Treatment Options – Dietary Iodine Restriction

Iodine is necessary for the proper functioning of the thyroid gland and the production of thyroid hormones.

In humans, dietary iodine is often restricted for 1 to 2 weeks before radioactive iodine scanning or treatment of well-differentiated thyroid cancer, where this has been shown to reduce urinary iodine measurements and increase radioactive iodine uptake.

Although there is preliminary evidence that dietary iodine restriction can produce euthyroidism in cats with naturally-occurring hyperthyroidism, cats consistently fed a low iodine diet may be predisposed to thyroid hyperplasia and goiter.

Dietary iodine restriction may be an option for cats that can be fed this type of diet exclusively. The long-term consequences of dietary iodine restriction at a cellular level in cats are not clear.