Teddi's diagnosis

I mentioned a few days ago that I had to take another of my cats to the vet for some diagnostic tests. (See post for 22nd May.) Well, the results came back today and, as I'd kind of suspected, my Teddi has severe thyroid problems. A normal thyroid reading should be between 19 and 51. His is 320!! Fortunately, because I got suspicious and had it checked this early, it's been diagnosed before it could cause major kidney failure. A normal kidney reading is between 10 and 50; Teddi's is 55, which is not too bad yet. The goal now will be to regulate his thyroid before it can cause further damage to the kidneys. So he'll be on thyroid medication (little pills) for a while, as well as something to protect his kidney function. The good news is that, unlike diabetes (his sugar reading was normal) thyroid issues don't tend to be genetic, and so I don't need to be concerned that Tobi might have it too. Feline thyroid problems can sometimes go into remission after less than a year on medication, or they can end up needing lifelong medication.

If he doesn't go into remission, it has some implications for the future: apart from the fact that there would be a financial cost in giving daily medication to a cat, it presents the challenge of someone else needing to give him his pills whenever I travel. Fortunately, he's fairly easy to trick into taking a pill if it's hidden in a little bit of a treat. Not like Tamba who always discovered it and spat it out.. . or Tobi who wails as if you're trying to strangle her. I gave him the first one when I got home from the vet tonight and he ate it no problem. After a month, they'll do another blood test to see if he needs a stronger or weaker dose. 

If he doesn't respond quickly to the medication, it presents me with a dilemma. It seems villainous to "kill" a cat that has never been ill a single day in his life and who is just as happy, friendly and eager to learn tricks as he has always been. The only sign of anything amiss is his strangely greasy fur; otherwise he's just as normal as ever. But I'm heading off to Africa for the summer, and would be dependent on my house sitters feeding and caring for him. Here's hoping he responds well and that I'm not faced with a hard decision before I leave.