The Peaceful Oasis

Important Announcement

The MSN Groups service will close in February 2009. You can move your group to Multiply, MSN’s partner for online groups. Learn More

i recently joined a yahoo group of people whos cats have hyperthyroidism (a member at another group i joined told me about it). the day i posted, i got an email from a vet tech (shes also going to vet school) telling me about something called radioiodine treatment. my vet had mentioned it, but at the time we figured medication was the best way.

sassy has been on the medication 8 months. last test results showed her liver is finally much improved (shes on another med for that), but in all this time, her thyroid levels are still way up, and the vet wants to up the dose. so far i havent, we are going to retest in a few weeks, since i skipped her dose two days in a row, which may have affected her test.

but shes not improving, and the medication shes on has long term risks. when this person first contacted me, i was pretty resistant at first. (it does sound very risky) what they do is inject radioactive iodine (it would be like getting a shot, just under the skin, and theres no anesthesia). hyperthyroidism in cats is almost always caused by thyroid tissue growing out of control (basically a tumour), the way the treatment works is the radioactive iodine is taken in by the diseased part of the thyroid, and destroyed, without damaging the healthy thyroid tissue. the risks are very slim (much less risk then the meds), but the big con is having her isolated and separated for 7 to 10 days (because of the radioactivity, they have to be at a certain level before they are deemed "safe" and released - although people getting the treatment are out the next day). the more hyperthyroid the cat, the longer the stay. i did find one place real close (the vet tech emailed me all the links). and the longest any cat has stayed there is 15 (shortest was 7, average is 10). ive been figuring that its no longer then the time i was away when i was on vacation. i hate thinking of her being in a strange place, but her lifespan is maybe another year or so without, and the cure rate for this is 95%, meaning chances are very good she wont need any more pills. shes always been healthy before this.

i have an appointment to take in a couple birds today, so will see her regular vet and will bring it up then. my mom is totally against it, she thinks its wrong to put Sassy through this; im thinking its worse not taking her in, and watching her suffer from heart, kidney, or liver problems (all painful ways to go). the vet tech who i have been talking to says shes has 3 cats who have gone through it (their owners didnt want to have the procedure, and she couldnt put them to sleep, so she took them in). one was 17(Sassy's age), and is now 22. average life on the med shes on is 2-3 years, none seem to make it 5 years. the only other con, is expense. its pretty pricey, although the meds, bloodwork, etc are more in the long run. i did an online search, and found several good stories and only a couple where the cats still had problems (from other old age issues).

sorry this is so long, im just going back and forth with this. sassy has always been healthy before all this, her liver problems have been because of the thyroid disease, her kidneys may already be being affected by the med shes on. shes fine otherwise, but there are some days she doesnt feel as good, because of the side effects.

update - i saw her vet today, and talked to her. she did write a refferal (she didnt need to, they would have seen Sassy without), so thats cool. shes worried about her kidneys though, so im hoping sassy can get in anyway. she seems to be doing ok now, so hopefully she will "qualify" i emailed the vet tech ive been talking to in florida, since she has seen this a lot (the vet hospital she works at is also set up for this sort of treatment) and she will probably know more, since she deals with it on a day to day basis. the place i will take her to has a website, and they will consider cats with health problems as long as they are stable.

this vet is so cool, she even appologised cause she didnt think she had mentioned this as an option, i think she was concerned money wise. i told her they take payments, luckily. but she was relieved when i said she had mentioned it, she was worried that she hadnt given me all the options. (why ive stayed with her for 18 years).

crossing fingers and saying lots of prayers

Sassy is racing around here somewhere flying up and down the stairs, shes not ACTING sick! since ive been home shes also eaten and gone outside to survey the weather, didnt like it, and returned back in. im sure she holds me solely responsible for the lack of sun and warmth!

Animals are like family,too.Hope and pray everything works out for Sassy,and you,too.Would also suggest, if the Vet allows it,that: you leave something with her for the time she will be isolated.Something she's familiar with like a pillow she lays on or a special toy.It does help during recuperation time.

My mom raised/trained german shepherds,and we had cats and other animals,too.Our *cat was in the hospital for 8 days after an accident,she left it's 'blanket' in the cage at the vets.*Ignatz healed alot faster than expected,he had three broken legs and internal injuries.My mom believes to this day having something of his kept him going when she couldn't be there for him.

Take care and God bless

wow, jannie, poor kitty! im glad he turned out ok. anything i leave when i take Sassy in wll be destroyed when she comes home (because of the radiation contamination). but im going to buy a few toys i know she will like, and find a t shirt so she will have something with my smell when shes in there. they arent allowed to handle the cats there, so its going to be isolation pretty much, hopefully this will be for no more then a week, then i can take some time off when she gets home. sucks, but the plus side is 95% success rate, no more meds, and she will be able to live the rest of her life fairly normal. there is a chance she will have kidney problems, not from the treatment, but because hyperthyroidism can mask underlying kidney problems, once its treated, that may crop up. but if thats the case, it will be caught early and she should be fine.

Veterinary Radiological Specialists of the Rockies

http://www.vrcc.com/radiology_practice_main.shtml

http://catiodine.com

Cost: $1000

Stays: 7-15 days (average 7)

this is probably where i will take Sassy, its the closest to us.

the vet tech from florida also gave me a link to a story that just blew me away, i think shes in colorado, so im going to email or call her.

"article by a holistic animal communicator/reiki practiotioner in Colorado. She went to CatSpecialists with her cat. At first she fought the idea of radioactivity naturally. Then wished she had done it sooner. http://www.healingpath.com/47JulAug2002/Animals.pdf "

i printed it up to show my mom (shes coming around i think, but very slowly) we are both wondering how Sassy would take isolation for that span of time.

there is the slightest chance of kidney problems cropping up after, hyperthyroidism actually helps the kidneys, its explained in one of the pages on the first link. smaller price to pay then heart failure though, which is a sure bet with meds or untreated.

i cant shake that article though....if i had been resisting still, that would have turned it all around for me..

i printed out that article for my mom, and she agrees now, which is cool (i was going to do this anyway, but always helps to know she doesnt think im just in a hypo mood to be thinking about this).

im going to make some calls in the next couple days, see what they need in regards to blood test results etc, find out if theres any forms i need to fill out, to make this go as smooth as possible. i want to do this while shes still relatively stable. Sassy isnt going to be thrilled about her stay, but she wont be sick at least while shes there, so basically for her itll be eating sleeping watching birds, and playing, lol. she should gain some weight, if she keeps eating well. im going to get her some toys for when shes there, and a blanket of some sort with home smells on it, so she will feel better, anything i bring in for her they will destroy after.. and im gonna take the soonest week i can get after she gets back, to make up for lost time, etc. it still beats her chances without the treatment, at least this way she can look forward to a few more (good) years with me (thats a good thing!

) but being separated from her is probably going to end up being harder on me (hoping so, anyway).

Important Announcement The MSN Groups service will close in February 2009. You can move your group to Multiply, MSN’s partner for online groups. Learn More
The Peaceful Oasis	[email protected]