What Duffy was hiding

Duffy the 13-year-old Chinchilla cross cat came to see Dr Nikki at our Pukekohe branch because her owner felt something just wasn’t quite right. She seemed a bit more demanding for food, a bit funny when other people came round to the house and was losing weight, which given she was on a weight loss program was expected but it seemed a lot all of a sudden.

When she came into the clinic it was found she had lost 1.7kg! we also found that her heart rate was also very high.

Because there are a number of different causes for weight loss in cats, blood tests were taken and it was found that Duffy was suffering from hyperthyroidism, a condition by which there is an increase in thyroid hormone production. Thyroid hormone regulates our metabolism so in these cats their metabolism greatly increases so they become very hungry and lose weight despite wanting more food. It can also cause behaviour changes and the increase in metabolism causes the heart rate to increase.

Duffy was prescribed medication to reduce the production of thyroid hormone and 3 weeks later she was back for a recheck. In the 3 weeks, she had put on 700g and her owner says she is a lot more settled at home. Duffy’s owner is very happy with her progress and that she is now a much happier cat.