Hyperthyroidism..

I, too, have a cat with hyperthyroidism and have recently been looking into the radioactive treatment. From what I've been told it's fairly safe and the success rate is good (depending on how bad the condition is). It can be somewhat expensive, for my cat it would be around $1150.00 but I think that this is a better alternative than having to try and give a reluctant cat pills every single day. In the long run I think it would be worse on him if he's up and down because of the odd missed dose. Shadow takes 7.5mg of Tapazol twice a day. Since it's going to take me a couple of months to get the money together I'm going to try a liquid version of the medication. My vet is checking to see if there is a transdermal which would be applied to the ear and absorbed through the skin.

Best of luck with your kitty!

Have you tried Pill Pockets? Some of my cats take meds this way. It is a soft treat that you put the pill inside and the cat eats the treat. One of my cats had his meds compounded at the Animal Pharmacy online. They did a good job and he ate them up. Another cat has her meds smashed and given in a bit of food or sour cream or baby food. It has to be rotated for her; she's a toughy.

I had a cat with a thyroid problem, but she was easy to pill and tapezol worked well for her. That was many years ago, so they may not have had the radiation then.

I highly recommend the I-131, especially if it can be done early in the disease. If it is done later (i.e. after the cat has been untreated or on Tapazole for years), it requires higher and often multiple rounds of radioiodine, so doing it early is definitely the best way to go. Unfortunately, I learned this lesson the hard way, as my Spot was untreated for who knows how long before I found him, and then on methimazole for several months before we tried the treatment. Unfortunately, he also had a heart condition that took him before we could see if the second dose would have cured him.

That said, I would still have the treatment done in a heartbeat if one of my current or future cats is diagnosed. In addition to being much easier to deal with than the pills, it is a cure rather than a treatment. With methimazole, the cat's levels still have a tendency to spike as the half life of the medicine tends to be pretty short. How often are you giving the pills? If it's not twice per day (either a quarter or half a tab), I would call the vet back and ask why. Twice per day dosing helps keep the T4 levels much more stable than once per day dosing.

Originally Posted by Tara & Rob

Plus, the medication (methimazole) costs $37 for a 15 day supply!

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I'm using the same medication that you are but that seems a bit high to me. I have 120 pills and I don't think they cost me more than $30 or $40. That being said I picked them up from a pharmacy where I get all of my prescriptions filled and they probably used my insurance to cover some of the cost. I'm not sure, though.

I would definitely look into getting it from a local pharmacy as well. The pharmacy I went to charged about $27 for a month's supply (usually 45 pills in Spot's case). Walgreen's sells 90 tabs for $36 and drugstore.com sells 90 for $31. You can get a written prescription from your vet to be filled at a normal, human pharmacy or ask your vet to call in the prescription to the pharmacy of your choice.

Unfortunately, I don't think they'd let you bring her home right away--they tend to be really strict and silly about the rules, even though humans get to go home the same day after receiving higher doses. There appear to be two places in South Carolina that do the I-131 treatment - Radiocat in Greenville and South Carolina Veterinary Internal Medicine (SCVIM) in Columbia.

The stay at SCVIM is between 5 and 7 days; cats are brought in on Tuesday and the treatment is done on Wednesday (http://www.scvim.com/Downloads/20074612725.PDF). The length of the stay depends on the cat--they measure the cat's level of radioactivity and when it reaches a certain level, they can go home (http://www.scvim.com/Downloads/200736858.pdf).

Radiocat's stay is about 3 to 5 days (probably depends on the state, as they are a chain). http://www.radiocat.com/index.htm

Regardless of the place, I would suggest bringing an old T-shirt that you don't care about (they can't return them) that smells like you to help her feel more comfortable. If she gets stressed being in the cage, ask whether they can put a cardboard box in there with her (I'd probably ask about this before deciding where to go). That way, she can hide and feel safer.