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TAMPA - Chemicals in your carpeting could be killing your cat. In August,
the federal government's Environmental Protection Agency shared some scary
news: research scientists had found a link between flame-retardant chemicals
included in carpet-production and feline hyperthyroidism.

FOX 13 in Tampa Bay decided to dig deeper and get more information for
cat-owners locally from Tampa's Florida Veterinary Specialists.

"It's a disease that wasn't diagnosed with any frequency 30 years ago, but
is actually more and more diagnosed now," Dr. Anthony Ishak explained, a
veterinarian and small animal internist at FVS.

Co-worker Cari Sadler seconded, "We see it all the time - all the time."
Government scientists studied whether or not chemicals in carpeting could be
a cause of the disease.

"Some of the flame retardants that have been so pervasive in the carpet
industry and in the furniture industry - for obvious reasons trying to
prevent house fires from getting out control - but those could have a role
in increasing the incidence of this disease," Ishak explained.

Sadler is also 'mom' to several cats at home. In an interview, she said two
of them suffer from the disease, which is the leading cause of death in cats
eight and older. She recalled what it was like when the cats got sick.

"I noticed an overnight weight-loss almost. I was feeling him - and I'm very
particular about watching my animals of course - working here even more so -
and one night I was petting him and I felt his hip bones," Sadler said.

Her cats lost weight from Feline Hyperthyroidism because the disease makes
cats' metabolisms speed up, due to an imbalance in their thyroid glands. The
increased metabolic activity can cause damage to their internal organs and
sometimes death.

But, there is some good news about Feline Hyperthyroidism. If your
veterinarian catches it early enough, it doesn't have to be a fatal disease.
In fact, it can be cured.

"It was probably more fatal before we had effective treatments for it,"
Ishak said. "So now that we do, it's becoming a less fatal disease."

He added that with just a blood test, any vet can diagnose Feline
Hyperthyroidism. The disease can be managed with pills or creams.

And, at Florida Veterinary Specialists, doctors have developed a new
treatment that actually eradicates the disease in most cases. It's a
radioactive Iodine treatment called I-181 treatment.

But to protect your cat in the first place, should you run around the house
pulling up the rug?

The FVS team told FOX 13 no, explaining that this latest research from the
federal government provides just one possible explanation of many.

And, Ishak continued, "They're already taking some steps in the human
population - eliminating some of these flame retardants from production -
from more recent stuff and shifting to other that we think might be safer."