My cat has hyperthyroidism! Radioactive iodine?

[JustMe]

Please share any experiences or info you have.

According to my vet, my choices are to give a medicine that costs $25/mo and requires periodic bloodwork for the rest of her life--she is 10--or to have a procedure done with radioactive iodine. This will cure her, but costs over $900. Honestly, the 2nd option seems better to me, not that I have money to throw around, but my cat is only 10, so hopefully I would save a lot of money in the longrun?

So, I looked at the website of the local clinic that does this and it scared me. Poor kitty would have to be there 4 days..and then we can only have about 1 hr of time with her a day for the first 2 weeks she comes home (I think, I read through it quickly). Yikes, poor kitty! Poor us! And is this really safe for my kids!

I want to do the right thing for my kitty who I (somewhat jokingly) call my good child. She is so sweet, well-behaved, etc.

Thanks for any input!

[Indianamom2]

Our 13 year old cat has hyperthyroidism as well. At her age, we opted not to do the surgery because she already gets dangerously stressed just having to go to the vet (requires sedation for even a routine exam/gets extremely violent with the staff...I think they're a little scared of her!). We opted for the meds and she took them well for about 2 weeks, then, as she started to mellow and feel better, she got wise to the fact that we were trying to sneak meds into her and refused from then on no matter what we tried. So, I'm not much help but I am in the same boat. Our cat is so skinny and always hungry (digging through the trash and almost stealing food out of your hand) yet I don't think she would survive the surgery. It's sad, but not sure what else to do. Good luck!

[kdeunc]

My 13 year old cat is hyper as well. We opted for the pills. The nearest location to do the radio. treatment is 2 hours away and we were quoted a longer period of separation (couple of weeks) and about twice the cost you were. We have been able to be pretty successful with the meds by putting it in a piece of wet food but like the previous poster, when the cat starts getting back to "normal" his appetite decreases and he is less likely to take the pill every time.

If the cost had been $900 and the cat 10 instead of 13 I may have chosen the 1 time treatment. Best of luck. These furry kids can make you crazy! :)

[JustMe]

Thanks for the replies! Since you are both having trouble with meds, I wanted to share that my vet told me they now have a medicine that is in the form of a gel that you can put on the cat's ear--no pills. Maybe that would help you?

Anyway, keep the replies coming!

[kdeunc]

Thanks! I actually opted out of the gel because of having little kids in the house. Funny though because now the same cat is also on an anti-anxiety/depression drug that I do have compounded into a gel. It is much easier than a pill and I figure if I absorb a little maybe it will help me too.:D

It is really a good thing I love this cat! I haven't even mentioned his severe food allergies and special diet yet! :)

[BunnyBee]

We had it done with 2 cats when they were 12 and 14. We tried meds for a couple of years. We even tried the transdermal cream. The restrictions were even more severe with us. We set up a kitty condo in the dining room (only unused room) in front of a window and had 10 minutes twice a day with them. The litter we had to keep in a metal can in the garage for 28? days until we could trash it normally.

Our kitties came through beautifully! It was the best decision for us. The oldest is now almost 20, and our vet always jokes that she's going to outlive him. :)

Good luck!

[cntrymoon2]

We do the generic pill (methimazole). It's available extremely cheap online from Dr. Fosters and Smith, your vet has to write or call in a prescription.

I also wanted to add that I have had cats for years and I've never thought to sneak a pill to them- it never occurred to me that people tried this! We've always just wrapped up pills in a 1/2 a pill pocket and held the cat, opened their mouth and shoved it down their throat. Some tolerate it better than others, but they ALL deal with it and get their medicine.

I've also had veterinary medicines compounded before by a compounding pharmacist for humans (most of them will do vet meds too), and they even added a fish flavor. But that was because we were trying to get the strength right for a very small cat who was taking Viagra (Yes, for real!) for pulmonary hypertension. If a pill form is available, we just shove it in a pill pocket and push it on the back of their tongue.

[BunnyBee]

We do the generic pill (methimazole). It's available extremely cheap online from Dr. Fosters and Smith, your vet has to write or call in a prescription.

I also wanted to add that I have had cats for years and I've never thought to sneak a pill to them- it never occurred to me that people tried this! We've always just wrapped up pills in a 1/2 a pill pocket and held the cat, opened their mouth and shoved it down their throat. Some tolerate it better than others, but they ALL deal with it and get their medicine.

My cats tolerated pills without anything for a bit. Then one started fighting it. Biting, scratching, peeing... And this was a cat who has never so much as blinked grumpily at me otherwise. We tried Pill Pockets. That worked for a couple of days. Then the cat would vomit up everything. Then we tried hiding the pills in wet food. The cat would eat around it or spit it out. Then we tried the transdermal application... All the while we had to keep getting monthly T4 blood tests to see if we were getting anything down. The cat had gotten down to under 6 pounds from a healthy weight of nearly 13. I really wish we had irradiated both cats from the very beginning.

[rfeibelm]

Ask your vet about Hill's y/d. Its a new prescription diet very low in iodine. It is used as the sole treatment for hyperthyroidism. Very useful if there is only one cat in the household!

[BabyBearsMom]

I know this isn't funny, but when I read the title of the post I thought "You know you are a BBB mommy when you get your cat's thyroid tested."

Sorry you are dealing with this and good luck

[JustMe]

I know this isn't funny, but when I read the title of the post I thought "You know you are a BBB mommy when you get your cat's thyroid tested."

Sorry you are dealing with this and good luck

LOL!!! I get it! To my defense she has lost lots of weight for unexplained reasons, but yes I get it.

Anyway, about the restrictions after the radiation tx, I have no garage, no unused rooms, etc. Sigh. We do have 2 bathrooms, so I guess she could be set up in one of those, but they are both really, really small..and one also has the washer and dryer and the other has the only shower.

Sigh, may need to think about going the medication route. Very interested in learning about the diet..I will ask my vet...but we do have another cat?

[123LuckyMom]

We did it with our kitty. It was frightening to me, because I was pregnant. We actually had our kitty stay with my mom for a week of the two week post recovery period just to make sure I wouldn't be exposed to the radiation. Oddly enough, my mother had this treatment, too! It worked well for her and for the cat.

It was a pretty expensive affair, $1300, I think. It was worth it to us, though, because my kitty was a terrible pill taker. Her quality of life (and mine) would have been greatly affected by daily pill taking. In the end, my kitty passed away of a cardio-pulmonary issue a year later. My husband mentioned something about her thyroid treatment possibly having contributed to her death, but I didn't listen, because the idea made me so upset! Make sure you ask your vet about that. I think it is not the case, though, and the two issues were unrelated.