Hyperthyroidism In Cats Prognosis
The kitty may become seriously ill.
Hyperthyroidism in cats prognosis. It is typical for older cats to lose weight as they age making it hard to distinguish hyperthyroidism from normal aging. Hyperthyroidism is the most common hormone abnormality in cats which is a form of overactive thyroid glands resulting in the overproduction of thyroid hormone. The prognosis for treated cats is good with an expected life span of eighteen months to two years or more with around one in three cats still being alive after four years.
The prognosis of cats with hyperthyroidism may depend on several factors such as. These tumors do not spread but pump out high levels of thyroid hormone. There is more than one medication to treat hyperthyroid cats it might be worth seeing if a change will help.
The severity of the condition. The cat will experience severe weight loss even if eating regularly or more than usual and are at risk of developing serious secondary conditions such as hypertension high blood pressure and thyrotoxic cardiomyopathy a form of heart disease. Visit the Internal Medicine Service website What Is Feline Hyperthyroidism.
In some cases complications involving other organs may worsen this prognosis. Most of the time this condition in cats is a result of over-treatment of hyperthyroidism a disease that occurs more frequently. Unfortunately the side effects you describe also seem to occur when the cat is under-treated - my old cat ate far better when I was on top of his pilling.
Hypothyroidism is a common condition among humans and dogs but it rarely ever spontaneously occurs in cats. Increased appetite coupled with weight loss. Typical signs of hyperthyroidism in cats include rapid weight loss rapid heart rate and increased hunger Dr.
Your veterinarian will also ask about your cats appetite and note if theres been weight loss and how rapidly it occurred. Hyperthyroidism seems to occur more in older cats non-specific of gender or breed. Excessive thirst Increased urination Decreased activity levels.