Hi Vicki!
I'm the opposite as far as the site & diagnosis goes. My oldest kitty came down with hyperthyroidism several years ago. She was skittish anyway, and older (set in her ways). When discussing treatment options with one of the vets at my regular vet office she said, "You can go with the cure which is really expensive, or you can go with a daily pill to manage the condition" the first words out of my mouth were, "She's very skittish, I'm not sure I can pill her consistently." The vet stared me down and said, "if you don't get these pills in her she will die, you will kill your cat a slow, painful death."
So we tried the pills, but I made sure I was never scheduled with that doc again. We upped the pills and she was on 2 doses daily. I was able to pill her consistently, despite my initial concerns. Finally, I had a second encounter of rudeness with the office new staff they had hired. I found one of the techs we loved and found out she had moved to another vet, so we changed all our animal's care over. Thank goodness we did! When I brought my thyroid kitty in for follow up testing to see if the 2x a day dosing got her levels under control my new vet began spouting common sense... She said, "why are you pilling this cat instead of choosing the cure?" I replied, "I was told it's really expensive, and my kitty is really old." (She was 17 at the time.) The vet looked me dead in the eye and said, "the cure costs the same amount as you would pay in one year just for the pills." She went on to say, "She's sent kitties older than 17 for the cure, because if they live one year, the procedure has paid for itself, plus you don't have to pill or pay for blood work monitoring all the time." So we said, "we've already paid for a years worth of pills and she's not any better, we're just poorer. What do we need to do to get the cure?" (The cure is radioactive iodine flushed through which kills the thyroid from my limited understanding.)
My new wonderful vet forwarded my kitty's file to the Cat Thyroid Center in Florida. They accepted her and we scheduled an appointment for this procedure that was the same amount we had paid for her in the last year without results.
This place was the luxury spot, and I was getting my money's worth, lol. There were cat chaise lounges, she got her own private menu with the only restriction of lizards mice or insects - anything else they would feed her. The recuperating cages were set up across from a bird cage (real live bird in there) and a giant fish tank. I was afraid my kitty was never going to want to come home. The doc took photos of her (and of her and the staff holding her) during her stay, printed them and mailed them to me.
She had to stay overnight, but her radioactive levels were low enough the next day I could bring her home - and she was cured.
Funny enough I brought home a different cat... This one was less skittish, began gaining weight, and behaving like a real cat.
She's 21 this year and doing great. We tease that she's immortal from her gamma rays she's received. Last year she came downstairs into the common areas while we had a male guest in the house. She has never before been so brave. If there was a male voice, she wasn't even visible in her normal spots, she was hiding.
My only regret was not getting her the cure sooner... She could have been happier and healthier for more of her life. Instead we wasted that year playing with pill doses, listening to a harsh and cruel and terribly misinformed vet.
If you have other questions I can answer, please ask! I love talking about my cured, healthy, old, immortal cat! (Her name is Runswith.)
I'm new to the diabetic forum though. A different cat (Fabalous, my 2nd oldest at 14) was just diagnosed with diabetes yesterday.
I found this article, was similar to one I found years ago when my family had a Hyperthyroidism kitty: 
