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That I don't know. You'd have to research. I was just mentioning that in case there *are* any nutritional interventions for hyperthyroidism in cats. But I can't imagine many cats willing to eat soy or broccoli (both known goitrogens), for example. :p
Honestly, speaking as a lifelong cat human, if she was mine, I'd try the meds. I would have done with Arnold if it was at all possible.
Yep. In case I didn't make it clear, I definitely support this route. But Arnold wasn't a candidate for food switch, either. But if I coulda, I woulda.
I definitely understand cats who "aren't a candidate" for this... especially when they're old and set in their ways. I never know what my 14 yo cat will be willing to eat from one day to the next. (Whereas my young one will eat anything, in any quantity, that I put in front of her.)
LOL. Yep. We call my youngest cat "Fat Trix" for a reason.
Ours is 17. She's taken to the no carb food very well. Even increased appetite, and even after a week, I think she's put on weight. If I'd known about this, I'd have done it years ago. We have a local farm center that carries a couple dozen different brands of cat food and I found a handful there with no added starches/grains. Still not sure if all carbs are bad for cats, or just grains. As one interested in RP, I could see it just being grains. OTOH, cats are a different species and we can't assume non grain carbs are ok for them simply because they are for us. Her general health and energy level in the last week have been amazing.
This is horrible advice, removing the thyroid did the first one in. Eating habits are vital to examine, and if the cat seems too picky, it should be given 2mg cyproheptadine. I've found the best time is for breakfast, when they are hungry. My cat craved sucrose when it was stressed, but as time goes on he craves it less and less. My cat had a wasting disease, with faily vomitijg, that's subsiding. 100mg thiamine, occasionally, in a cat treat pouch, also does them no harm. Coconut oil is also important for cats.If you have an "easy" cat that it won't make everyone's life hell when trying to dose daily with meds, that's the route I'd go. I had a cat with hyperthyroidism so have a little bit of experience with it. But if your cat is difficult think carefully about this route because the likelihood increases that you won't comply over the long term cuz it's just too hard.
Main reason I'd go with meds instead of lifestyle intervention is we can't manage a cat's health like we manage our own. They're picky eaters, and we can't monitor "microsymptoms" (like the early indications we get when something is probably going to be effective or probably a disaster) accurately with regards to changes in lifestyle. By the time a cat will allow negative symptoms from a slower, non-invasive intervention to show it probably is too late to correct it. Same is true if we delay a more mainstream treatment because we're waiting for a slow intervention to show improvement...jack around too long and even pharmaceuticals may not work that well.
My old hyperthyroid cat was a "hard" cat, so I got him that radiation surgery/injection that basically destroys the thyroid gland. I chose the surgery because daily dosing of medication wasn't an option for him...unless he was very sick and lethargic he was almost impossible to medicate at home for more than a week or so. He'd put up with it for a while and then That. Was. It. He was just one of those kinds of cats. He was already 14 when he was diagnosed with thyroid issues, and deeply into hyperthyroidism. His personality had changed (irritability, etc.), and the surgery didn't help his physical and behavioral symptoms, although his lab numbers got a lot better. He got an infected tooth about six months later and even after having that pulled and treated I had to have him put to sleep about a year or year and a half after the surgery. In retrospect I think the surgery affected his immune system. I don't consider it money well-spent at all, but it's honestly hard to say if it actually hurt him or not because he was already on the skids from acute hyperthyroidism.
That said, try lifestyle intervention, too, if you can. That can never hurt and only help. But sometimes if a cat has been raised on canned cat food from the grocery store it can be difficult to get them to switch to better eating habits.
Another factor to consider is how severe they hypothyroidism is...Arnold (my cat) was already in fairly bad shape when he was diagnosed (hard to get him into the crate to the doctor), so it's unlikely that a gentler, more natural intervention than mainstream surgery or pharmaceuticals (presuming I could've dosed him) would have helped.
Age is another consideration. If your cat is 14-15 or older, consider how much you want to "torture" it over the next few years. Daily meds are stressful for most cats, as is surgery with potential sides (like the thyroid-killing surgery). Changing their food to something they like less can also cause misery for geriatric animals. Quality of life issues.
If I had a young, easy cat I'd go with meds accompanied by whatever beneficial lifestyle interventions I could get to "stick".
Older cat and/or difficult cat you just gotta consider all the angles, I guess.
Good luck. Let us know how it goes!
