years old. She had thryoid issues and kidney disease. In her last few years she mostly ate meat flavored baby food. This is something the vet often recommended when our cats were having tummy issues. He also said there is enough liquid in baby food to help if they aren't drinking much. There are many meat flavors. She was kind of picky but OF COURSE we got what she wanted!! I hope you find some relief for your baby!
~~Debbie~~
 
Thanks for all the responses everyone. Just looked at the bottle for the med we are currently giving her which is tapazole. We had looked in to the radioactive iodine treatment but they seemed hesitant to do the treatment on her, perhaps because it would be too harsh on her system now that she is more frail? The vet didn't mention it as a treatment when she was first diagnosed or we probably would have done it then.

I will have to ask the vet about a dosage of pepcid/zantac. He had mentioned pepcid in passing before.

Not sure how her kidneys are doing, I think the vet did mention something about their function at the last appt. but not that they were failing. Just from googling quicky, it doesn't seem like there is much treatment for kidney disease? Wondering if there's anything preventative I should be doing..
 
Methimazole is tapazole so that's all good :)

Unfortunately not a lot you can do to prevent renal issues - some think higher protein diets are an issue and some even recommend lower protein diets once renal disease is diagnosed, but a lot of specialists' opinions differ on this. Just get those renal values rechecked and see what your vet recommends.

I've had two cats go for radioactive iodine - it's intense for a couple weeks but then they are good to go. They are "radioactive " for a while so that can make things interesting!

Heidi
 
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