DESPERATE HOUSECATS

My cat Percy has hyperthyroidism. And she’s not alone. According to scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there is an epidemic of thyroid disease raging throughout America’s cat population. It's caused by exposure to toxic flame retardants found in many household products and some cat food.

Thyroid disease in cats was rare until the 1980s, when large amounts of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PDBEs) began to be used in the manufacture of products like electronics, furniture cushions, mattresses and the padding under carpets — you know, pretty much everything in your house. Cats in California were the first to come down with the disease in droves because our fair state has the strictest mandates for fire-retardant furniture.

What’s great for firemen, it turns out, is not so great for indoor felines who are exposed all day to the dust created by treated fabrics and appliances. Plus, if those cats are also being fed wet food made from fish, they are at even greater risk for this illness. That's because, like all toxic things, PCBEs flow gently to the sea to fuse with all life in their path.

Hyperthyroidism in cats is a serious condition that causes the animal’s heart to race ceaselessly. Left untreated, it leads to premature death. Symptoms include weight loss that occurs despite consistent feeding, agitation and changes in the cat’s voice. If kitty’s soothing little trill has changed to a nasty meowl, it’s time for a trip to the veterinarian.

While Americans love their pets to ridiculous excess and want them to live long, healthy lives, the real concern for the EPA is that household PDBEs pose a health danger to humans. These toxic chemicals have been building up in the environment, in wildlife, in the oceans and inside people’s bodies for several decades. If what has happened to cats, whose exposure has been higher than their owners’, relative to their size, correlates to the human condition — as the EPA fears — then we may yet be in for a heart-pounding, toxic surprise — one we can’t even blame on the Chinese.

Or can we?