Just gotta laugh...

[joplin1975]

I took my cats (three of them) to the vet this morning for their annual check ups. I told the vet that I thought one of my cats was looking a little ragged and had some strange pigment changes to his coat that I had been attributing to stress (his best kitty pal passed away this summer).

The vet took one look at him and said "Oh, I'm gonna guess this cat has a bad thyroid." He then went on to explain what hyperthyroid is and how it's treated while I'm standing there half-giggling and shaking my head. I had to interrupt him and explain that, yup, assuming it's similar to the human thyroid issues, I got it.

So, we'll wait for his blood work to come back, but considering you can feel his thyroid, it's likely we'll start him on some perscription food and, if that doesn't work, off to Cornell for RAI.

I guess thyroid issues really do run in the "family."

[Octavia]

Wow. I wonder if you had been treated sooner, maybe it wouldn't have been passed to the cat. ;)

Take a look at this video...given its content, you may wish to consider developing a video of your own about thyroid issues. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IkOQw96cfyE

[Andros]

I took my cats (three of them) to the vet this morning for their annual check ups. I told the vet that I thought one of my cats was looking a little ragged and had some strange pigment changes to his coat that I had been attributing to stress (his best kitty pal passed away this summer).

The vet took one look at him and said "Oh, I'm gonna guess this cat has a bad thyroid." He then went on to explain what hyperthyroid is and how it's treated while I'm standing there half-giggling and shaking my head. I had to interrupt him and explain that, yup, assuming it's similar to the human thyroid issues, I got it.

So, we'll wait for his blood work to come back, but considering you can feel his thyroid, it's likely we'll start him on some perscription food and, if that doesn't work, off to Cornell for RAI.

I guess thyroid issues really do run in the "family."

How utterly ironic. In all your horsewomanship, have you ever had a horse w/thyroid issues?

http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q121/smkeater55/Holiday/thanksgiving.gif

[I DClaire]

My brother's Boxer, Lily, has thyroid disease. She must have been hypothyroid - as soon as she started medication she was full of energy again.

My brother said the veterinarian took one look at Lily and made the diagnosis. I asked if he thought the veterinarian would see me?

[webster2]

Well, I guess thyroid troubles sure do run in the family,! Poor kitty, I do hope he will not need RAI, poor guy. Our neighbor's elderly horse had a thyroid imbalance. I must admit, I did shake my head and laugh at the diagnosis. Maybe all of our pets should have theirs checked! ;)

[joplin1975]

My brother's Boxer, Lily, has thyroid disease. She must have been hypothyroid - as soon as she started medication she was full of energy again.

My brother said the veterinarian took one look at Lily and made the diagnosis. I asked if he thought the veterinarian would see me?

HAHAHAHA! My husband claims equine vets are "always so much more knowledgable about arthitis than human doctors." Oh, good, that makes me feel better!

Andros, yes! Horses can have thyroid issues. I've never met one, but it can happen.

This old cat appears to be hyper (guessing based on symptoms), but he does have an enlarged thyroid.

[I DClaire]

So, we'll wait for his blood work to come back, but considering you can feel his thyroid, it's likely we'll start him on some perscription food and, if that doesn't work, off to Cornell for RAI.



Back when I was afraid I'd have to have RAI, I was telling a friend, DeeDee, about it and she said her grandcat "Perry Ellis" had had to undergo RAI.

Perry Ellis was isolated at the veterinarian's clinic for something like a week but is back to being his totally weird self now...and I do not use the word "weird" lightly.

DeeDee is an artist. She and her daughter have always adopted dogs and cats from the pound that nobody else on earth would even consider - then they give the pets fashion designer names and treat them royally the rest of their lives.

[webster2]

I worked for a large animal practice eons ago, and I wish those guys would treat humans...even my pets' vet I would love as my primary!

[SnoodMama]

When I was a kid my cat "Kitty" was sent to UC Davis Vet school for RAI in about 1984. It was an experimental program. I remember we had to save her cat litter and dispose of it at the University with radioactive waste. Now my cat I have now is hyperthryoid as well and I get methimazole compounded with triple fish flavor. I give it to her twice a day. Poor animal. She is so old, I didn't want her to have to be put in a kennel during the RAI so we just give her medicine.

I was just reading a book that mentioned that a lot of human exercise physiology advances come via racehorses. They try out all that stuff on them first because there's so much incentive. Those vets are pretty darned good. I called for a refill of my cat's medicine today and they had it ready and filled almost immediately. Meanwhile my endocrinologist took 4 days to call the pharmacy to refill my levothyroid pills. Doesn't it make you ****ed????

[webster2]

I have a friend that works in equine reproductive physiology. A lot of information for humans is also gleaned there too. I never know how I feel about that.

[Prairie Rose]

Thanks for giving me a smile this morning. :)
Hugs to Kitty!

[Alicia123]

Yes, Hugs to kitty!

Maybe it's in the water?

lol:tongue0013:

[joplin1975]

And, as it turns out, my cat's thyroid is fine. Yay! He's just old. :)

But, I asked out of curiosity what was included in the blood work. The vte said it was a complete CBC and all values were normal, but specifically with regard to the thyroid, he did total and free T3 and T4...and followed that up by saying he really doesn't like to evaluate thyroid function on TSH alone.

So, I think I'm going to ask him to start managing my synthroid dosage. :tongue0013:

[I DClaire]

And, as it turns out, my cat's thyroid is fine. Yay! He's just old. :)

But, I asked out of curiosity what was included in the blood work. The vte said it was a complete CBC and all values were normal, but specifically with regard to the thyroid, he did total and free T3 and T4...and followed that up by saying he really doesn't like to evaluate thyroid function on TSH alone.

So, I think I'm going to ask him to start managing my synthroid dosage. :tongue0013:

You are kidding!?!?! :D My pug sees an out-of-state canine opthalmologist and I have a friend in NYC whose pug had her own neurologist for 10 years but your cat's endocrinologist seems more informed than half of the human ones members talk about here.

I always thought there was some negative connotation to "being treated like a dog" but maybe not so much!! With a good endocrinologist your cat might lead ten or twelve lives instead of nine!!

I have a good cat story. My 43-year old daughter used to live here, by herself in a cute old house in a sorta' historic neighborhood. She had an inside cat but one day realized another cat seemed to be spending at least a little time around her house every day. The cat was in horrible shape, woefully fearful, thin to the point of being almost skin and bones, and my daughter assumed it was wild. If she so much as opened a door and the cat saw her he'd run as fast as possible. Curiosity set in though, my daughter decided she was going to help the cat or die trying!

For weeks on end she put food and water out and did the best she could to fix the cat shelter in her detached garage. Eventually she did befriend it and then, with more weight from the food, she began to think it might be a valuable cat...but she still wouldn't try to bring it indoors.

One day we were talking on the phone and she said in certain light the cat almost looked like his coat was "blue". The minute she said the word I remembered a column in our newspaper classified section that ran for weeks, if not months, about a lost cat that was "blue".

One of my neighbors worked for the newspaper and helped us find the old "Lost cat" ad and my daughter called the number. The owners were beside themselves with happiness - the cat was their's, a very rare breed, and it had escaped from their home on a holiday (like July 4th) when people were shooting fireworks. They'd looked for it for something like six months.

The owners wanted to reward my daughter but she said absolutely not - she'd had a real adventure befriending the cat and was thrilled with the outcome. One day she came home from work and the most beautiful cat statue was at her front door with a hugely generous gift certificate to a local restaurant.

[joplin1975]

You are kidding!?!?! :D My pug sees an out-of-state canine opthalmologist and I have a friend in NYC whose pug had her own neurologist for 10 years but your cat's endocrinologist seems more informed than half of the human ones members talk about here.

I always thought there was some negative connotation to "being treated like a dog" but maybe not so much!! With a good endocrinologist your cat might lead ten or twelve lives instead of nine!!

Right??? I love our vet so much. I swear he's more careful and concerned than most medical doctors I know!

I have a good cat story. My 43-year old daughter used to live here, by herself in a cute old house in a sorta' historic neighborhood. She had an inside cat but one day realized another cat seemed to be spending at least a little time around her house every day. The cat was in horrible shape, woefully fearful, thin to the point of being almost skin and bones, and my daughter assumed it was wild. If she so much as opened a door and the cat saw her he'd run as fast as possible. Curiosity set in though, my daughter decided she was going to help the cat or die trying!

For weeks on end she put food and water out and did the best she could to fix the cat shelter in her detached garage. Eventually she did befriend it and then, with more weight from the food, she began to think it might be a valuable cat...but she still wouldn't try to bring it indoors.

One day we were talking on the phone and she said in certain light the cat almost looked like his coat was "blue". The minute she said the word I remembered a column in our newspaper classified section that ran for weeks, if not months, about a lost cat that was "blue".

One of my neighbors worked for the newspaper and helped us find the old "Lost cat" ad and my daughter called the number. The owners were beside themselves with happiness - the cat was their's, a very rare breed, and it had escaped from their home on a holiday (like July 4th) when people were shooting fireworks. They'd looked for it for something like six months.

The owners wanted to reward my daughter but she said absolutely not - she'd had a real adventure befriending the cat and was thrilled with the outcome. One day she came home from work and the most beautiful cat statue was at her front door with a hugely generous gift certificate to a local restaurant.

Awwwwwwwwwwww, I love stories like that!! It was probably a Russian Blue. When i was in college, my roommate woke up and found two Russian Blue kittens on our doorstep. Our vet couldn't believe someone would give up such exotic kittens. So she kept those and then three weeks later I found three more (non-exotic) kittens on our doorstep AGAIN. So I kept the alley cats and she kept the show cats and we had five kittens in our apartment. Our landlord loved us (not!).

[I DClaire]

We know an elderly couple who found a starving, injured stray cat at their backdoor. They immediately opened their hearts and home to the cat and let it stay in their home while they tried everything to find its owner. They posted flyers all over their subdivision and placed a classified listing but nobody came forth to claim the cat and eventually they just happily accepted that he was theirs.

Several times they took the cat to a veterinarian for various reasons but the doctor never said anything in particular about the cat's breed, probably assuming the 80-something year old couple knew.

The cat had never been neutered so the couple decided to get him fixed, which they did. When they went to pick the cat up after his little operation, the vet commented that most cats that valuable for breeding would not be neutered. I don't remember the breed but it was something tremendously rare and could have commanded hundreds or maybe thousands of dollars as a breeder.