Natural meat foods as a replacement for explicit non-iodine foods?
My cat has an over-active, swollen thyroid, causing him to constantly be hungry, and frequent vomiting. So, out of four options - radiation treatment, surgery, daily tablets, or a changed diet - we chose to give him a changed diet, with no iodine which the thyroid needs to function apparently. However, the batch of non-iodine foods were usually not eaten by our cat, so instead a family member decided to give him 100% natural (packaged) meat food instead (which predictably were met with favour from our cat).
I, however, am concerned having read that meat may contain iodine (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7216884, www.healthboards.com/boards/thyroid-disorders/423636-iodine-meats.html), that it is not a suitable replacement and in fact may be contributing to the functioning of the thyroid.
So, can I safely be using natural meat food instead of prescribed non-iodine food?
(4)4 Comments
Sorted by latest first Latest Oldest Best
Diet management of iodine intake for your cat is going to be very difficult with food intended for human consumption. For one, much of that food has iodine in it either naturally or via addition. For example much of the salt we get is iodized precisely to help with thyroid issues in humans and it also occurs naturally in a number of meat products we consume.
If your vet is comfortable with the diet management being viable, then I think I would stick with the prescribed diet, but then you might want to gradually transition him to it rather than applying an abrupt change and while doing that transition use medication to control the thyroid until the diet transition is complete. I think you may find that model much more successful in the long run.
As an aside, there are surgical options as well as the radiation treatment Dan mentions. According to Merck, a thyroidectomy is effective in treatment and felines do not usually require a thyroxine supplement. You may want to raise that option (and get a cost) from your vet as well. Not all cats can be operated on, sedation can be a problem, but worth checking on.
"Natural meat" probably has enough iodine in it that you can't use it. Most mammals need good amounts of iodine and their body tissues (not just the thyroid) will have that... you would need to feed your cat something good which has had the iodine removed from it (not a cheap process and not foolproof either I'm sure some iodine still is present)
I'd advise you to think about radiation treatment again.
My opinion is that it is the safest and easiest option.
Titrating the thyroid (medicine) typically means a vastly shorter lifespan as the titration is seldom right.
Surgery has possible complications.
Iodine free diet is possible but hard to do (you have to always make sure they don't get iodine and that isn't easy).
The places that do radiation treatment, sure they rip you off but it is cheaper than surgery or (in the long run medicine), and it seems the safest and most surefire way of treating them problem. I've had two cats who were treated with radiation. I've known other cats treated in other ways and was not happy about those outcomes.
My cat is 20 yo and she absolutely hates the y/d food. I have been giving her chicken but I think she will have to go on the medication for now..
Science Hills now do a dry and wet food diet that is iodine-free, it's called y/d.
My oldest cat is 17 and has had thyroid problems for almost two years. How old is your cat?
Just recently, the vet advised that my cat be transferred from the vidalta tablets on to the Science Hills diet, but after some research I decided that I'd rather stick with what I know and what he knows. He has lost lots of weight recently. He eats lots of chicken and fish, which apparently are loaded with iodine (especially fish). If you attempt treating it by just an iodine-free diet, you will need to be ever so careful (advice from my vet).
Have you considered daily tablets? I have a prescription from the vet and buy them cheaper online. Hope you find something that suits your cat soon.
Terms of Use Privacy policy Contact About Cancellation policy © freshhoot.com2025 All Rights reserved.