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Hypothyroidism in cats – Symptoms and treatment

Like humans and dogs, cats also suffer from hypothyroidism, a disease caused by low thyroid function. It may be due to different causes but, the main problem is the decrease in hormone secretion thyroid These hormones when scarce will cause an imbalance in different functions of the organism of our cat.

In this article we will explain everything you need to know about the hypothyroidism in cats – Symptoms and treatments that as owner you can face to help your pussycat in his quality of life.

Feline hypothyroidism

As we have advanced in the introduction, it is a state of hypofunction of the thyroid which may be due to different causes and which will result in an insufficient amount of thyroid hormones.

The causes are varied but simple to understand. It can occur due to an alteration at any level of the Hypothalamus – Pituitary – Thyroid axis or vulgarly known as the regulatory axis. It may also be caused by a lack of thyroid development and in both cases it will be considered as Primary hypothyroidism. Here we can also include atrophy of the gland and / or tumors.

In the case of Secondary hypothyroidism We have a problem in the synthesis of thyroid hormones because there is a problem in the functioning of the hormones that control the thyroid gland. Thyroid hormones are amino acids with iodine that secretes the gland that produces them, being the only compounds that possess it. Therefore they have essential functions in the body such as:

  • Regulate homeostasis giving a good balance of the internal environment
  • Regulate body growth and development
  • Act in the synthesis and degradation of proteins and fats
  • Increase oxygen consumption
  • Regulate body temperature
  • Form vitamins from the carotenes
  • Essentials for the nervous system

Symptoms of hypothyroidism in cats

The symptoms that our cat can present when it suffers from this disease are mainly Weight gain and / or obesity without food changes. These are the so-called “warning signs” of the owners before something very simple to measure and observe. We will see other symptoms that may or may not accompany the disease:

  • Neurological alterations such as depression, confusion, stupor, intolerance to move, etc.
  • Dermatological disorders (although they are more common in dogs) lack of hair in areas, a lot of itching on the head and extremities, poor appearance of the coat, hyperpigmentation in areas, increased edema (like inflammation), seborrhea, etc.
  • Cardiac alterations as a decrease in heartbeat or alterations in the heart.
  • Neuromuscular signs as weakness, lack of desire to walk or play, atrophy of extremities at the muscular level.
  • Reproductive alterations such as longer jealousy, infertility, testicular atrophy almost disappearing from the scrotal sac, decreased sexual desire, etc.

Diagnosis

If our cat has any of the symptoms described in the previous section, we recommend making a visit to the vet to evaluate what is happening with our little one. There will be a general check with a blood test to evaluate the thyroid hormones and the corresponding biochemistry to see if it is accompanied by something else.

Treatments of hypothyroidism in cats

Once correctly diagnosed hypothyroidism in our feline should start with the treatments because, if not, could lead to cardiac injury and, sometimes, death.

We must know very well what type of hypothyroidism we will face to adapt the treatment. The synthetic hormone supplementation Sometimes it is the chosen way to regulate their levels in the blood. They are lifelong treatments, but there are natural ways that may help that we should not increase doses in a short time.

We can resort to Reiki to give it peace of mind and be able to regulate it as a living being, many people forget that these diseases can get worse and, these techniques, are ways to delay in advance early. With Homeopathy we can work from another plane. We will look for your basic medicine so that you feel as comfortable as possible with your illness and, on occasion, we will achieve such wellbeing that instead of increasing the dose of synthetic hormones we will achieve, decrease them.

This article is merely informative, in .com we do not have the faculty to prescribe veterinary treatments or make any kind of diagnosis. We invite you to take your pet to the veterinarian in case of any type of condition or discomfort.

If you want to read more articles similar to Hypothyroidism in cats – Symptoms and treatment, we recommend that you enter in our section of Other health problems.

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