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post-radioactive iodine tx home care program for cat?

MY question to forum members out there is if any of you had a cat that you had to take care of and monitor for 1 month post radioactive iodine treatment- how difficult was it to comply with state or provincial regulations with regards to litter separation if you have more than 1 cat- sleeping isolation if your cat is used to sharing your bed- and minimizing human contact etc......Please share your expereiences and tips -good or bad as we are close to committing to this procedure for our 12 year old siamese cat and would like to know what we are in for -post operatively- and/or clinically?

Also want to know if any users have had successful experience with any alternative remedies for feline hyperthyroidism with their cats as an alternative to either tapazole or radioactive iodine tx?

I look forward to hearing from you,

Thankfully,

Pisces59(Siamese cat lover)
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Avatar universal
Hi All,

My 15 year old cat is hyperthyroidisum and I'm currently giving him Tapazole 5 mg per day and he is still skinny and looking for water.  I have been doing research on line and it seems that the iodine131 treatment is the best route forward.  I'm located in Austin, TX and I'm wondering how hard it is to find a place to administer the iodine treatment.

Also, maybe he needs a higher dose; I don't know.  My next vet appointment is in 4 days.

Any updates on the results of the iodine treatment on your cats would be appreciated.

Rick in Austin  
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874521 tn?1424116797
hi and welcome, thank you so much for giving us your experience with this radioactive treatment, I hope the other posters who were looking for help will return and read your comments....
I do hope your kitty continues to improve...please keep us updated on his condition and lab test results too.
best of luck to you and your boy♥
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Avatar universal
Thought I might be of some help, because one of my 2 cats (15 year old brothers) just had the I131 treatment 4 weeks ago.  He really wanted alot of attention after I brought him home (which is actually unusual for him), so I kind of disregarded the rule about only holding him for a half hour twice a day.  They're mainly concerned with you adding to your lifetime exposure to radiation, but since I never really fly anywhere, and don't think I have any other regular exposure, I took a chance that it would be okay...I'm not recommending disregarding the guidelines you're given, I'm just being honest about what I did,

Anyway, his brother did hiss and swipe at him for a few days, but he would do that for a day or two when I'd bring him back from a vet appointment too, and that was only an hour long!  I've heard it's because cats recognize each other by scent, so it might help if you'd bring a blanket or something along to put in the carrier when you pick her up, so she'll smell a little familiar.  I'm sure they'll still be able to smell the clinic on her, but they might get over it quicker than they would otherwise.  

I was a wreck from the time he was diagnosed till a few days after I brought him home!  I know what you're going through, but believe me, it does get better!  He got his appetite back right away, and gained the weight back that he lost at the clinic (he didn't eat much while he was there and lost a whole pound in 5 days!).  he doesn't play as much as he used to, but he seems alot healthier.  His fur even looks better!  He's scheduled for a follow up appointment/lab tests in 2 weeks, so I'll try to post the results then.  

Let us know how it goes, and if you have any questions after she's home.   I'm in Minnesota, and can let you know what the guidelines, info I was given, if it would help.

Wishing you and your cats all the best!!!  ...and don't forget to take care of yourself too!
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2154547 tn?1336607056
Hi torilou01. I am picking up a kitty tomorrow from her radioactive iodine treatment and have two other cats at home. How did it go with your kitty post treatment at home for the first few weeks? I know the radioactivity is not supposed to be a big issue but I'm still nervous and also wondering how the other cats will react to her coming back. Any insights that you have would be greatly appreciated!
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Avatar universal
Hi

We have just admitted our 11 year old kitty for the radioiodine treatment this morning. I have done a lot of research on post-treatment care and have read varying things. This is the advice our vet gave us:

Our vet will quarantine her for between 5 and 10 days, until the radioactive levels are below the legally required limit. Then she will be released to us to take home.

We were told to limit contact with her for the following 2-3 days and to use gloves when empying the litter tray. We were also told to use flushable litter at this time. We were advised not to have her sleep with us and to limit our cuddle time with her to 10 mins at a time, washing our hands afterwards.

After the 2-3 days, we can resume our normal routine. This is only the case because there are no children in our home and I am not either pregnant or trying to get pregnant. If this were the case we would need to follow the above advice for 2 weeks.

We have another cat who shares our hyperthyroid kitty's litter tray, and we have been told by our vet that this isn't a problem. Our kitty can interact with her sister immediately after being released without putting our other cat at risk.

We were also told that the amount of radiation emitted by the cat once discharged from the vet is extremely low - no different for a human than sitting on a long-haul flight.

I hope that helps. Good luck with the treatment. We have been medicating our cat for 2.5 years at great expense, thanks to the regular blood tests needed to check her T4 levels. Radioiodine treatment is the gold standard for treating hyperthyroidism with a 95% success rate of a complete cure. I can't wait to have a healthy and happy cat again.
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Avatar universal
Thank you for your concern and information which you passed on ... I reside in Ontario, Canada...The isolation rules point to a total of 4 weeks of quarantine for post-thyroid iodinectomy.....

Do you know anyone who has used alternative therapy instead of Tapazole or Iodine treatment.  I am not convinced that our cat needs the iodine as he seems over-all his old self- and relatively comfortable apart from his constant , ravenous apetite and loud meowing.  We have always been accustomed to same behaviour since he was a kitten in our home.  Not sure I buy the clinic judgement of our vet(whom I respect dearly) - that the heart is being severely stressed as a result of the hyperthyroidism.

Kind of a t a cross-roads with regards to choices to make here!!

Also- just found out that our other siamese cat- a 13 year old female, has signs of renal failure as shown by her geriatric profile blood work panel.  Any thoughts of any alternatives or therapeutics to help curtail the process of renal failure as opposed to watching her waste away and trying to make her comfortable in the process.

Appreciate yours and any other member insights into my predicament with my two precious cats( children).  We are pretty devastated right now- likke a double whammy hitting us at the same time.  And the two are such buddies!!!!!

Wow- what a hit to our family right now!!!
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Avatar universal
Sorry, meant to type "...multiple kittens from multiple litters..."
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Avatar universal
I haven't had experience with post radioactive iodine treatment, but I have had a lot of experience with isolating and quarantining multiple cats for multiple reasons both at home and at the shelter where I work as a volunteer.  We recently had a general quarantine involving 100s of cat's because of a panleukopenia outbreak.  I've also fostered multiple kittens from multiple kittens at home and have had to isolate them for multiple reasons as diverse as URI and ringworm.  

The most difficult and time consuming part is the initial set up and cleaning required.  Cats can have some  initial difficulty with change in routine, but most adapt after a few days.  You may see some initial behavioral changes, depression, and drop in appetite initially.  We have had lots of older cats at the shelter for long periods whose only human contact is daily feeding and cleaning of their kennels.  Most of the older cats are owner surrenders, so they are cats that have spent years as a house pet with lots of human contact.  It is far from ideal, but they adapt and survive and adjust to their new situation.
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874521 tn?1424116797
hi Pisces and welcome to our cat community...we are all cat lovers here too.
So sorry for the huge decision you are facing with kitty, I hope there is someone on here that has also gone thru the experience and can help you.
I really don't have any info that would be of much use to you. I will give you a great website that I found with info and hope it somewhat helps.
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/thyroid__treatment_options.html

I don't know what state you are located in? this article says only need to isolate for 3-7 days(hospitalization)..so i'm assuming contact after that time is safe? I would take extra precautions of course if you happen to be pregnant.

I did a small amount of other reading and it sounds like Trapazole is the drug of choice. I also read somewhere(?) that iodine therapy plus medication has 2x the survival rate of just the drug alone.

12 yrs old is still relatively young he/she could have many good healthy years with you yet.
If you are concerned about the iodine therapy why don't you just go with the Trapazole tx and do a wait and see if the next step is warranted??

I wish you tons of success with your decision and possible future treatment(s). We love our pets and want to do all we can for them(within our means), I commend you on researching all your options and knowing whats involved. I hope you can find someone who can help you more with this.

another avenue to try is do a search in the white box on top of this page.
(search conditions, treatments and symptoms) type in hyperthyroidism and see if it brings up any older member posts??

good luck, please keep us updated and feel free to drop back in anytime if you have suggestions, comments, any questions....or just a shoulder to cry on too.

♥Opus
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