Feeding hyperthyroid cat

Re: Feeding hyperthyroid cat

Sarah Southworth RVN CertVNECC — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:09:41 GMT

sorry to hear your sad news x

Re: Feeding hyperthyroid cat

Katie Mansfield — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:07:41 GMT

Very sad to report Earl has gone to Rainbow Bridge.

Thanks, guys, for all your help re feeding him,

K x

Re: Feeding hyperthyroid cat

Helen Lissenden — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:51:32 GMT

RC Sensitivity is single carb/single protein source diet - which is ideal for exclusion diets or minor GI cases, whereas RC Intestinal is high fat but short chain fatty acids so very digestible which is why it is so good to feed to GI cases (or hyperthyroid cats!), if your cat is struggling with solid foods the other one from RC is called Recovery - available in tins and alutrays it is like a pate when you open it but has lots of liquid around it so - can either be fed in a pate format which is very soft but firm enough to feed from a spoon or if you need a more runny consistency (can fit down a 10fg feeding tube) it can be stirred and it becomes more liquid without the need to add water - which of course would dilute the calories further. RC Recovery is very energy dense but also has the benefit of being highly digestible with the addition of nutrients to aid gut - its really good for convolescent patients.

Re: Feeding hyperthyroid cat

Katie Mansfield — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 07:22:32 GMT

What I've found is that Earl would eat everything in sight until he went on Felimiazole. His appetite slowly decreased until as now we are feeding him off a spoon, following him around (he doesn't move much and he's gone blind).

He seems quite happy, still purring and loves a cuddle, but we don't think it's gonna be long before he visits Rainbow Bridge.

K x

Re: Feeding hyperthyroid cat

Maryjane Williams — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:17:30 GMT

I also had a cat. She suffered from hyperthyroidism from very early stage. Usually it happens that the appetite of cats increases when suffering from hyperthyroidism. But I used to struggle a lot for feeding her, though she used to feel very thirsty at times. She reduced weight rapidly. The hair coat became thinner and thinner and the texture became rough. Really this disease made the condition of my pussy very bad.

Re: Feeding hyperthyroid cat

Teh Fluffeh — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:06:59 GMT

No probs, I can't wait for it to come over here if it's as successful as they claim

Re: Feeding hyperthyroid cat

Katie Mansfield — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:47:46 GMT

Thanks guys - I've just been spoon feeding A/D cos he's finding lumpy normal food difficult, bless him. I've not seen the RC intestinal diet - one of our others is on Sensitivity, is that similar?

Teh Fluffeh - thanks for finding that out for me about Y/D

K x

Re: Feeding hyperthyroid cat

Helen Lissenden — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:47:17 GMT

Royal Canin Intestinal diet would be worth a try - highly digestible, calorific and works well for hyperthyroid patients, to help maintain body weight but also the fat source is very digestible so the risk of GI upset is highly unlikely as this can be a common issue with hyperthyroid cats. As a general rule geriatric cats 10+ do tend to have more problems maintaining body weight, studies at the Waltham Centre have shown old cats require a more digestible diet as, even those without thyroid issues, consume more but digest less so are often underweight. You have mentioned the renal function and of course it would be worth monitoring renal and hepatic function and the RC helpline 0800 717 800 can always discuss the most suitable diet if other underlying issues are detected on further/future tests. Hope he does ok!

Re: Feeding hyperthyroid cat

Teh Fluffeh — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:43:52 GMT

Hills Y/D is due over here in spring 2012

Re: Feeding hyperthyroid cat

Katie Mansfield — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:27:04 GMT

PS I also have 5 children who are all fussy eaters and I usually have to cook a few different dinners as well!!!

Luckily the rats and the hamster are quite easy to feed

K x

Re: Feeding hyperthyroid cat

Katie Mansfield — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 07:51:59 GMT

Earl (my cat) used to have a ferocious appetite until he started the Felimazole. Now he'll quite often walk away from his bowl, unfinished. At the mo he has a terribly runny nose and has just had LA antibiotics, so I'm currently having to wash him before feeding and warning the food up. I put him on canned food a little while ago cos the dry seemed to be too much like hard work for him.

In answer to the 5 cat household - we have 7 (18, 17 x3, 15 and 10 x2). My 18 yr old has CRF too, but also chronic diahorrea and a long-term idiopathic urine infection so she is fed sensitivity and given Cystaid. Earl is on canned food and the 5 others dry. We also have 2 dogs, so feeing time is a military operation. The 5 cats who aren't on pills or special diets get fed in the dining room. One dog in the kitchen, the other in a crate in the lounge. Lucy (CRF cat) gets her food in the hall and Earl (HT cat) gets his in the lounge so we can watch him and make sure he's eating. When Lucy's finished all the bowls on the floor of the dining room are collected up and any (dry) food remaining poured into one bowl on the table. The other 5 are all capable of jumping up onto the table if they're still peckish - Lucy isn't. In other words, feeding different meals in multi-cat households can be done - it just takes a bit of planning!!

K x

Re: Feeding hyperthyroid cat

PHA86 — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:23:50 GMT

I also have a similar problem. My 17 year hyperthyroid is a right skinny-mini, has slightly raised ALKP, but the main issue is I have five cats. Two are 15 years old, one with slight renal insufficiency, one slightly overweight. The other two are adult, again one slightly overweight and another in perfect body condition (other than he's recovering from a femoral head excision!). It would be very awkward for me to feed them all separately, and I've always wondered what a good all-rounder would be. I currently feed Hill's mature adult and give Mrs hyperthyroid a bit of A/D separately every morning. It'd be interesting to hear people's thoughts...

Re: Feeding hyperthyroid cat

Gemma Burden RVN — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 20:04:42 GMT

What is his appitite like? The reason I ask is that one of the nurses I work with has a simular problem with one of her cats, he's 18 or 19 now, has chronic renal failure amongst other problems, and she has real problems keeping weight on him. She suppliments his food with a/d, but has also had a lot of success using Mirtazapine to help improve his appitite. I have only known this used on him and another cat with CRF, so wouldn't want to say that it would definetely be ok for a hyperthyroid cat, but it might be worth considering.

Re: Feeding hyperthyroid cat

Katie Mansfield — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:46:57 GMT

Thanks guys. I found this very interesting blog as well -

http://animalendocrine.blogspot.com/2011/10/diet-and-nutritional-management-for.html

I'm def gonna try the a/d idea for a short while which may help with the muscle mass loss as well as the weight loss. The above also mentions the IRIS values, but points out inc protein is req for muscle tissue.

Hopefully it won't be long before Hills release y/d over here too.

I'll let you know how we get on,

K x

Re: Feeding hyperthyroid cat

Catherine Raymond — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 11:28:02 GMT

With regards renal values, check the ranges on the IRIS website for staging and treating, as they are different to what we get on the machines. Have been managing some apparently 'normal' values on our machine with the guidelines off IRIS with some good results.

Re: Feeding hyperthyroid cat

Catherine Raymond — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 11:25:44 GMT

Just seen that Hill's have brought out a specialist hyperthyroid diet in America called y/d, May be worth looking at the science behind it and seeing what we have similar over here.

Re: Feeding hyperthyroid cat

Ju_xx — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 10:11:45 GMT

What about mixing some ad in with his normal food? We use that for some elderly, kidney and thyroid cats that we need to put weight on. We don't swap them over completely as it may not be the best but we find adding it in helps :)