My dogs would continue eating until the food ran out or until they exploded, whichever comes first. I don't generally recommend free feeding dogs and cats for a couple of reasons. One is that it is very difficult to monitor how much an animal is eating if the bowl is being constantly refilled (depends on how you free-feed). So if the animal goes off feed due to illness, it isn't immediately apparent, which can cause delays in treatment sometimes with devestating effects. When my B'Elanna didn't gobble her dinner up one night, I rushed her to the emergency center- her stomach had perforated. If I was free-feeding, I might not have noticed and she may have died in pain. She still didn't make it despite treatment, but she wasn't in pain. The second reason is that many animals do not self-regulate their weight very well (me included). Some do, which is great, but many people who free feed their pets have a hard time keeping them in top condition. It gets worse as the animal ages because their metabolism slows down but not their appetite (same with me unfortunately). Third, as animals age they often develop chronic conditions such as osteoarthritis that require medication to be taken with food or just after a meal. It is impossible to do that if free-feeding, and most animals that have been free-fed all of their lives are very reluctant to go onto a schedule. Fourth, I train my dogs with the Nothing in Life is Free Program. If they want food, they have to sit quietly next to their bowls and wait for me to prepare and deliver their meal at the proper time. My dogs therefore never beg, bark, or act like lunatics during feeding time, which is pretty impressive with 2 Huskies, a Rottie, and a Lab. Of course, many people successfully free feed their pets without any problems at all, which is great.

In answer to the orginal post question, an 8 year old cat with symptoms of throid issues is fairly common. Cats are living longer and now have diseases associated with age. You need to start thinking of a treatment route or your cat will not survive this disease. It's also uncomfortable for the cat to have a constantly racing heart, constipation issues and the other associated aspects. Treatment is either daily pills (methamazole, ie: tapazole) or radioactive iodine treatment (one time and its cured). My recommendation would be the radioactive iodine. If money is the issue, treat with pills and save the money until you can pay for the iodine treatment. Untreated thyroid disease --and even long term treatment with Methamazole -- progresses to kidney failure, enlarged heart (cardiomyopathy) and ultimately thrombosis problems - all of which will eventually kill your cat. Regarding a diet for a cat who is in kidney failure, the cat needs to be on a LOW protein diet - which eliminates 99% of all store brand cat food. If you continue to feed protein enriched foods to your cat, you are effectively killing him/her quickly. The main food of choice is K/D by Prescriptives (Hills brand and NOT on the recall list). Your cat will feel 100% better by eating the right food for this illness. Also, if you can, switch the water to DISTILLED water - definitely not tap water. Kidney disease is also a terminal illness, but if you treat it effectively, your cat will live a pleasant life for the time they have remaining. I know from experience as my 18yr old cat has both of these issues, but is content and doing very well.

Hi cat mom, got your email, thanks. There are such things as innocent murmurs, where we can't find a cause. But without doing an echocardiogram there is no way to tell if the murmur is innocent or not. Cats tend to get certain diseases such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which can cause murmurs. This disease gets progressively worse and may eventually lead to heart failure. It can be treated though. Of course, it's impossible to treat a disease if you don't know it's there. There is no way to tell just by listening if there is a cause for the murmur or not. Many cats with HCM are stable for a long time, and their murmur doesn't get louder even though the disease is progressing. For some reason, cats get the short end of the veterinary stick. The AVMA just published the updated Pet Demographic Sourcebook and found that cats are less likely to see a vet, and people are less likely to spend as much money on a cat as a dog. In fact, the number of cats seeing vets just once a year has DECREASED while the number of cats as pets has INCREASED. I think that some vets are unintentionally supporting this trend by not recommending the same high quality of care as they would a dog, assuming people wouldn't do it anyway. Which of course is wrong. Also since your kitty doesn't seem to have any clinical signs of heart disease, sometimes vets don't recommend finding out what the murmur is. I don't think it is wrong to not investigate a murmur that isn't causing a problem, but I do think it is wrong for the vet to not offer it to you, especially since it could be caused by a treatable disease. Listening just isn't enough. IMHO of course!

Ugh...just returned from my regular vets' in order to get Sasha's files and ultrasounds, etc. for Wednesday's appt. with the oncologist. I reviewed my decision with my primary vet to go to a specialist. They still feel that surgery or euthanasia are the two options I am faced with. I reviewed the second set of ultrasounds with my vet. She noted that there appears to be a small tumor on a lymph node as well in addition to the large one on her intestines. Not good news at all. I'll tell you, I'm glad they can read those ultrasound pics, they seem pretty confusing to me. The kidneys look like tumors to me.... After leaving my vet, I'm feeling less sure about the specialist route now. I'm starting to feel like I'm fighting a losing battle. I am normally a very decisive person and feel like every hour I change my mind as to what to do for my cat. What I am struggling with is I don't want to put her through the ordeal of surgery--- only to then euthanize her. She's lost half her body weight in 3.5 weeks. I'd like to get a prognosis without having to have surgery. Is this even possible? My vet did 3 aspirations -- all showed necropic tissue which leaves the results indeterminant. Symptomatically, based on location of the tumor, lymphoma is the best guess. My vet feels that surgery is the only option left for treatment. Also, this specialist I have the appt. with on Wed. is the specialist my vet has been consulting with and who would perform the surgery. Ironically, last night and this morning, Sasha decided to begin eating again on her own. I got half a can of A/D into her. While it felt like a small victory, I have to remind myself that food will not cure her. I'm really struggling with this and feel more confused than ever.