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Feline thyroid function
Jul. 30th, 2003 08:46 pmDoes anyone reading have practical knowledge of feline thyroid function?
My cat has, over the past few months, rapidly gone from being healthily proportioned to rather thin. He has maintained a very healthy appetite, but his fur has become scraggy.
The vet has just told us that his thyroid and kidney function tests have come back 'within normal range'. Cat thyroid function is apparently somewhat different to that of humans. That said, human thyroid function tests are notoriously difficult to interpret correctly - I was gaining weight for 6 months with 'normal' thyroid function tests before my readings became 'hypothyroid'. This knowledge, coupled with the fact that my cat's uncle is dying of kidney failure as a complication of a failure to diagnose an over-active thyroid, is ringing alarm bells in me.
How reliable are feline thyroid function laboratory tests in reality (not text-book theory...) in picking up hyperthyroid disease, particularly in the early stages?
We are seeing the vet again tomorrow evening (Thu 31 July 17:20 GMT).
My cat has, over the past few months, rapidly gone from being healthily proportioned to rather thin. He has maintained a very healthy appetite, but his fur has become scraggy.
The vet has just told us that his thyroid and kidney function tests have come back 'within normal range'. Cat thyroid function is apparently somewhat different to that of humans. That said, human thyroid function tests are notoriously difficult to interpret correctly - I was gaining weight for 6 months with 'normal' thyroid function tests before my readings became 'hypothyroid'. This knowledge, coupled with the fact that my cat's uncle is dying of kidney failure as a complication of a failure to diagnose an over-active thyroid, is ringing alarm bells in me.
How reliable are feline thyroid function laboratory tests in reality (not text-book theory...) in picking up hyperthyroid disease, particularly in the early stages?
We are seeing the vet again tomorrow evening (Thu 31 July 17:20 GMT).
