Fido or Fluffy may be lethargic. Or hyperactive. Eating less and gaining weight, or eating more and losing weight. Feeling cold. Feeling hot.The thyroid gland, which sits against the windpipe, could be responsible. Dogs aged two and up are at risk for developing hypothyroidism, a condition resulting from not enough thyroid hormone. Middle-aged and older cats may develop hyperthyroidism, which happens when too much thyroid hormone is produced. An overactive thyroid (hyper-) speeds up the metabolism and body processes, while an under active thyroid (hypo-) forces everything to slow down.

Hyperthyroidism in particular can be fatal if untreated. Treatment for hyperthyroidism reduces the amount of thyroid hormone, and for hypothyroidism, the treatment is to supplement thyroid hormone.

Signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism

Thyroid disease can look like some other health problems. Blood tests and a list of your pet’s symptoms will help your veterinarian diagnose the condition. Only a few of these symptoms may be present.

* Interpreting blood test results

T4 (thyroxine, or tetraiodothyronine) and T3 (triiodothyronine) are the main thyroid hormones. The level of one or both of these hormones is low in hypothyroidism and high in hyperthyroidism. Normal ranges for dogs are breed-specific. The normal level of T4 goes down for cats as they age, so a T4 level in the upper part of the normal range may be fine for a younger cat, but too high for an older cat.

TSH, or thyroid stimulating hormone, drives the thyroid gland to produce more T4 and T3. When it’s high, it’s working overtime to stimulate the thyroid, which indicates hypothyroidism. Often, though, it isn’t high even when hypothyroidism is present. A too-low TSH level means that the thyroid is producing more than enough hormone, and indicates hyperthyroidism.

Hypothyroidism in dogs is often caused by antibodies. Positive levels of antibodies may be present in hypothyroidism.

Your veterinarian will have preferred tests to do for dogs and cats. Sometimes further testing beyond the standard tests is necessary.

Treatment of canine hypothyroidism

Synthetic T4 hormone, given twice daily, is the standard treatment. Common brand names for dogs are Soloxine, Thyro-Tab, and Synthroid. Some dogs may do better on natural, desiccated thyroid containing both the T4 and T3 hormones; a common brand name is Armour.

After treatment is started for hypothyroidism, blood tests should be redone in about six weeks. Watch for symptoms to change. You may see the beginnings of improvement within in a week, while some problems may take months to improve. Treatment is for life.

Treatment of feline hyperthyroidism

Your veterinarian can help you choose between the three standard types of treatment. If your cat has kidney disease, the only option is medication, since the other two treatments may worsen kidney failure and are irreversible.

Look for changes in one to three weeks, and ask your veterinarian when to return for follow-up blood tests.

Radioactive iodine (I-131) treatment

When radioactive iodine is injected into a hyperthyroid cat, it destroys abnormal thyroid tissue, but it doesn’t harm the rest of the body.

Advantages:

• It cures feline hyperthyroidism in 90 percent or more of cases.
• It’s permanent.
• No surgery is required.

Disadvantages:

• Cats must be isolated at a special clinic for about one to two weeks after treatment.
• Cats must be kept away from small children and pregnant women for up to two weeks after they return home, and their litter box contents require special disposal during this period.
• Possible side effects are decreased renal function in cats with kidney disease, and hypothyroidism.
• It’s expensive.

Surgery to remove affected thyroid gland tissue (a thyroidectomy)

Advantages:

• It requires hospitalization for only one day, and not much follow-up care.
• It’s permanent.
• No isolation is required.

Disadvantages:

• It risks damage to the neighboring parathyroid glands.
• Hyperthyroidism may recur even after surgery.
• It’s expensive.

Antithyroid medication

Methimazole (brand name Tapazole) is the usual medication.

Advantages:

• Surgery or separation from your cat isn’t necessary.
• The initial cost isn’t high.
• It comes in pill, liquid, and gel form, so the dose is easy to titrate.

Disadvantages:

• It must be given two or three times daily for the rest of the cat’s life.
• It costs hundreds of dollars a year.
• If the cat has a thyroid tumor (the most common cause of feline hyperthyroidism), the tumor may continue to grow.
• Tapazole occasionally has (sometimes temporary) side effects, such as vomiting and appetite loss. Less common side effects include lethargy, hair loss, liver damage, anemia, bone marrow suppression, and decreased white blood cell counts.

Your role in treating your dog’s or cat’s thyroid condition

Your pets can’t describe how they’re feeling, so you’ll need to do this for them. Know the signs of both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism so that you’ll recognize them if your dog or cat is overtreated or undertreated. Regular blood tests will also help monitor your dog’s or cat’s thyroid condition.

With adequate treatment, you can expect your hypothyroid or hyperthyroid pets to live a normal, healthy life.

Cats and gardens go together like…well, it depends on who the garden is for. To cats, gardens are a little piece of heaven. Fresh soil makes a perfect litter box, and seedlings that get uprooted in the digging process are of no consequence to them. You may not want your cat in your garden, and if the cats in your garden aren’t your cats, you probably like having them there even less.The solution? Make your garden unattractive to cats, and give them a garden of their own.

A garden not for cats

You can build a fence around your garden, but cats can climb over most fences. Spraying water at cats usually (but not always) sends them in the opposite direction, but it works only when you’re there with hose in hand. Motion-activated sprinklers go into action when people as well as animals approach the garden.

Mothballs in the garden may deter cats, but they contain pesticides. At high levels, mothballs have been known to cause liver and kidney tumors in animals. Both paradichlorobenzene and naphthalene, the active ingredients, may be linked to cancer. Another problem is that children may mistake mothballs for candy and play with them, or ingest them.

Safer cat-deterrent garden strategies:

• Grow plants that cats don’t like the odor or texture of
• Sprinkle substances in the garden that deter cats
• Put objects in the garden bed that make it unappealing for cats to dig or sit

Some plants may also be toxic to animals. Lists of plants that are safe or poisonous for cats are at plants-and-your-cat.com and i-love-cats.com.

Websites and discussion forums about gardens and cats have lists of methods that people have found successful. You might not want to grow, sprinkle, or see all of these in your garden, and not all cats are repelled by all the items listed below. Citrus scents in particular deter only some cats. Boundary Cat & Dog repellent granules, on the other hand, are effective as well as cheap and attractive. A combination of techniques produces the best results.

We’ve compiled some of the methods, sorted by type:

* You may need to resprinkle these periodically, especially after rain.

A garden for cats

An outdoor garden area with everything that cats love may keep them away from your garden. For indoor cats, a smaller version with the following can be a windowsill cat garden:

• Loose soil (this is what cats are mainly interested in)
• Sand
• Small bark mulch
• Catnip: one type or various types
• Grass: regular grass that’s long enough to chew on, lemon grass, oat grass, sweetgrass, and wheat grass
• Jacob’s Ladder
• Cat Thyme (similar to catnip in how it affects cats)

The gardens of…

Peace. For both you and your feline friends. When they have a cat-friendly garden just for them, they may not even venture near your garden. If they do — once — they probably won’t return if you take steps to make it unfriendly to their sensitivities.