Hyperthyroidism

[fable]

Hi all I'm new, and had a question that I hope someone can answer.

My cat, Luna, was just recently diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. I noticed she started acting really odd by sleeping in places she never would before, and then she started losing weight, so I brought her to the vet and we found out she had hyperthyroidism.

I found out there's a place about an hour away that does the radioactive iodine treatment, and I'm completely willing to shell out a 1,000 dollars for my kitty (even though I'm a poor college student. ) But also I'm wondering if anyone here has ever had their cat go through that treatment before? And if so did you cat's behavior change back to the way it was? Also, were there any side effects?

I'm going to talk with the vet on Friday about all of this, but I thought it might be helpful to know some details from people who have had their cat go through this before.

Thanks.

 

[AbbysMom]

I decided to give my cat the meds instead of the treatment. The vet recommended the meds in our situation. Good luck with the treatment!

 

[miss mew]

Back in 1998 my 14 year old cat underwent the radio active treatment. All went well and she returned feeling 100%...there was alot of stuff on our end of things that we had to be cautious of but I'm so glad we did it..it gave her 6 more years of happy healthy living until she passed away last year of old age. If you'd like to feel free to PM me and I can answer any of your questions.

 

[hell603]

I have also know 3 cats that had radio active treatment with wonderful results!

 

[cdubbie]

How old is your cat?

My elderly cat had hyperthyroidism too....and the statistics of a likely death if she underwent the radioactive treatment was way too high. (not sure if it was due to age, or the stat is the same on any cat).

Please discuss this is detail with the vet.


We gave her the meds instead. Made it to age 22.

 

[cloud_shade]

Spot had the radioiodine treatment done in June. I was expecting wonderful things, but I have been disappointed in the facility where it was performed. One potential side effect is inappetance after the treatment. They did not warn me about that, but I was able to figure out that Spot wasn't eating soon enough to get that taken care of (I have two cats, or I would have noticed immediately that the food wasn't being eaten).

The other thing to be aware of is that if their thyroid level doesn't drop right away, they CAN go back on medication temporarily. Again, the facility didn't mention this until after Spot's thyroid levels had skyrocketed to enormous heights. He is back on medication for now and will probably be retreated (the facility does a second treatment for free if needed) once he puts some of the weight back on.

I would make sure that when you choose a facility you find one with good communication. If they don't respond to your emails or answer your questions to your satisifaction, keep looking.

You may want to join the Yahoo! group "feline-hyperT". There are people there from around the world, so they may have experience with some of the clinics that you may be considering.

 

[fable]

Originally Posted by CDubbie

How old is your cat?

My elderly cat had hyperthyroidism too....and the statistics of a likely death if she underwent the radioactive treatment was way too high. (not sure if it was due to age, or the stat is the same on any cat).

Please discuss this is detail with the vet.


We gave her the meds instead. Made it to age 22.

She's only 9, and has no problems other then this. I read that with older cats the treatment becomes risky, so I figure we should get this done as soon as possible before anything gets worse. Plus, I don't think she'd enjoy taking meds everyday, and I may loose a finger or two in the process. :]

Thank you all so much for the feedback. I had no idea about the lack of eatting, or that the treatment could fail. But if the vet gives the okay, then I'm going to get this done for her. She's just too young to for me to put her on meds, and I want her back to her temperamental-self as soon as possible.

 

[shambelle]

Originally Posted by Fable

She's only 9, and has no problems other then this. I read that with older cats the treatment becomes risky, so I figure we should get this done as soon as possible before anything gets worse. Plus, I don't think she'd enjoy taking meds everyday, and I may loose a finger or two in the process. :]

Thank you all so much for the feedback. I had no idea about the lack of eatting, or that the treatment could fail. But if the vet gives the okay, then I'm going to get this done for her. She's just too young to for me to put her on meds, and I want her back to her temperamental-self as soon as possible.

from one poor student to another...

my PJ is around 11-12, and the vet mentioned the treatment as an option. However, he first wanted us to do a medication trial. We put the medication as a gel in her ears (PJ is the worst cat to pill), and she has done wonderfully on it. He tested her 1 month, 2 months, and now she'll be going in for 6 months post-medication start. He also said that sometimes, hyperthyroidism in older cats masks kidney problems, so he felt the medication trial and testing for kidney function was the way to go before spending so much on radiation only to find out that she's got something else wrong.

The medication is $45 for 2 months supply - partly because we get it specially compounded into the ear gel. To me, that's worthwhile until I have more than enough $ to pay for the radiation.

Just in case you need to consider something a little less expensive for a bit, the medication has been good to PJ!

 

[pat]

Originally Posted by shambelle

He also said that sometimes, hyperthyroidism in older cats masks kidney problems, so he felt the medication trial and testing for kidney function was the way to go before spending so much on radiation only to find out that she's got something else wrong.

This was the one point i wanted to make, a few of the folks on my feline chronic renal failure group are those whose kitties had this treatment for their hyperthyroidism, and went on to develop crf. Sometimes the fact that there is an early issue with the kidneys is masked by the hyperthyroidism and not picked up by pre-treatment testing, you just need to be aware of what to look for post treatment. Best site I know on the web for crf is www.felinecrf.org