My cat Bo is hyperthyroid, he has been on the pills almost a month. The bad news is, after doing well on them, he started vomiting this weekend.

I ruled out surgery because of his age (14) and the fact that my vet said if they get one side, the same problem often comes back on the other side. Plus, the surgery runs about $450, and radioiodine is $900. I would rather have one shot take care of it forever than putting my cat through surgery and having the chance that it may come back. I have been seriously considering the radioiodine treatment, but like you I have qualms about letting him go somewhere for a week. That is so much time to be separated, and in some cases they want you to limit contact with the cat afterwards for a week or two.

However, I joined a list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hypertoptions/

One of the people on the list had the radioiodine done on her cat and she said she dropped him off on a Tuesday, and he was back on Thursday - with no special instructions not to cuddle. You just have to handle the litter carefully for a few weeks after, you can't dispose of it with your normal trash. I think you have to flush it.