I'm a bit worried

On 8/1/2015 7:03 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Rusty" wrote in message
...

Rusty had all the symptoms of thyroid problem and he was skin & bones.
But to my surprise, and probably his vet's too, his thyroid was fine.
So don't worry until his blood work comes back positive for a thyroid
problem.

I had lots of problem pilling Rusty and he had many medications over the
years.
Eventually I found pill pockets work very well. He just gobbled them down.

Purrs for Boyfie, and you.

Winnie

Thanks, Winnie. Boyfie isn't skin and bone. He just lost weight from last
year's check. I'd noticed it myself and as his annual health check was
coming up, I asked the vet about it then.
He is free feeding on dry now. Plus 200g wet daily.
If he doesn't increase weight on that, then he probably has a medical issue.
He is absolutely delighted about the new regime. He ate far too much
yesterday which led to bath pooing overnight, but who cares?
today he saw all the dry food in his bowl and said "| think that's too
much.." But he snacks on it throughout the day and I'm hoping he gains
weight.





Could you try larger portions of canned food (good quality with *no*
grains) instead of dry food? You are solving one problem with dry food
but may be creating another one--diabetes is much more prevalent in cats
that are fed on kibble.

MaryL

On 8/2/2015 4:14 AM, MaryL wrote:
On 8/1/2015 7:03 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Rusty" wrote in message
...

Rusty had all the symptoms of thyroid problem and he was skin & bones.
But to my surprise, and probably his vet's too, his thyroid was fine.
So don't worry until his blood work comes back positive for a thyroid
problem.

I had lots of problem pilling Rusty and he had many medications over the
years.
Eventually I found pill pockets work very well. He just gobbled them
down.

Purrs for Boyfie, and you.

Winnie

Thanks, Winnie. Boyfie isn't skin and bone. He just lost weight from
last
year's check. I'd noticed it myself and as his annual health check was
coming up, I asked the vet about it then.
He is free feeding on dry now. Plus 200g wet daily.
If he doesn't increase weight on that, then he probably has a medical
issue.
He is absolutely delighted about the new regime. He ate far too much
yesterday which led to bath pooing overnight, but who cares?
today he saw all the dry food in his bowl and said "| think that's too
much.." But he snacks on it throughout the day and I'm hoping he gains
weight.





Could you try larger portions of canned food (good quality with *no*
grains) instead of dry food? You are solving one problem with dry food
but may be creating another one--diabetes is much more prevalent in cats
that are fed on kibble.

MaryL


That may be. However, I've had at least 10 cats, all fed on kibble
(because that's what my vet recommends) and none of them have had diabetes.

Joy

Christina Websell wrote:

Thanks, Deb. I scared myself with this:
http://www.yourcat.co.uk/Indepth-cat...m-in-cats.html

and decided that if he does have that condition, that a thyroidectomy would
be the way to go.
I'm not bothered about the cost, I love him so much that i would spent my
last penny on him.

It does make it sound scary but it's a very common condition and
relatively easy to control. A one-sided thyroidectomy would be the most
likely op at first. The main thing is not to remove the parathyroids as
they control calcium balance, and also not to compromise kidney function
as very often hyperthyroidism masks kidney failure, and once the
hyperthyroidism is under control, the kidney failure becomes a problem.
It's a fine balance between each condition. But Boyfie is a lot younger
than Willow so he may not even have kidney problems yet.

Willow had her op done along with a dental and it cost me around the
£200 mark. She is now on a very low dose of Felimazole (tablets) about
as low as it gets and she is doing very well.

Deb.
--
http://www.scientific-art.com

"He looked a fierce and quarrelsome cat, but claw he never would;
He only bit the ones he loved, because they tasted good." S. Greenfield

On 8/2/2015 2:24 PM, Joy wrote:
On 8/2/2015 4:14 AM, MaryL wrote:
On 8/1/2015 7:03 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Rusty" wrote in message
...

Rusty had all the symptoms of thyroid problem and he was skin & bones.
But to my surprise, and probably his vet's too, his thyroid was fine.
So don't worry until his blood work comes back positive for a thyroid
problem.

I had lots of problem pilling Rusty and he had many medications over
the
years.
Eventually I found pill pockets work very well. He just gobbled them
down.

Purrs for Boyfie, and you.

Winnie

Thanks, Winnie. Boyfie isn't skin and bone. He just lost weight from
last
year's check. I'd noticed it myself and as his annual health check was
coming up, I asked the vet about it then.
He is free feeding on dry now. Plus 200g wet daily.
If he doesn't increase weight on that, then he probably has a medical
issue.
He is absolutely delighted about the new regime. He ate far too much
yesterday which led to bath pooing overnight, but who cares?
today he saw all the dry food in his bowl and said "| think that's too
much.." But he snacks on it throughout the day and I'm hoping he gains
weight.





Could you try larger portions of canned food (good quality with *no*
grains) instead of dry food? You are solving one problem with dry food
but may be creating another one--diabetes is much more prevalent in cats
that are fed on kibble.

MaryL


That may be. However, I've had at least 10 cats, all fed on kibble
(because that's what my vet recommends) and none of them have had diabetes.

Joy

Yes, I understand that. I did not say that every cat fed on kibble will
develop diabetes (just as it cannot be said that every person who eats
an inappropriate diet will not develop diabetes). However, if you look
at the background of cats that do develop diabetes, you will usually
find that that cat was fed kibble. Cats are obligate carnivores, and
they cannot digest carbs. Here is a webpage that discusses the basics
of feline nutrition:
http://www.catinfo.org/

MaryL

"Debbie Wilson" wrote in message
...
Christina Websell wrote:

Thanks, Deb. I scared myself with this:
http://www.yourcat.co.uk/Indepth-cat...m-in-cats.html

and decided that if he does have that condition, that a thyroidectomy
would
be the way to go.
I'm not bothered about the cost, I love him so much that i would spent my
last penny on him.

It does make it sound scary but it's a very common condition and
relatively easy to control. A one-sided thyroidectomy would be the most
likely op at first. The main thing is not to remove the parathyroids as
they control calcium balance, and also not to compromise kidney function
as very often hyperthyroidism masks kidney failure, and once the
hyperthyroidism is under control, the kidney failure becomes a problem.
It's a fine balance between each condition. But Boyfie is a lot younger
than Willow so he may not even have kidney problems yet.

He hardly ever drinks, so Alison doesn't think he has kidney problems. He
has a dish of water available all the time, and I think I've seen him
drinking from it only 3 or 4 times in 12 years.

Willow had her op done along with a dental and it cost me around the
£200 mark. She is now on a very low dose of Felimazole (tablets) about
as low as it gets and she is doing very well.

That sounds very reasonable. My vets have all singing & dancing 24/7, 365
days a year service with scanners and anything else needed on site, so I
would guess to about double that. They are very aware that they are
expensive, but quite rightly say that it costs them a lot to provide that
service. Boyfie had a operation to save his life last year at 2 a.m.
If it proves eventually that he does have hyperthyroidism, I am likely to
opt for a thyroidectomy. I'm glad that Willow is doing well. I'm surprised,
though, that she still has to have tablets. Pilling Boyfie is my worst
nightmare and I'm not sure even pill pockets would work. He is very
suspicious of anything he considers "not normal" and he is likely to say "if
you think I'm eating that, you have another think coming"

Tweed

"MaryL" wrote in message
...
On 8/1/2015 7:03 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Rusty" wrote in message
...

Rusty had all the symptoms of thyroid problem and he was skin & bones.
But to my surprise, and probably his vet's too, his thyroid was fine.
So don't worry until his blood work comes back positive for a thyroid
problem.

I had lots of problem pilling Rusty and he had many medications over the
years.
Eventually I found pill pockets work very well. He just gobbled them
down.

Purrs for Boyfie, and you.

Winnie

Thanks, Winnie. Boyfie isn't skin and bone. He just lost weight from
last
year's check. I'd noticed it myself and as his annual health check was
coming up, I asked the vet about it then.
He is free feeding on dry now. Plus 200g wet daily.
If he doesn't increase weight on that, then he probably has a medical
issue.
He is absolutely delighted about the new regime. He ate far too much
yesterday which led to bath pooing overnight, but who cares?
today he saw all the dry food in his bowl and said "| think that's too
much.." But he snacks on it throughout the day and I'm hoping he gains
weight.





Could you try larger portions of canned food (good quality with *no*
grains) instead of dry food? You are solving one problem with dry food
but may be creating another one--diabetes is much more prevalent in cats
that are fed on kibble.

MaryL


I increased his wet food a couple of weeks ago anyway to 285g daily, but the
vet says to free feed him on dry as well as it has more calories in. This
is only a temporary thing to see if he regains weight. I don't intend to
feed him on dry exclusively.
I am sure Alison know what she is doing. She listened to me about the
stress he has had for months about this cat bullying him and acknowledged
that this might be a reason for weight loss, so by giving him a lot of
calories via dry (now the cat seems to be gone) he should put on weight. If
he doesn't, it's likely to be something else which will be followed up with
blood tests.
I'm happy with her decision. She is a very experienced vet.

Tweed

"Joy" wrote in message
...
On 8/2/2015 4:14 AM, MaryL wrote:
On 8/1/2015 7:03 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Rusty" wrote in message
...

Rusty had all the symptoms of thyroid problem and he was skin & bones.
But to my surprise, and probably his vet's too, his thyroid was fine.
So don't worry until his blood work comes back positive for a thyroid
problem.

I had lots of problem pilling Rusty and he had many medications over
the
years.
Eventually I found pill pockets work very well. He just gobbled them
down.

Purrs for Boyfie, and you.

Winnie

Thanks, Winnie. Boyfie isn't skin and bone. He just lost weight from
last
year's check. I'd noticed it myself and as his annual health check was
coming up, I asked the vet about it then.
He is free feeding on dry now. Plus 200g wet daily.
If he doesn't increase weight on that, then he probably has a medical
issue.
He is absolutely delighted about the new regime. He ate far too much
yesterday which led to bath pooing overnight, but who cares?
today he saw all the dry food in his bowl and said "| think that's too
much.." But he snacks on it throughout the day and I'm hoping he gains
weight.





Could you try larger portions of canned food (good quality with *no*
grains) instead of dry food? You are solving one problem with dry food
but may be creating another one--diabetes is much more prevalent in cats
that are fed on kibble.

MaryL


That may be. However, I've had at least 10 cats, all fed on kibble
(because that's what my vet recommends) and none of them have had
diabetes.

Joy

My vets recommend wet food normally. But Boyfie has to free feed on dry for
now plus his wet. He seems sick of food now. For the first couple of days
he thought it was great to have as much as he wanted. Now he says "I think
I'll leave it for now and go up to my bedroom."

Tweed

On 8/3/2015 9:45 AM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Debbie Wilson" wrote in message
...
Christina Websell wrote:

Thanks, Deb. I scared myself with this:
http://www.yourcat.co.uk/Indepth-cat...m-in-cats.html

and decided that if he does have that condition, that a thyroidectomy
would
be the way to go.
I'm not bothered about the cost, I love him so much that i would spent my
last penny on him.

It does make it sound scary but it's a very common condition and
relatively easy to control. A one-sided thyroidectomy would be the most
likely op at first. The main thing is not to remove the parathyroids as
they control calcium balance, and also not to compromise kidney function
as very often hyperthyroidism masks kidney failure, and once the
hyperthyroidism is under control, the kidney failure becomes a problem.
It's a fine balance between each condition. But Boyfie is a lot younger
than Willow so he may not even have kidney problems yet.

He hardly ever drinks, so Alison doesn't think he has kidney problems. He
has a dish of water available all the time, and I think I've seen him
drinking from it only 3 or 4 times in 12 years.

Willow had her op done along with a dental and it cost me around the
£200 mark. She is now on a very low dose of Felimazole (tablets) about
as low as it gets and she is doing very well.

That sounds very reasonable. My vets have all singing & dancing 24/7, 365
days a year service with scanners and anything else needed on site, so I
would guess to about double that. They are very aware that they are
expensive, but quite rightly say that it costs them a lot to provide that
service. Boyfie had a operation to save his life last year at 2 a.m.
If it proves eventually that he does have hyperthyroidism, I am likely to
opt for a thyroidectomy. I'm glad that Willow is doing well. I'm surprised,
though, that she still has to have tablets. Pilling Boyfie is my worst
nightmare and I'm not sure even pill pockets would work. He is very
suspicious of anything he considers "not normal" and he is likely to say "if
you think I'm eating that, you have another think coming"

Tweed

I understand abou the pills. When Waffles (RB) had to have pills toward
the end, I tried Pill Pockets. Both cats liked the empty one just fine,
but Waffles would have nothing to do with the ones that had pills inside.

Joy

"Judith Latham" wrote in message
...

I'm so sorry I haven't responded earlier to this I've only just managed to
get on my computer.

Mega purrs and prayers being sent that his weight loss is due to the upset
with the fight.

Judith

I'm only waiting for 6 weeks to see if mega-feeding results in weight gain.
If not, he will be back to the vet for investigations.
It may be a concidence that he lost weight only after the bullying but I
know that humans can lose a lot of weight through bullying stress.
He is not himself. He's lost his cheerfulness.
If he were a human, I'd say he has depression.

Tweed

"Joy" wrote in message
...
On 8/3/2015 9:45 AM, Christina Websell wrote:
"Debbie Wilson" wrote in message
...
Christina Websell wrote:

Thanks, Deb. I scared myself with this:
http://www.yourcat.co.uk/Indepth-cat...m-in-cats.html

and decided that if he does have that condition, that a thyroidectomy
would
be the way to go.
I'm not bothered about the cost, I love him so much that i would spent
my
last penny on him.

It does make it sound scary but it's a very common condition and
relatively easy to control. A one-sided thyroidectomy would be the most
likely op at first. The main thing is not to remove the parathyroids as
they control calcium balance, and also not to compromise kidney function
as very often hyperthyroidism masks kidney failure, and once the
hyperthyroidism is under control, the kidney failure becomes a problem.
It's a fine balance between each condition. But Boyfie is a lot younger
than Willow so he may not even have kidney problems yet.

He hardly ever drinks, so Alison doesn't think he has kidney problems.
He
has a dish of water available all the time, and I think I've seen him
drinking from it only 3 or 4 times in 12 years.

Willow had her op done along with a dental and it cost me around the
£200 mark. She is now on a very low dose of Felimazole (tablets) about
as low as it gets and she is doing very well.

That sounds very reasonable. My vets have all singing & dancing 24/7,
365
days a year service with scanners and anything else needed on site, so I
would guess to about double that. They are very aware that they are
expensive, but quite rightly say that it costs them a lot to provide that
service. Boyfie had a operation to save his life last year at 2 a.m.
If it proves eventually that he does have hyperthyroidism, I am likely to
opt for a thyroidectomy. I'm glad that Willow is doing well. I'm
surprised,
though, that she still has to have tablets. Pilling Boyfie is my worst
nightmare and I'm not sure even pill pockets would work. He is very
suspicious of anything he considers "not normal" and he is likely to say
"if
you think I'm eating that, you have another think coming"

Tweed

I understand abou the pills. When Waffles (RB) had to have pills toward
the end, I tried Pill Pockets. Both cats liked the empty one just fine,
but Waffles would have nothing to do with the ones that had pills inside.

Joy

the trouble is that although he does flatcat at the vets and is easy to pill
there, it's because he is terrified. He thinks he is about to die and
daren't move.
Not so here. He is sure I won't
harm him but the second he needs a tablet, he says "I don't think so"
and he is off to the hills. I cannot keep hold of him if there is any sort
of medication involved.
I try to be crafty about it, but he isn't stupid.
He knows.