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i have a cat that has a thyroid problem and is on

Sent to Cat Experts December 18 02:15 PM

I have a cat that has a thyroid problem and is on medication. She's lost alot of weight. She is pooping all over the house. Could the thyroid problem be causing this?

Optional Information:
Age: 11; Female; Breed: DSH Cat

Already Tried:
Haven't changed litter brand. All medical tests have been done and everything ok, except for thyroid level.

Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Status:  Closed   Value: $5
Answer
December 18 2:25 PM (9 minutes and 59 seconds later)
         
REPLIEDCheck Mark
It could be related to her hyperthyroid condition. What medication is she on and how long has she been treated? Did the pooping problem start before or after medication started?

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Dr Andrea -- Veterinarian -- 100% Positive Feedback on 15 Cat Accepts
Veterinary practice for 18yrs, owner of 10+ cats, cat rescue, cat showing
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December 18 2:36 PM (11 minutes and 21 seconds later)
         
Reply to Dr Andrea's Post: The medication that she is on tapazole (1/2 tablet in a.m. and 1/2 tablet in evening). For a while I've noticed that she is losing weight (used to be at 16 lbs; then down to 11.0 lbs and now down to 8 lbs). The pooping started way before the thyroid problem was caught. She was on tapazole but scratched her eye brows out so I stopped it. Then pooping seemed to stop and then started up again so I took her back to the vet and about 3 weeks ago we started her bck on tapazole with the amounts below. She is due to go back to vet to check level again but I'm getting frustrating! She even pooped on my kitchen counters (which I was furious and disgusted). Help?
Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Answer
December 18 3:05 PM (29 minutes and 13 seconds later)
         
ACCEPTEDCheck Mark
Oftentimes cats with hyperthyroidism have trouble with not using the litter box because they produce a lot more poop more frequently. That is why she was doing it before the meds started - she had the hyperthyroidism (HT) but was just not diagnosed yet. This was a sign she was giving you that something wasn't right. The pooping stopped when the HT was starting to be controlled.
It is a known side effect of the Tapazole for some cats to tear up themselves around their head and face. Unfortunately she was one of them. The dose she is on now may not be sufficient to control the hyperthyroidism, but this will show on the follow-up blood tests. It may take some time for things to normalize if that dose is an adequate one for her. One thing that may help is to feed a very highly digestible diet that won't leave as much for waste. Also digestive enzymes and probiotics may help. Until she is controlled with the meds, you may want to keep her in one room of the house to prevent accidents. If she cannot tolerate the Tapazole at a level that is controlling her HT, you may want to consider radio-iodine therapy, which is a one-time curative treatment.
http://www.radiocat.com/section4.html

Holistic Wellness Care
Dr Andrea -- Veterinarian -- 100% Positive Feedback on 15 Cat Accepts
Veterinary practice for 18yrs, owner of 10+ cats, cat rescue, cat showing
Reply
December 19 8:46 AM (17 hours and 40 minutes and 27 seconds later)
         
If thyroid problem could cause excess pooping, why doesn't she got in the litter box. What causes them to go outside the box and all around the house? What is a very highly digestibel diet - can you suggest something? I have 3 other cats so I assume that they would need to eat the same since they eat out of the same bowl (dry food).
Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Answer
December 19 12:46 PM (4 hours and 25 seconds later)
         
REPLIEDCheck Mark
When these cats are hyperthyroid, they don't feel well, they have a greater bulk of stool and have to go more frequently - their metabolism is in overdrive and things just move out quickly. They may have trouble holding it to make it to the litterbox. Some older cats also have cognitive dysfunction syndrome, which is sort of like kitty Alzheimers, where box training may be affected. However, since your cat did respond to the medication the first time, I would suspect the pooping problem would be more related to the HT. Also 11yo is maybe on the young side for CDS but still possible.
What are you feeding now?

Holistic Wellness Care
Dr Andrea -- Veterinarian -- 100% Positive Feedback on 15 Cat Accepts
Veterinary practice for 18yrs, owner of 10+ cats, cat rescue, cat showing
Reply
December 19 12:54 PM (7 minutes and 40 seconds later)
         
Reply to Dr Andrea's Post: We are feeding them friskies dry.
Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Answer
December 19 1:23 PM (28 minutes and 45 seconds later)
         
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Dr Andrea -- Veterinarian -- 100% Positive Feedback on 15 Cat Accepts
Veterinary practice for 18yrs, owner of 10+ cats, cat rescue, cat showing
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