Radioactive iodine

[wwjdimp]

My 16y/o FIV+ fur baby (cat) is currently on Tapazole 2.5mg twice a day.
I'm thinking of trying the radioactive iodine for him. Bothers me terribly that he would be gone a week to 10 days !

Anybody else have experience with the RI (good and bad) ?

Since he's older plus the FIV status....not sure if I should put him
through it ! Need advice !

[Traci]

This question would best be addressed by a consult by your vet to the clinic nearest you who uses radioiodine in the clinic. With the FIV status, one must be careful, especially with a stressful event, radioiodine treatment could exacerbate the stress. Speak to your vet and consider a pro consult...

[itty]

My 13-year-old cat was diagnosed this week with hyperthyroidism. I'm taking her to the Univ. of Minnesota Vet Clinic on June 19 for radioactive iodine therapy. My local vet highly recommended it, as it has a 95%+ cure rate after a single injection and eliminates the need for lifelong medication. My cat isn't FIV+ though, so I don't know if this would be a good treatment for your cat. I pray that he does well, whatever you decide.

My cat is very anti-social with other animals and strangers, so it's going to be a lonely 10-14 days for her (and me!!), but I'm trying to be positive and think about her coming home cured. I really hope she's home by the long 4th of July weekend, especially since her birthday is July 5!

Good luck to you and your little guy!

[wwjdimp]

Good luck Itty with your baby's RI on 6/19 ! That's the hard part...having
your furbaby gone for 10 days ! Not sure if it's harder on them or us !!!

Please let me know how it goes. I'll be thinking of you both on the 19th !

[itty]

I took her to U of M today and am so sad. There's no life in the house without her here. They have a very nice clinic though. It's bigger than many people hospitals, with separate areas for Cardiology, Radiology, Oncology, etc. A vet student looked at her first and then a doctor saw her. Then we took her to Radiology because they wanted x-rays. They gave her sedation for the x-rays, so when I said goodbye to her, she had her eyes open but could barely move yet. Her eyes were all glossed over and she looked so pitiful. Now she just needs to behave herself tonight. They'll call me tomorrow to let me know if they're going to give her the radioactive iodine injection or not. If she doesn't behave and the vet techs are afraid of her, they can refuse to do the treatment because they don't want to get bit by a radioactive cat. I really hope she behaves, but I don't know. She did o.k. with the vet student, but she tried to snap at the doctor a couple of times. If she does get to stay, then I hope these next two weeks go by quickly.

[wwjdimp]

Did she have the radioactive iodine ? I know what you mean.
The hardest part is leaving your baby there for so long !

[itty]

U of M kept her that first night and ordered the dose of radioactive iodine, but then they called me the following afternoon and said they'd have to decline treatment because she wasn't cooperating. The vet tech told me that he couldn't even look at her and she'd attack the front of her cage! She's such a sweetie at home, but she turns into a little devil at the vet. I went and picked her up that night. Wow, was she ever happy to see me. She's always affectionate, but she really went nuts on the car ride home. I unzipped her carrier a little bit so I could reach in to pet her, and before I knew it she had jumped out and was in my lap, purring, meowing, and rubbing her face all over me. I had to pull over at the next exit so I could give her some attention without getting into an accident!

Anyway, this means that she will have to go on medication for the rest of her life. My local vet gave me three choices -- pills, liquid (comes in a dozen flavors), or transdermal gel that gets rubbed inside their ear. I chose the liquid (chicken pot pie flavor!) hoping she'd like the taste, but no deal. She hates it, so I have to squirt it in her mouth with a small syringe. She had some diarrhea and vomiting the first day, which is a potential side effect when they first start taking it, so I decreased her dose from 1.0 to 0.5 ml for now (it's methimazole 300 mg, twice daily). She's doing better at that dose.

Have you had any problems with Tapazole? Are they in pill form?

[wwjdimp]

Thanks for letting me know what happened with your baby, Itty.

My fur ball hates taking the pills. That's why I'm considering the
RI for him.

Is the dose of Tapazole, for your baby, really 30mg twice a day ? 300mg
seemed like a VERY HIGH Dose.

I know you're just glad to have your baby back home and from the
sound of it, he's VERY HAPPY to be back with his Momma !