Radioiodine therapy - your experiences

[Lizzie]

I found out today that Newcat (must,must think of a proper name for her), the senior Siamese I adopted last year from Purrfect Pals, has hyperthyroidism. The good news is that her kidneys are functioning well and her heart, though beating a little too quickly at present, is still strong. She is therefore a perfect patient for radioiodine therapy, what my vet calls "the gold standard" treatment for her disorder.

In a forum as large as this, with so many very experienced cat caretakers, I'm sure some of you have had to treat your cats for hyperthyroidism. Please advise. The only information I have on radioactive treatment comes from the web site of the center where the treatment would be done, so not unbiased.

When I've finally de-bugged my computer at home, I'll post pictures of her - if she will keep still long enough.

[K & L]

I've never had experience with this, but I think it's worth a try!

[catmandu]

I have never had to do taht with any of The Found Cats.
We wish you all the Best with Your Siamese,and we pray that All will turn out right.

[kb2yjx]

Our Miss BooBoo Kitty(at age 14 yrs) had the radioactive iodine done in June, 2001. She tolerated the procedure(and being away from home for a week)very well. In Sept. 2001, bloodwork was done and Boo was doing very nicley. Then in November, 2001, I noticed that Boo was not right.She refused to eat, was craving warmth, and sleeping too much. I took her to the vet.A "free" T4 was done. Boo had less than 0.4 of the thyroid circulating in her body, in other words, she had become HYPOthyroid. For the rest of her life, Boo got Soloxine 1/2 tab once a day. Boo lived for 3+yrs more, she died at the age of 16 1/2 yrs from the kidney disease. However, kidney disease sometimes comes out after the dx of hyperthyroidism, which happened to Boo. Our vet has had other cats that have had absolutey NO problems with the radioactive iodine, and I hope your kitty is lucky like those cats!!!! Sandra

[Laura's Babies]

Just wishing you luck with whatever you decide to do.

[boscibo]

My cat Bo had radioiodine done at 14 years of age in August of 2004. We tried the pills (tapezole) first, but he started losing fur on his face, and developed large pimples on his nose. Both of these happened after starting tapezole and stopped after I took him off tapezole, so they were related. Surgery was out for us after considering Bo's age and the fact that it could come back on the other side. So we decided to do radioiodine.

It is expensive, but figuring on $30 a month for tapezole over the life of the cat, the cost was justified. The vet who did Bo's procedure did an oral capsule instead of an injection. He required a quarantine for 12 days and that was by far the hardest part. This vet likes to release the cats without the handling and litter restrictions that a shorter stay would require, so that is why it was so long. Other places might have a shorter time they keep your cat, but I have heard when they come home you can only handle them 10 minutes out of every hour, keep children/pregnant women away form them, and take precautions with their (radioactive) litter. It was very hard on me; I missed Bo terribly. But after 12 days, I could snuggle with him, handle him all I wanted, and I only had to store his litter 3 weeks before I could dispose of it - not hard at all.

So now, nearly 2 years after, Bo is doing great! He went in with a slight heart murmur, but was given an echocardiogram first and it was determined to be OK for radioiodine. This vet had treated cats that were 20 years old, and since it is a non-surgical, non-invasive procedure (just boring for the cat), I felt it was the best choice.

I would not hesitate to have it done again if I had another hyperthyroid cat.

[Lizzie]

Thank you everyone for these really helpful histories. I need to hear about those that have done well, but also about cats that had problems since, as I said, the web site for the clinic doesn't mention those. It only mentions that some cats, a small percentage, need a second dose. The clinic which would treat Newcat uses an injection (though I will ask about the pill), and keep the cat for 3 days. I will need to keep her isolated at home for 2 weeks and can be in close contact with her for only 1 hour out of every 24 during that time. I have to use clumping and flushable litter, or clumping litter that I bag and keep for 80 days before it can go in the trash.

I do worry about the isolation since, being Siamese, she gets stressed easily and doesn't take well to being shut up and alone. She has lost the weight she put on after I adopted her, and I don't want to see her lose more from stress. I will have to keep in mind that we are aiming for a better future.

I keep reminding myself that we are surrounded by radioactive stuff, but it still makes me a little nervous to think of having a "radioactive" cat in the house. She won't glow in the dark will she?

[kb2yjx]

That is true what the poster said about the isolation. Our Boo, after 5 days at "Radio Cat," was able to mingle with the rest of the cats. HOwever, the only thing we had to do was use the "S'Wheat" litter, it is prefered because it can go down the toilet, but was not liked by several of the other cats! All items that you send in with the cat, are not returned because of the radioactivity. You can send in special treats. I sent in chunky peanut butter and butter for Boo just in case she did not eat her regular food(I, too, worried about her being isolated, but the staff was great with her and played with her and cuddled her alot). And no, I do not remember Boo glowing in the dark(hee-hee!!). GOOD LUCK!!

[Lizzie]

I knew someone had mentioned using SWheatScoop litter after radioiodine treatment for their cat. However, when I mentioned using it to the clinic, they said I shouldn't since it doesn't clump properly. What litters do clump firmly and are flushable? Surely the heavy clumpers are clay-based and I don't want to try flushing that stuff.

If the treated cat is allowed to mix with the other cats, doesn't this go against the minimal close contact for two weeks rule? Also, that would mean all the litter from all the cats would have to be treated as radioactive. Doesn't that mean I would have to scoop all the litterboxes, seal it all up in a plastic bag and take it outside twice a day? I can't imagine flushing even that much SWheatScoop, let alone a clay clumping litter.

[Catsnclay]

I just looked up what hyperthyrodism is, because I wasn't really sure what it was, I was surprised because our Fluffy (age 16-ish) has almost all the symptoms! We just thought he was getting demanding and vocal in his old age, so I'm glad I read this thread. I am now going to make an appointment for Fluffy, and cross my fingers.

Here is the site that I went to, BTW this is a very good site to look up medical information for both cats & dogs:

http://www.vetinfo.com/cencyclopedia/cehyperthy.html

[boscibo]

I knew someone had mentioned using SWheatScoop litter after radioiodine treatment for their cat. However, when I mentioned using it to the clinic, they said I shouldn't since it doesn't clump properly. What litters do clump firmly and are flushable? Surely the heavy clumpers are clay-based and I don't want to try flushing that stuff.

If the treated cat is allowed to mix with the other cats, doesn't this go against the minimal close contact for two weeks rule? Also, that would mean all the litter from all the cats would have to be treated as radioactive. Doesn't that mean I would have to scoop all the litterboxes, seal it all up in a plastic bag and take it outside twice a day? I can't imagine flushing even that much SWheatScoop, let alone a clay clumping litter.

I was told not to scoop/flush at all. That was bad (the scooping part, at least) apparently. I used plastic litterbox liners and filled my litter boxes with a minimum of litter (just enough for the cats to cover) and threw them away every 2 days. What I did was take the whole thing of litter, liner and all, and placed them in the empty cartons (the plastic bins) the litter comes in, then duct taped those up and stuck them in my garage for the three weeks for storage. After three weeks it was OK for me to dispose of them with the normal trash. This was waht I was instructed to do with the litter - and yes, I handled all three of my cats' litter this way. No way am I flushing any sort of litter down my toilet - we have a temperamental enough plumbing system without cat litter going down it!

Since Bo was quarantined 12 days there wasn't an issue with my other cats getting close to him. So there are some advantages to the longer quarantine. My vet was great and called me every night with a Bo update. Some places have webcam remotes so you can see your kitty while he/she's quarantined!