I-131 Treatment For Hyperthyroid Cat

[silkenpaw]

sent the scary handout they gave us to my best friend who is an environmental engineer in our state. She had a really good laugh about it.

I did something similar and also got a laugh. We isolated Surfeit for a couple of days, just in case anyone was checking the garbage with a Geiger counter. (Come to think of it, I don't remember what we did with that litter box). Then he got to be with us and the other cats. He hated being isolated. His T4 was perfect several months after the treatment. He also didn't tolerate methimazole, his liver was being damaged by it, so there really wasn't a choice in his case.

It's not true that you can't destroy normal thyroid tissue with I-131. We know that because it happened after atomic bomb explosions and after the accident at Chernobyl. But the dose of I-131 given is based on the estimated size of the abnormal thyroid adenoma tissue (calculated from the thyroid hormone levels) and is usually pretty accurate. As mentioned above, the rare patient needs to be re-treated and an even rarer patient ends up with thyroid insufficiency and needs to receive thyroid supplements. But, as Antonio65 mentioned, thyroid supplements do not cause the complications associated with methimazole, so they are less objectionable.

 

[Daisy6]

The complaints about methimazole I am reading here make me wonder why there are not safer drugs to control HT in cats who are ineigible for I-131 or must wait a long time for it.

 

[silkenpaw]

Daisy6 There is a bit of discussion about that here. Apparently, no good alternatives in the US.

 

[chris gadbois]

Onyx's vet happened to be on vacation at her 1st diagnosis. So I had to use one of her vet co-workers for the appt. He prescribed her the pills without even telling me the options. He made it sound 'as if' she had to do the pills 1st to establish the other blood values. I now know that is not true and I could have skipped the pills all together and opted for the I-131 straight away. (This would not have changed her appt date though).

I intend to use the flushable litter for 2 weeks and then use this as an opportunity to get a new litter box for the girls.

So no one has any advise on how to ease her discomfort while we wait (17 days) for the I-131 ?

Just took this pic -

 

[susanm9006]

About twelve years ago one of my cats had the radioactive treatment.The medication made my Murphy severely nauseous so we went to the radioactive treatment option pretty quickly. But before treating her they had to get her blood pressure and heart issues related to being hypothyroid under control. Then she went away to “camp” two weeks for the treatment and to wait out the radioactivity. I think when she came home it was another two weeks of special handling of her litter. Afterwards no side effects and a complete cure. Because of the heart stuff I think the total was somewhere over $3000

 

[Daisy6]

I remember being extremely anxious about not having my cat for two weeks. The vet who did it told me all three cats could share litterboxes but I needed gloves to clean them. As for the price, the radiation itself was cost under $2,000 but all that other stuff added on (including boarding) bloated the total.

 

[silkenpaw]

Onyx is such a lovely cat! Beautiful eyes. Is she a grey flannel cat? (That’s a grey tuxedo cat). I don’t know of anything you can do for her thyroid before the I-131 treatment, just spoil her (as I’m sure you always do, anyway). Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

[Daisy6]

LOL I love spoiling cats. If Onyx is acting normal and not having litterbox issues, I would not want ot shove pills down her throat for two weeks.

 

[chris gadbois]

Onyx is such a lovely cat! Beautiful eyes. Is she a grey flannel cat? (That’s a grey tuxedo cat).

I'm not sure of her breed...Maine Coon mix. She is little (9-10lbs) and a super fluffball. Somebody dumped this beautiful girl off at the pound, she was so scared.... I knew I had to take her. She hid under my couch for two weeks until she decided to come out and say hi. Now she follows me from room to room, sleeps on my neck nightly and is the biggest sweetheart cat I have EVER had.
I can't wait for this to be behind us so I can fatten her up again.

 

[Antonio65]

So no one has any advise on how to ease her discomfort while we wait (17 days) for the I-131 ?

Well, I'd say that 17 days isn't a long time to wait.
And anyway you should take the meds off 5-7 days before the I-131 treatment, so actually it's just 10 days.
Tell the staff at the radio-iodine facility that Onyx is off-med for this long time, so that they can calibrate the dosage.

P.S.: You have an Italian bike

 

[Antonio65]

Radioactive iodine has a fast half life. She assured us by the time our cat left the 2 days in quarantine, she'd have no more radiation than a person would get from flying across the country. In other words, it's not dangerous. And since the radiation was safe for her (there is no higher death or cancer rate for cats that receive i-131) we knew that after her short hospital stay, she could also be around our other cats with no worries.

I did the same thing.
Pallina stayed with us, living her usual life, curling up next to me or on my lap from day one after discharging from the clinic, that was 3 days after treatment.
I thought that if it wasn't harmful or dangerous for her that was carrying those radiations 24/7 in a body of 3.5 kg, why should they have been for me that I was living next to her a few hours a day with a much greater body weight?

So yeah, your cat will not be radioactive afterwards-- although we had fun teasing her she was glow-in-the-dark!

I would ask Pallina to sleep on my smartphone so I could recharge the battery without using the mains

 

[susanm9006]

Onyx's vet happened to be on vacation at her 1st diagnosis. So I had to use one of her vet co-workers for the appt. He prescribed her the pills without even telling me the options. He made it sound 'as if' she had to do the pills 1st to establish the other blood values. I now know that is not true and I could have skipped the pills all together and opted for the I-131 straight away. (This would not have changed her appt date though).

I intend to use the flushable litter for 2 weeks and then use this as an opportunity to get a new litter box for the girls.

So no one has any advise on how to ease her discomfort while we wait (17 days) for the I-131 ?

Just took this pic - View attachment 246838

If you go the radioactive route, I don’t think you would be able to flush the litter because of its radioactivity.

I remember special instructions on how to dispose of it and if I recall correctly I think I had to wait before I could even put it in the trash.

 

[molly92]

If you go the radioactive route, I don’t think you would be able to flush the litter because of its radioactivity.

I remember special instructions on how to dispose of it and if I recall correctly I think I had to wait before I could even put it in the trash.

Nope, flushing it is fine. This is from MSU's website (where I'm taking my kitty in a week):

Special care should be taken with the litter box for 14 days after treatment to avoid environmental contamination with radioactivity. We recommend using clumping litter, cleaning the litter box at least once daily and wearing disposable gloves. If you believe that the litter itself will not harm your plumbing or sewage system, it is acceptable to flush the clumps and feces from the litter box down the toilet. Alternatively, the used litter and disposable gloves can be collected in plastic bags and set aside (for example, in an out-of-the-way corner of the garage or basement) for 14 days. By 14 days after treatment the radioactivity will have decayed and it is safe for people and for the environment to dispose of the litter as you normally would.​

 

[chris gadbois]

Molly92 - do you mind posting the link to MSU's website. I'd like to look over their program for I-131. Thanks

 

[molly92]

Sure!

Information for Clients

 

[chris gadbois]

Since your baby is going in a week before mine, please let me know how things go. Thanks

Angell Hospital in Boston does the Blood and Xray on Day 1, Ultrasound to determine tumor and I-131 dosage size on Day 2, I-131 Day 3.....I can take her home on Day 6.

 

[Daisy6]

Wow I had no idea so much testing had to be done first after the cat is taken to a radiation facility.

 

[molly92]

Since your baby is going in a week before mine, please let me know how things go. Thanks

I will for sure! I'm very hopeful this will be a good thing for her!

 

[chris gadbois]

Alot of I-131 places want your vet to the blood and Xray and send them the info. Personally I feel better about a place that does all the pre-screening too. I like this place in Boston because each step of the way they want to make sure that the I-131 is what your pet needs. Xray and blood work reveal alot. Then they do the Ultrasound This really helps them determine the tumor size and proper dosage if I-131.

Also the ultrasound may reveal OTHER problems, tumors, cancers, etc. There can be other reasons your cat has high T4 levels. They hate to give a cat I-131 that doesn't need it. I'm sure you've heard that a small % of cats needs to do the I-131 a 2nd time. That is because they didn't give a high enough dosage the 1st time. The ultrasound helps make sure they do it right.

It may be overkill, but it's non-invasive and I don't want to put her thru this twice.

 

[Daisy6]

Why would they want to do an x-ray of a soft organ? That seems like a waste.