Sunday, January 20, 2013

A rare disease for a cat

Did you know? January is National Thyroid Awareness Month. And while we're sure its inception was aimed at raising awareness of human thyroid disease, that same disease is often found in our pets as well.
So we wanted to take this opportunity to take a closer look at it.

Thyroid disease varies a bit between cats and dogs, and what's common in dogs isn't necessarily so common in cats. There are two types of thyroid disease: hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) and hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid).

Gaby at 4 months
I'd already decided to write about this when I was contacted by our shelter with a video request: we have a special needs kitty, and coincidentally, she has hypothyroidism. The disease now had a face. An adorable, 4 month old kitten face.

Gaby is cuddly, energetic, sweet and feisty - and well on the road to health, thanks to an amazing veterinarian at Wayside.

Because of the great response we generated from the interview with Dr. Liu on Stiles, our Twisty Cat, she reached out to me and asked if I would do the same for Gaby.

Would I!

Dr. Liu does a far better job than I ever could of explaining this disease in this 5 minute video, so i'll let her do the heavy lifting. [Besides, she's holding a little fluff ball of adorableness while she talks, so what's not to love?]



I had no idea hypothyroidism is so rare - and it'll take a very special human who is committed to life-long medical care to give this little girl a good home. But we know she's going to win someone's heart over any day now!

***

UPDATE:
I just checked my email - and Dr. Liu had sent me a "stop the presses!" email...
Gaby's been adopted!

Tomorrow: Feline Hyperthyroidism




25 comments:

  1. We did not know cats could get thyroid problems. We I never you live and learn. Have a super Sunday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  2. We were familiar with hyperthyroidism in cats, but not hypo. That seems very unusual for such a young kitty. So glad she found a home.

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  3. That is great news that Gaby has been adopted.

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  4. I love the screen shot of Gaby in that video :)

    Congrats to Gaby's new owners, owning a cat with special needs really does forge a very special bond that has a very hard time being matched with out it.

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  5. I have read quite a bit on cats with hyperthyroidism but not so much on hypothyroidism. I'm really happy Gaby has been adopted!

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  6. Yay for Gaby for finding a forever home. We knew that humans get hypothyroidism, but didn't know it could affect kitties that FSA (feline service announcement) was very helpful.

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  7. YAy on the adoption. That is super news. The kitty before me here had hypothyroidism. She was about 10 they think when she was diagnosed. They were fortunate in that there was a medication available to rub in Misty's ear just two times a day. M had to wear rubber gloves so it wouldn't seep into her skin (he he -she has thyroid problems herself). But wearing gloves was a small price to pay and Misty when on to live a happy, healthy life until she developed kidney problems.

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  8. Who could pass her up?! What's a little pill between friends? Thanks for the information on hypothyroidism in cats too. I had heard it was rare while its opposite is really quite common. Genetic hypothyroidism is much more common in humans as I can attest and most members of my immediate family.

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  9. Thanx for sharing this with us... we didn't know that kitties could have that trouble. And Yea for little Gaby, we're glad she has a forever home!
    Harry, Dexter and Tipp

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  10. OMG!! Mizz bassie has been blogging about hyperthyroidism because her kitty has it!
    Great news about Gaby though!

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  11. Such a sweetheart. So glad she has found a home!

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  12. I have this on my to do list to write about too, but didn't know it was thyroid awareness month. Congratulations to Gaby! She's a cutie!

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  13. Hooray for such happy news about Gaby!

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  14. What a sweetie she is!!! We learned a lot from Dr. Lu's video. ...and we are SO THRILLED to read that Gabby has been adopted! YAY!!!
    xo

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  15. Sorry, Gaby...didn't mean to misspell your cute name.

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  16. We are glad she has been adopted. I know that hypothyroidism is extremely rare in cats, although in people not so rare! And dogs also get it.

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  17. Gaby is very cute! I am not surprised that she has already been adopted!

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  18. We have heard that hypothyroidism is rare in cats. We are so glad Gaby has been adopted. We hope she has a happy life.

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  19. What a little cutie! We so are glad she's found a home!

    Poor Faraday! We are sorry to hear he left his mother at a young age. We hope he was old enough to know how to be a cat. My sister rescued a 2 week old kitten from a German Shepherd. She "blurped" instead of meowed and didn't know how to clean herself. I would take my cat Attila, who loved all cats, over to visit and she learned from him.

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  20. Yay for Gaby. Our mom has hypothyroidism and takes daily medication for it.

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  21. Great news for Gaby and ty so much for this post!

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  22. We never knew cats could suffer from that. That is fantastic that Gaby got adopted..Way to go :) xx00xx

    Mollie and Alfie

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    1. Oh dear...we just heard the adopter is having second thoughts. Sweet little Gaby might be coming back to us...! Paws crossed that she finds a permanent forever home real soon!

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  23. Very informative video. Thank you!
    I am also glad that Gaby found a home.

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  24. Great information on hypothyroidism in cats.

    Oh, no, so sorry Gabby's adopter is having second thoughts. But better early on than later, when she's all settled in. Less traumatic for her that way. Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrs.

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