Hi all, I know this is not really the right forum for this, but I think some of you mentioned before that you also have cats. My friends cat has been blood tested and diagnosed as hyperthyroid. The vet said the options were to control iodine (didn't know that iodine had anything to do with the thyroid till now?) with diet, to operate to remove the thyroid or to control with pills. As changing his diet seems the least invasive and probably the cheapest option they are going to try that for a month or two and then re test to see if there is any improvement.
The Vets suggest the Hills prescription diet, that seems to be very low protein, generally terrible ingredients and highly expensive. I raw feed my dogs so she was wondering about giving him hills dry (as he usually has kibble free access while she is at work) and replacing wet portion with a home prepared raw/meat diet. He has been terribly picky in the past when she's tried to offer him raw chicken etc and won't touch it, seems to love roast chicken, or any 'human' food though! So she is thinking of boiling chicken wings and picking the bones out and giving him the shredded meat and stock in sort of slop, (he has NO teeth) if he'll eat it. Anyway, the question is; does anyone know if any meats/bones are especially appropriate for low-iodine,or if any are known to be not ok? Or can you recommend a more appropriate cat place that we should be asking? any other ideas?

thanks!

Hyperthyroidism is very common in older cats; we have several on our client list. All are using drug therapy, either Vidalta or Felimazole, and their owners report they do very well.

Has your friend read this article?

I feed raw too for my dogs but my worry with the cat you are talking about is that is is very hard to change cats to raw and he would need to accept 100% raw if you werent going to medicate and you may need to add taurine. Not a problem but something to be aware of. Just seen the teeth bit so he may have aproblem with fully raw
I did some research on raw and hyperthyroid cats and cant really find a conclusion. My instinct would be either  to stay on the same with his food and use medication.
or perhaps see what he was like with raw not cooked but not use prescription diets but still use meds.
The research I did said ( more than one site that I looked at for you) that one problem with special commercial diets is that although they reduce iodine they tend to be high in carbs which the cat doesnt need and lower in protein which is the wrong way round. Personally I dont like dried food diets either if thats what the commercial diet food is.

Have no personal experience with hyperthyroidism, but the article JG has linked to mentions the important thing is a high quality diet mainly made up from meat, and when Googling I found other articles that also mentioned raw should be fine. Such as this:
http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/knowledgebase/knowledgebasedetail.aspx?articleid=74 I really would not cook the food. Having no teeth is no problem at all -either feed minces (PLENTY of bones ground into the Prize Choice chicken and lamb mince for instance -but beware, with too much bones you will get severe constipation so I found it is vital to also offer beef mince as that has the opposite effect, so I mix beef and chicken, then give some meals of lamb, some of chicken with liver etc) or use one of the compete raw diets that is minced blocks or nuggets (Natural Instinct or Natures Menu both do ones -not cheap though, but for ONE cat should be doable).  I've not yet come across a cat that will refuse the minces if offered nothing else, but for the really picky eater, far better than dry food or average cans are the Natures Menu pouches that are complete and with a very high meat content. Or Applaws cans or pouches, as they are of up to 99 % pure meat.

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">I've not yet come across a cat that will refuse the minces if offered nothing else, but for the really picky eater

Come here & I can show you several!!!

Ah but how long did you persevere for? With nothing else offered?

I had a cat with an over active thyroid and diabetes. I just fed her ordinary food and she lived happily for 3 years after diagnosis and died at the fairly respecable age of 16. The tablets and injections were a right old carry on though.

If its an older cat then I'm afraid I'd want the little fella feeling brighter and happier as soon as I could so I'd have to opt for pills. If he's on a diet he likes it seems harsh to change it and make him wait another couple of months to see if he had improved. A younger cat then time is on his side, but if older, well I'd have to keep him happy with what he knows and enjoys.

thanks everyone for your help, I've forwarded the links and advice. the article is interesting reading too, esp as I'm not really a cat person myself, didn't realise thyroid issues were so common in cats.