Radioactive Iodine treatment and early stage hyperthyroidism

[missmimz]

My 13 year old had a "grey zone" T4 about 7 months ago and two days ago his recent blood work showed his T4 was now 5. I knew it was possible he was going into hyperthyroidism so I started doing my research and I'm 100% sure I'm going forward with radioactive iodine treatment. He has basically no symptoms of hyperthyroidism, other than some vomiting which I thought was from IBD but now may be related to his T4 levels. In the last 7 months he actually gained weight, no hair loss, or anything else that would suggest he's hyperthyroid other than blood work. So with that said we are assuming this is in the very early stages. I'm just wondering if anyone else has done radioactive iodine with a cat in the early stages? I live in Arizona but we've made the decision to travel to Southern California to have the procedure done in a speciality facility so I won't know until the day before his procedure how big his nodule is. They've told me they typically hold cats for 4 days as long as things go well, I am hoping that since this seems to be early in the disease process that he wont need to be there any longer than that. 

Thanks. 

 

[ruthm]

My Tiger was at 7.4 when we caught it :-(     She was also discovered to be diabetic at the same time. I had to wait almost a month and a half to get her in for I-131.  My vet put her on Tapazole(which we both hated) they wanted to check her kidney function and blood pressure before the procedure. The clinic we took her to was great, giving two phone calls daily with updates; she got to come home in 3 days. Well worth the money for us. Good luck with your trip to SoCal-please let us know how he's doing. 

 

[missmimz]

Thank you for your well wishes! It's reassuring to hear that your baby is doing well even after her other medical conditions were discovered. His other blood work came back normal (except for a slightly elevated spec fPL which my vet thinks is just from his IBD). We didn't get any urine on him unfortunately, but the clinic tells me that per op includes urinalysis, xrays, and nuclear scan. 

I am incredibly anxious about the entire thing and worried that he wont do well being in a strange place away from me for so many days.

 I'm especially worried that he might not eat because he's very finicky with food and very shy and timid. I've never boarded him or left him anywhere outside of our house so I don't know how this will go. Each cat has their own little cubby space in an entire wing dedicated to just the radio iodine treatment (reminds me of what you see cats in at Petco) and there's a webcam so I can check on him. We decided to go all the way to SoCal because this clinic specifically is highly regarded and the vet that does the procedures is very experienced in this field.

Fortunately we don't need to do a trail of medication first, but I can't get him out there until early March so I'm hoping he doesn't start showing any destress before then. 

 

[lcat4]

We took one of our cats at age 12 to see Dr. Broome in socal, if that's where you are going. Fortunately for us, his facility is just a quick trip down the freeway. My cat's nodule was not big, and my cat wasn't very sickly looking, but he required treatment. My cat just had blood drawn last week, 6-1/2 years after treatment, and his T4 is at a happy 1.3. It's my understanding that the size of the nodule will be a factor for determining dosage.

I am so glad we did this treatment. My cat has some other health issues now, like most other 18+ year old cats do. It's nice to not have the added concern of also treating him with methimazole. We actually had to do that with my cat's brother, who at 16 was diagnosed with bladder cancer and hyperthyroidism at the same time. His life expectancy did not support doing the I-131, so we treated the hyper-t with medication. Lucky for us, he ended up living much longer than expected, 1+ years, but the thyroid condition greatly complicated his overall health.

I'm glad you are able to have this taken care of. Good luck. And if you are seeing Dr. Broome, check out all the other vet specialists in the business park. It's an amazing collection in one spot.

 

[missmimz]

We took one of our cats at age 12 to see Dr. Broome in socal, if that's where you are going. Fortunately for us, his facility is just a quick trip down the freeway. My cat's nodule was not big, and my cat wasn't very sickly looking, but he required treatment. My cat just had blood drawn last week, 6-1/2 years after treatment, and his T4 is at a happy 1.3. It's my understanding that the size of the nodule will be a factor for determining dosage.

I am so glad we did this treatment. My cat has some other health issues now, like most other 18+ year old cats do. It's nice to not have the added concern of also treating him with methimazole. We actually had to do that with my cat's brother, who at 16 was diagnosed with bladder cancer and hyperthyroidism at the same time. His life expectancy did not support doing the I-131, so we treated the hyper-t with medication. Lucky for us, he ended up living much longer than expected, 1+ years, but the thyroid condition greatly complicated his overall health.

I'm glad you are able to have this taken care of. Good luck. And if you are seeing Dr. Broome, check out all the other vet specialists in the business park. It's an amazing collection in one spot.

We are going to see Dr. Broome

 I was hoping others in the community had used him because he seems to be an expert in this field and highly regarded. The facility seems to be top notch and their site is really helpful. AZ has very few facilities that offer the treatment and absolutely no information about the vet's or their training, so doing it here is not an option for me. Thank you for your reply! I feel confident that this is the right choice for my guy. 

 

[ruthm]

The most important thing is that you have good faith in the clinic, and it sounds like you have chosen an excellent one!  I had those same worries about how Tiger might not eat, and the clinic we went to was only 30 miles away.  These specialty clinics are staffed with truly caring people who understand how worried we are and will go the extra mile to make sure your kitty eats.  Even Dr. Lisa Pierson admitted to being totally stressed out while one of her kitties had the treatment, so we were in good company. 

Your kitty doesn't sound symptomatic yet, and that is a big plus. Mine had lost weight and was vomiting, but after the treatment she bounced back, got her weight back up to 10 pounds(she went down to under 8)  She was 16 at the time of diagnosis; she did great for a year and a half, but then I unfortunately lost her to pancreatic cancer this past July, at age 17 1/2.   However, I do not have any regrets taking her for the treatment though, it saved her life as far as I am concerned. 

I know you will be super stressed until you can get your kitty treated, so I am sending you my strongest healing and calming vibes, I am sure he will be just fine-but please keep us posted!

 

[noseysmom]

My cat went for the treatment at 16 when the pills quit working. We had not been apart for 16 years. It was harder on me than her, I cried half the way back home. At that time had to take her 5 hours away. They told me to bring an unwashed tee shirt or something with my smell on it to put in with her. She did develop a lump in her neck that had never shown up before but it wasn't painful and it gave me three more years with her. Was glad we went.

 

[donutte]

My Sara's T4 was 21 when it was discovered (yep, 21 is correct, it's not a typo). She has the atypical symptom of inappetance when the numbers get really high, so we had to get her to eat and stabilize before even considering i131. Ultimately, we stayed on the pills, mainly because I didn't have $2k+ to drop. And now of course her kidney disease has become "unmasked" (which seems to be common enough that it's mentioned a lot in articles and by vets) so we have that part to consider.

I hope all goes well with your kitty! Please let us know how it all goes.

 

[missmimz]

My cat went for the treatment at 16 when the pills quit working. We had not been apart for 16 years. It was harder on me than her, I cried half the way back home. At that time had to take her 5 hours away. They told me to bring an unwashed tee shirt or something with my smell on it to put in with her. She did develop a lump in her neck that had never shown up before but it wasn't painful and it gave me three more years with her. Was glad we went.

I do think it'll be harder for me than for him, I'm sure I'm going to cry until i get him back home with me. I am hopeful that this treatment will give him many more years with me. I'm glad it was worth it for you and gave you three more years of quality time with your baby. 

 

[missmimz]

My Sara's T4 was 21 when it was discovered (yep, 21 is correct, it's not a typo). She has the atypical symptom of inappetance when the numbers get really high, so we had to get her to eat and stabilize before even considering i131. Ultimately, we stayed on the pills, mainly because I didn't have $2k+ to drop. And now of course her kidney disease has become "unmasked" (which seems to be common enough that it's mentioned a lot in articles and by vets) so we have that part to consider.

I hope all goes well with your kitty! Please let us know how it all goes.

Cats really are such masters at hiding pain. I am worried that after his thyroid is under control that we might see kidney issues show up, but I really don't want to go the medication route because he already has some IBD and I'm worried meds will make it even worse. This facility quoted me around $950 on the phone but he'll need some additional pre-op testing that I don't have (urinalysis, xrays) so it'll end up being more like $1500 I think. Not to mention we'll be staying in a hotel for 4 days and we have to hire a pet sitter to feed our other cats. I am very fortunate that this is an option for us, but it's definitely not going to be a cheap one. 

 

[donutte]

Cats really are such masters at hiding pain. I am worried that after his thyroid is under control that we might see kidney issues show up, but I really don't want to go the medication route because he already has some IBD and I'm worried meds will make it even worse. This facility quoted me around $950 on the phone but he'll need some additional pre-op testing that I don't have (urinalysis, xrays) so it'll end up being more like $1500 I think. Not to mention we'll be staying in a hotel for 4 days and we have to hire a pet sitter to feed our other cats. I am very fortunate that this is an option for us, but it's definitely not going to be a cheap one. 

I've heard of some folks trying to balance out the thyroid/kidney issues (if they both exist) with hypo-thyroid meds after i131. Apparently hypo-t meds are much less stressful on the system than hyper-t meds.

Oh man, I wish it was just $1500. I swear, everything is more expensive in this state. I think it was between $2,000-2,400, depending on which of the two facilities I would go to, and other things that were a bit over my head at the time. And if they would accept the blood work done by my local vet. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. So that would be extra.

 

[missmimz]

I've heard of some folks trying to balance out the thyroid/kidney issues (if they both exist) with hypo-thyroid meds after i131. Apparently hypo-t meds are much less stressful on the system than hyper-t meds.

Oh man, I wish it was just $1500. I swear, everything is more expensive in this state. I think it was between $2,000-2,400, depending on which of the two facilities I would go to, and other things that were a bit over my head at the time. And if they would accept the blood work done by my local vet. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. So that would be extra.

It's really interesting how much prices vary by state and location. The places in AZ quoted more than this facility in SoCal too, which I thought was odd because the SoCal place is much more popular and highly recommended with top of the line equipment. They told me they'd accept my vet's blood work as long as it was done within 45 days of the procedure. It was also really important to me that he goes to a place that measures the exact amount of radioactive iodine that he's given that it's not a "one size fits all" place. 

 

[missmimz]

I just wanted to update and say that my Fluff made it through I-131 and is home  

He was confirmed to have a small benign nodule on his nuclear scan and needed a fairly small dose of radioiodine. I am SO glad that i went straight for the 1-131 and didn't do any meds. 

It was stressful for both of us, he was admitting on Sunday and discharged on Thursday. He refused to eat so they gave him an appetite stimulant, which thankfully worked. 

He's doing pretty well now, other than a little sneezing/congestion from the stress of the trip. I was very happy with the facility in Southern California (Advanced Veterinary Medical Imaging) it was absolutely worth the drive from AZ. Their 'cat cams' were a lifesaver and let me be the helicopter cat mom that I am from a state away. The price was also very reasonable. Since I already had blood work that was less than 60 days old he just needed xrays and a urinalysis, so the total was $1200. 

The best part is that Fluff hasn't had any vomiting since he was admitted. Dr. Broome told me that it was entirely likely that the vomiting he'd been experiencing for the past year (that both my Vet and I assumed was some mild IBD) was actually from his thyroid levels going up. Perhaps too early to say for sure, but it's a very good sign so far. 

He has a follow up with a regular vet in 30 days to test his thyroid levels, but so far things are going very well.

 

[donutte]

Wow, that was such a long stay! I'm so glad to hear everything went well and it was just a small nodule. Hopefully that means the risk of unmasking any kidney disease will be low! I've not really looked up the correlation enough to know if the severity of the hyper-t mattered or not, but it would be nice if that was the case here.

 

[missmimz]

Wow, that was such a long stay! I'm so glad to hear everything went well and it was just a small nodule. Hopefully that means the risk of unmasking any kidney disease will be low! I've not really looked up the correlation enough to know if the severity of the hyper-t mattered or not, but it would be nice if that was the case here.

I asked Dr. Broome about his bloodwork (which was done about a month before his I-131 and confirmed the hyperthyroidism) and he said that his kidney levels "looked good" and it would be "unlikely" that it would unmask any kidney issues, so here's hoping. 

 

[zed xyzed]

 
I just wanted to update and say that my Fluff made it through I-131 and is home  

He was confirmed to have a small benign nodule on his nuclear scan and needed a fairly small dose of radioiodine. I am SO glad that i went straight for the 1-131 and didn't do any meds. 

It was stressful for both of us, he was admitting on Sunday and discharged on Thursday. He refused to eat so they gave him an appetite stimulant, which thankfully worked. 

He's doing pretty well now, other than a little sneezing/congestion from the stress of the trip. I was very happy with the facility in Southern California (Advanced Veterinary Medical Imaging) it was absolutely worth the drive from AZ. Their 'cat cams' were a lifesaver and let me be the helicopter cat mom that I am from a state away. The price was also very reasonable. Since I already had blood work that was less than 60 days old he just needed xrays and a urinalysis, so the total was $1200. 

The best part is that Fluff hasn't had any vomiting since he was admitted. Dr. Broome told me that it was entirely likely that the vomiting he'd been experiencing for the past year (that both my Vet and I assumed was some mild IBD) was actually from his thyroid levels going up. Perhaps too early to say for sure, but it's a very good sign so far. 

He has a follow up with a regular vet in 30 days to test his thyroid levels, but so far things are going very well.

So glad your little guy is home safe and sound. 

 

[missmimz]

 
So glad your little guy is home safe and sound. 

Thanks! I'm glad its behind us.

 

[annie keane]

thanks for sharing your story. Our cat was just diagnosed with just slightly elevated T4. No other elevated numbers. I am 95% sure we will go with the I-131 treatment in order to cure her, just waiting for a call back from RadioCat to find out what the procedure is and answer a  few questions.

 

[missmimz]

 
thanks for sharing your story. Our cat was just diagnosed with just slightly elevated T4. No other elevated numbers. I am 95% sure we will go with the I-131 treatment in order to cure her, just waiting for a call back from RadioCat to find out what the procedure is and answer a  few questions.

Best of luck! My Fluff is now more than 30 days post treatment and just had his follow up tests. His T4 dropped from 5 to 2.2 (and may drop a little more in the next 3 months but thats okay). He's doing wonderfully and his kidneys look good too.

 

[donutte]

Best of luck! My Fluff is now more than 30 days post treatment and just had his follow up tests. His T4 dropped from 5 to 2.2 (and may drop a little more in the next 3 months but thats okay). He's doing wonderfully and his kidneys look good too.

Yay! I hope he continues to do well! Is it like when they start treatment with medication and they want to do another set of blood work at the 3 month mark?