I had 3 cats, and 2 of the 3 developed hyperthyroidism. This might have been as long ago as a decade, so there was not the recent awareness (due to research) that this is something to watch out for. By the time we caught it (the 2 afflicted cats developed it about 2 years apart), the tumors were in BOTH thyroid glands, and were so huge each cat needed TWO DOSES of radiation to kill it.

Aside from the expense (can’t recall but think it was about $850/dose) it is NOT something you want to have to subject your cat to. After the dose, the poor cat has to be IN ISOLATION for “x’ number of days because THEY ARE LITERALLY RADIOACTIVE. Once the radiation goes down to a certain level, you can take them home.

I talked to my vet about this new finding, and he said (natch) more research needs to be done. For instance, are certain breeds more prone to it than others? (that only applies to purebreds.) Also is there a genetic factor? (That would explain why my 3rd cat never caught it when the other 2 did………in fact she’s 14 now and never sick a day in her life.

He also said that when he was in vet school, the teacher only touched on hyperthyroidism ONCE, and said “this is a discase you’ll probably only see once in a lifetime.” Well, now, he says the vet hospital sees about THREE CASES PER MONTH….

Notice it says “epidemic” ?

Surgery or radiation can only be done if your cat is young and in fairly good health. This is not always the case with older cats.

re link to fish you’re talking about accumulation in the environment - in water, perhaps in feed for farmed fish, which is then concentrated in the
FISH MEALS in catfood.

Please stop promoting this fallacy that HT is treatable, or even easily treatable. This does not reflect the facts about this disease.

Isn’t that redundant? :O)

You know, if you get the mouth open and tilted up while the cat is trying to hiss, and you have your split second timing and excellent aim down pat, you can just drop it in (quickly moving to hold kit’s mouth closed for the swallow).

As far as canned pet food and particularly fish, the article really didn’t qualify that as to quality or brands of food etc. It was annoyingly vague. I figure these days that the best rule of thumb is would you eat it or eat it without worry for your own health.

considering the rate at which these studies pop up-it’s hard to know what to believe. it does make sense that man made chemicals make their way into the waters.and seeing how the environment isnt going to mystically be cured over night it might be some comfort to know that hyperthyroid is a highly treatable disorder.

hyperthyroid is so easily controlled( well as easy as it is to pill a cat) through radiation. surgery or medication. uncontrolled it can cause serious heart/renal problems. everyone should get their cats over 7 tested for hyperthyroid.

i have to pill a tortie psycho 2 times a day. oh the humanity! those gloves people use to feed sharks are helpful….

Although use of flame retardants saves lives and property, there have been unintended consequences. There is growing evidence that PBDEs persist in the environment and accumulate in living organisms, as well as toxicological testing that indicates these chemicals may cause liver toxicity, thyroid toxicity, and neurodevelopmental toxicity. Environmental monitoring programs in Europe, Asia, North America, and the Arctic have found traces of several PBDEs in human breast milk, fish, aquatic birds, and elsewhere in the environment. Particular congeners, tetra- to hexabrominated diphenyl ethers, are the forms most frequently detected in wildlife and humans. The mechanisms or pathways through which PBDEs get into the environment and humans are not known yet, but could include releases from manufacturing or processing of the chemicals into products like plastics or textiles, aging and wear of the end consumer products, and direct exposure during use (e.g., from furniture).”

So it sounds like it’s a good possibility they get into the environment from the factories. Why am I not surprised?