hyperthyroidism in cats life expectancy
Although thoughts on specific life expectancy and how to handle a fiv infected cat vary from vet to vet most vets agree fiv does harshly impact and shorten a cat s life. Hyperthyroidism is the most common endocrinopathy in aged cats. The most common type of heart disease in cats is adult onset hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
In some cases sudden death of affected cats can even occur.
Hyperthyroidism in cats life expectancy. Sometimes these glands can expand and overproduce thyroid hormone. Indoor cats live a lot longer than outdoor cats. Medical management would seem to be the simplest and cheapest option available but this often proves to be untrue since the medication can have severe side effects and must be used for the cat s entire life. Increased urination and thirst weight loss vomiting plantigrade stance when your cat walks on her rear hocks instead of her toes.
There was a study done at purdue a few years ago that said indoor only cats live 2 5 times longer than outdoor cats or indoor outdoor cats. Though less common than in dogs some heart conditions in cats are serious and need to be treated medically. Indeed take a straw poll of the cats in my own house and a third of them are hyperthyroid while the stats tell us 1 in 10 cats aged 10 years or older are hyperthyroid. Treatment of hyperthyroidism can result in hypothyroidism in many cats and is associated with the development of azotemia and shortened life expectancy.
Side effects of methimazole felimazole are common and include anorexia. Cats have two thyroid glands in their neck that help regulate metabolism. The two most common types of congenital heart disease are malformations of a valve or a septal defect in the wall that divides the right and left sides of the heart. Kidney disease can be managed medically but cannot be cured and it has a far more significant effect on your cat s welfare and life expectancy than hyperthyroidism.
Hyperthyroidism is a common disease in cats caused by the overproduction of thyroid hormone by the thyroid glands. Cats with benign or innocent murmurs will have a normal life span while cats with heart murmurs caused by life threatening structural defects of the heart may only live for months or a few years. This is what you need to know about this challenging condition. The longer hyperthyroidism is left untreated the greater the risk of significant underlying kidney disease.
Thyroid supplements do not cure the disease or kill the tumor cells causing the problem. That s because they don t come across poisons and infectious diseases or disagreements with other cats dogs or cadillacs. Hyperthyroidism most commonly occurs in cats around the age of 13. Mention hyperthyroidism to most people with cats and they ve either had a cat with hyperthyroidism or know of someone who has.