Household chemicals may be causing cat disease (thyroid disease)

[Kadie]

Household chemicals may be causing cat disease
By Julie Steenhuysen
31 minutes ago


CHICAGO (Reuters) - Common flame retardants meant to keep families safe from fire may be contributing to a rash of thyroid disease in household cats, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

They said polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs -- used in televisions, carpeting, furniture and mattresses -- were found in especially high levels in cats with hyperthyroidism, one of the most common and deadly diseases in older cats.

"We definitely found evidence that cats are being exposed to these compounds based on the level of compounds in their blood," said Janice Dye, a researcher with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, whose study appears in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Dye and colleagues now believe the chemicals may be linked with this common disease in cats.

more...http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070815/us_nm/cat_disease_dc_1;_ylt=Asj7ixCR42HRJH3ro0qbILzmWMcF



'Digit' the cat sits on an examination table below IV bags in a Mississauga veterinary clinic March 30, 2007. Common flame retardants meant to keep families safe from fire may be contributing to a rash of thyroid disease in household cats, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. (J.P. Moczulski/Reuters)

[Double T]

1. Interesting, thanks for the info.

If it is harming cats, then it is also harming dogs and humans.

[izzie]

2. Oh dear. I just put my old cat down and that was what she had.

I had kept her pretty happy for years with pills two times a day but she had a few 'fits' of some such thing and being old I had her put to 'sleep'. She was getting so ill I thought it was just the best thing to do. I sure hope our homes are not doing this to our pets. I am just so soft hearted about animals. I dearly miss her and got her from the pound and have had her for many many years.

[aquart]

4. How old was she?

[izzie]

7. I found her at the pound in 1994/5 around Christmas any how.

The pound guessed she was two but not sure. She had been found running around town but the vet said some one had cared for her and she had had a costly eye operation to save her eye, which is why I took her in the first place. Her eye was not just right and I knew she would be put down fast at the pound. She could see well enough but her eye just did not work normal like a cats eye. The vet said it had been saved so some one had spent a lot of money on her to save her before she got lost. She was really pretty young for my cats. My other ended up with no teeth and the vet said it was about the oldest cat she had ever seen. She was ill just once and that was it. The one I had before was over 18. All street cats and found some place and ended up with old soft hearted me. I now have three left. All from my children who could not care for them soooooooooooooooooooooooo

[aquart]

14. Well, judging by the age of the others...

Unless you made big changes in your routine, or redecorated, renovated, tried new products...I don't think it was your house.

Love the ages of your cats. We placed rescues for over 20 years, and age of previous cats was always one of our questions.

Something to remember: any rescue is living on borrowed time. A street cat has two years on average. Your cat may not have lived as long as the others, but she was loved, fed, cared for, and felt safe all the days you had her.

[izzie]

19. She was also an odd cat. She never got into things.

It was as if she did not have that part of being a cat. Very lady like and never wished to go out doors. For the first year she would hide if she heard a car or any one at the door so I guess she was some old lady's cat that just got out and never got over it. We made a good pair as she sat with me next to the PC or on my sofa or bed and all was just fine with the both or us. The vet thought she had a clot as her eye acted up with the third lid closing up on the eye that had been fixed so we just watched her as not a thing could be done and then a few years later she started with the 'fits' which the vet said were rare with cats. With ear trouble and all the rest of her problems, I felt it time to put her down. She is still missed by me. My mother and father taught me that once you take a animal in you are to care for it as a duty. I feel that way but a lot is just that I like them.

[aquart]

21. My cat won't go out. Won't go near the front door.

He's a rescue and it's clear he had bad times on the street. Also terrified of thunderstorms and just plain rain.

[izzie]

23. They are funny animals. I have one now that makes me a want

to run and hide under the bed. This cat is bossy, fresh, smart and into every thing plus is just on loan or so my daughter tells me. She is very small and may have a short man's hang up. I really get a kick out of this cat and my 'old girl' used to come out and sit in the middle of all the todo with these other three and just calm them all down. With her gone it is like hell on wheels with this little cat.

[Eurobabe]

5. just curious, how old was she

and did she lose alot of weight in her rear end? I am kind of worried about my almost 16 y/o cat, he is skin and bones in his behind area after years of being rotund. He sleeps alot, but seems to be happy and otherwise alert and healthy.

Sorry to hear about your dear kitty, I dread the day, believe me.

[izzie]

9. Yes she got very thin but put it on with the pills and held it.

She gave up washing and got weaker over the last two years but on the whole she was happy and a lot of company. My guess is she was 15 and for me sort of young. She acted like an old cat as she was not really as well as she could have been but I did all I could for her and had her in and out of vets for test etc. I took two of my sister's animals in when she did in 2001 and they are both gone now and then my two cats are gone but since then I have 3 more cats from my children. I am not sure if they are on loan or gifts but I sure do enjoy them. The older I get the harder it gets to have them died.

[Kadie]

10. So sorry about your kitty.

One of our cats had thyroid problems too. We lost her a couple of years ago.

:hug:

[izzie]

13. When you have an animal around as long as a child you sure

can miss them. I frankly have had few animals in my 70 plus years as they live so long. I really get to like them a lot after having them so many years.

[Kadie]

20. I know.

A couple of years ago I lost one of my cats, he was 17 years old. He was with me through so many ups in downs in my life. I couldn't believe the pain I felt when it was time to let him go.

[Eurobabe]

3. Yep, cats in the coal mine!

Poor things. (FWIW, I stopped using regular household cleaners when I got cats, now I only use natural products, Citra-Solv and Mrs. Meyers')

Figures, cats walk on the stuff and then lick themselves all over.

[Megahurtz]

6. They Won't Dare Admit That

these noxious Chemicals affect Humans the same way as well.

[soothsayer]

8. My GF has had two cats irradiated to cure them, and is likely to send

a couple more (siblings) who all have this problem. However, she's in less of a rush now that the recepionist alerted us to the dermal gel you can rub in the cat's ear instead of fighting it to take a pill.

She lives in a 200 year old farmhouse so I'm not sure if they're exposed to this sort of environmental hazard, tho.

[MzNov]

11. I stopped using industrial chemicals many years ago, never allow

smoking, buy natural cat foods. I have a 20-yr. old cat without thyroid disease, recently lost an 18-yr old cat, and have others between 13 and 16 y/o. So I've come to the conclusion that maybe there really is something to this "living without unnecessary chemicals" lifestyle. For humans too. The least one can do is keep the chemical cleaners OFF THE FLOORS for a start.

Mattresses are a well-known sea of toxic waste: pesticides; formaldhyde; flame retardants; you name it. Horrible for all living things. Organic bedding is expensive, but available!!

We can have spotless, clean homes without nasty cleaners.

Thanks for this article. :-)

:hi:

[City Lights]

12. My 15-year-old has been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism.

We pill her twice a day. She's very skinny. Her sides, near her back end, look caved in. She's always hungry and always thirsty, but she never gains any weight. And she's got the energy of a much younger cat.

[spooky3]

16. if she were younger

and you wanted to, you could try another approach. We did the radioactive iodine procedure with a 12 year old cat who had heart problems and hated pilling. He didn't like the hospital stay either, but it definitely worked for him. He lived 6+ years after that and didn't get really thin until the very end.

[Patchuli]

17. My 14 year old has a inflamed bowel syndrome

He got very skinny and got diarhhea. My regular vet just immediately wanted to do surgery but I got a second opinion. The new doctor thought I was correct in thinking it was IBD and not cancer. Storm's on prednisone and metrodiazole (sp?) and he's started to put weight back on. The new vet told me if it is cancer, we'd know because the meds would stop working. Now why in the world would I put a 14 year old through exploratory surgery?! Not only hell on him, but hell on our pocketbook. My old vet is a little too ready to do surgery, it seems...

[cascadiance]

18. I just got mine treated with radioactive iodine treatment...

I was really worried about her for a while when she couldn't keep anything down, and seemed to be accelerating the need for taking more pills, and went to the radioactive iodine treatment. She's going in for her checkup this weekend to make sure she isn't hypothroid from the treatment, but she seems to be doing pretty well now.

The problem I have is that since I gave her this treatment, my other cat just got diagnosed with what could be a cancerous tumor that was strangling his intestine the last two weeks. Had him operated on yesterday and got it removed and am trying to hope that the biopsy shows that it was benign next week. Thankfully it wasn't worse than it could be and he's still doing OK now.

Needless to say, I'm wishing that I'd bought pet insurance a couple of months ago. My wallet REALLY hurts now.

It's funny how your emotions flip. Earlier I was really worried about my hyperthyroid cat a lot and the other seemed relatively healthy. Then the last two weeks have been completely the opposite with the other one nearly having to be put down yesterday.

[Critters2]

15. I lost my Moses to hyperthyroidism in 1999

What a great cat!! Came to live with me in seminary, when another student in the house quit school and went home to Nebraska, abandoning him. He lived to just after his 19th birthday. Never sick a day in his life, until the diarrhea and weight loss started when he was 17.


I was sure some kind of chemical caused it, but didn't know what. Now, I use natural cleaners--vinegar and baking soda for most things, other safe products when necessary.

[Quantess]

22. One more kick for cat lovers.

meow.