cat with thyroid condition has other problems

by Jo Ann
(Wexford, PA)

My male cat has a thyroid condition and takes 5 mg. of methimazole a day. 1/2 of pill in morning and 1/2 in the evening and it has controlled his weight loss. He eats well and eliminates daily. When he first went on this medication, his fur fell out in chunks but grew back in. Now he is pulling his fur out. The areas are mainly on his rear upper back . On occasion he urinates outside of the litter box, but it's usually because it has not been cleaned out to his satisfaction. We change the litter once a week and clean the box daily. (we have two litter boxes because we have two cats). His feces has not been solid since we starting giving him Fancy Feast instead of dry cat food. He doesn't have diarrea and his feces has been tested by our vet . He does not have a parasite. He used to eat only dry cat food but when we changed to giving him Fancy Feast twice a day (morning and evening), his feces became more liquid. Now feces drips from his rear end on occasion. Our vet said because he is 14 1/2 years old, his muscles are not strong enough to hold the feces in. We've had his blood tested and nothing irregular showed up.

He looks alert but I'm concerned that he may be in pain. He makes a faint sound when moving and I'm wondering if he has arthritis.

Do you have any suggestions?

Answer by Kate
I am really sorry but not being a vet I feel that i should not comment on this as he is on medication which may or may not be causing these other problems.

Changing cat food can cause cats to suffer a tummy upset for a while until their system gets used to it, so this may be the cause of his recent toilet issues.

As for the fur loss this may be due to his medication, a skin allergy, a mite or even stress. To diagnose properly a vet should look at the area to see if there are signs of allergy etc.

If it were me I would speak to my vet again to see if his current condition and medication could be causing problems or not and if not have your cat looked at again.

I hope all is well again soon

best wishes Kate

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