This is a personal experience share. For any health concerns or questions about lab results, always consult your veterinarian!
My Orange Cat Has Hyperthyroidism! From “Noise Machine” to Diagnosis
My orange cat was always the family noise machine — and one day he was being so loud I started questioning my life choices. That’s when I discovered he had feline hyperthyroidism.
I Had No Idea Something Was Wrong
- He’d always been vocal. At night he’d demand back-pats before sleeping, and if I fell asleep mid-pat, he’d wake me up to keep going — a full “personal lullaby service.”
- When scooping the litter box, I noticed the clumps were getting huge. I told myself: “Hot weather, he drinks a lot — that’s normal.”
- Sometimes he looked a bit smaller, but he felt the same weight when I held him, so I let it go.
Then the Symptoms Got Too Obvious to Ignore…
He started drooling, so I figured it was a dental issue and took him to the vet.
The vet weighed him — he’d lost over 1 kilogram!
His TT4 came back at 6.1. The vet diagnosed hyperthyroidism on the spot.
All the classic signs were there — increased appetite, increased urination, increased vocalization, and weight loss. He had every one.
Why Hyperthyroidism Can’t Be Ignored
Feline hyperthyroidism is usually a benign overgrowth of the thyroid gland. But the dangerous thing is that it can mask kidney disease.
Hyperthyroidism increases cardiac output, making kidney function appear normal on bloodwork. Once you start treating the thyroid, the hidden kidney problems can surface.
My vet recommended starting with medication to control the hyperthyroidism while closely monitoring kidney function.
What I Learned
Daily records matter so much.
If you keep notes consistently, you have data to compare when something goes wrong:
- Weight changes
- Water intake
- Urine output (size of litter clumps)
- Frequency and changes in vocalization
- Grooming behavior changes
If I’d noticed the weight loss earlier, I might have caught this before it got so serious.
Daily Tracking Tutorial: Use Micords to Stay on Top of Every Change
Stay ahead of subtle changes with daily records.
- Open the Daily Log tab, tap the ”+” button in the bottom right
- Choose the record type: Food / Water / Bathroom / Weight
- Fill in amount and notes
(e.g., “Poor appetite today, large litter clump, more vocal than usual, ~150ml water”) - Tap Save
Tip:
Keep records every day, and the “Health Trend” chart on the home screen will automatically generate graphs — giving you a clear view of weight, water intake, and urine trends so you can spot early anomalies faster.