12/7 Ivy Amps 285, +3 262, +6 289, +9 198, Pmps 214, +3 198 Libre

Staci & Ivy

Staci & Ivy

Member Since 2022
12/4/25
Amps 285 Libre

Well, it’s been a very busy few days. The past two nights Ivy has had very active cycles (so she most likely was around 100 or under.
She spent a good amount of time in the 50s and hit a few LO‘s on the Libre overnight.
So, I slept on the sofa to be near her and gave her overnight feedings and monitor closely. Pretty tired today again 🥱

I have lots to do today around here. It’s very cold out, so not going anywhere and I need to assemble her food today, so that’s a several hour process.

I did hear from the vet on Thursday night and unfortunately her T4 went up from 5.6 to 6.0 since we switched from the methimazole transdermal to the pills just over a month ago.
We are going to increase her pill dose from 2.5 mg BID to 5 mg in the morning and 2.5 mg in the evening in hopes that that will help.
We will test her again in a month, early January, and if not a better T4, she will have to go up to 5 mg BID. But hoping this increase will help 🙏
I just wish she wasn’t such a difficult patient and taking her to the vet all the time to get lab work done is so difficult on her, plus of course the cost sucks.

The vet feels that the diabetes and hypothyroid conditions feed each other in making both diseases more difficult to manage and regulate, that makes sense to me.
We do the best we can with her insulin in trying to bring her as low as I can, but she’s quite a bouncer, as soon as she spends a cycle in nice numbers, then she spends a few cycles higher 😭
Anyway, today it is sunny and she is spending the day on her favorite pink chair in my room after I coax her into heading in that direction.
I hope everyone has a calm and boring Sunday with very safe surfing 🏄🏼‍♀️ 🌊💖
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Such a regal beauty as always, Ivy. I hope the hyperthyroid meds increase does the trick! Managing both conditions at once sounds awfully stressful.

(Staci, forgive me if this is a stupid or overly invasive question or just something I missed by being new, but have you considered other forms of treatment for the hyperthyroidism? There seem to be several avenues with good outcomes that can even cure the condition, based on my very shallow poking at online research. I'm sure there's an obvious answer here, possibly that her diabetes or something else makes her a poor candidate, or possibly the procedures are prohibitively expensive. You absolutely don't need to indulge my curiosity. 🫂)

I hope it's a nice, calm sort of at-home day for you both. ❤️
 
Allie & Gen said:
Such a regal beauty as always, Ivy. I hope the hyperthyroid meds increase does the trick! Managing both conditions at once sounds awfully stressful.

(Staci, forgive me if this is a stupid or overly invasive question or just something I missed by being new, but have you considered other forms of treatment for the hyperthyroidism? There seem to be several avenues with good outcomes that can even cure the condition, based on my very shallow poking at online research. I'm sure there's an obvious answer here, possibly that her diabetes or something else makes her a poor candidate, or possibly the procedures are prohibitively expensive. You absolutely don't need to indulge my curiosity. 🫂)

I hope it's a nice, calm sort of at-home day for you both. ❤️
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Hi Allie, no problem at all about the question, it’s a very good one.
Yes, there is a procedure called I131 where they give them a radioactive iodine injection to kill the thyroid.

The problem with Ivy is she’s a terrible patient, she’s very fractious at any vet appointment.
I did discuss the treatment with her internal medicine doctor and team who do the procedure at a hospital near us.
Given her demeanor and diabetic management, they feel she is not a good candidate.

The cats have to stay at the hospital for several days until the radiation is low enough by law for them to release the cat back to you to take home.

The length of the stay varies on the hospital and other variables as well. The hospital stay can be from 2 to 5 or so days.

The problem with Ivy also is that she needs to eat in order to get her insulin shot and I have to coax her to get her to eat her meals.
I’m not confident that she would eat on her own in a hospital where she would be absolutely miserable, so that’s a huge concern.

From what I understand, they really cannot be hands-on with a cat who has had this radioactive treatment, so if she wasn’t eating, they couldn’t be spoon feeding her or syringe feeding her.

Plus, I give her snacks at +1, +2 and +3, both cycles, and they are certainly not going to do that and ensure that she eats them.
So, part of me would love to do that treatment, but the other part is so concerned about how she would do in that setting.
Some cats are very chill and while they would miss being at home, they do fine.

I’m not convinced that she would do fine.

She also had a pancreatitis episode last February and that was pretty dicey. They do know that can be brought on by stress, so my concern again is if she were highly stressed it could bring on that condition.
And if they can’t really be hands-on and treat her, what would we do?
My concern would be that she could spiral out of control and it could be a dire outcome, so I’m kind of between a rock and a hard place.
While I’d love to do the treatment, I just I’m not convinced she could make it through the treatment in one piece 😭

Unfortunately, Ivy is her own worst enemy with her fractious nature. It’s why I need to use a Libre on her because there is absolutely no way I could test her many times a day with ear pokes.
While, I can get away with a few pokes here and there, after that she gets very fractious with me.

Thank you for asking and for being concerned enough to ask the questions 💖
 
Poor Ivy. I find her fractious nature both relatable and endearing, but I can see how that would be a major challenge. And honestly, when I was reading about the radiation therapy I didn't love the sound of it either for a variety of reasons. (Having Gen in the hospital for a couple of overnights a few years ago was miserable for me. He did pretty well with the vets--honestly he saves his most fractious behavior for me for some reason--but still.)

It sounds like surgical thyroidectomy has a pretty good success rate, but anesthesia is obviously a concern especially for cats with multiple health conditions, and I see from the Cornell vet college website that medication is usually preferred. It just seems like a lot for you to have to balance in the long term!

You're such a fantastic cat mom. Ivy is really lucky to have you. ❤️
 
Allie & Gen said:
Poor Ivy. I find her fractious nature both relatable and endearing, but I can see how that would be a major challenge. And honestly, when I was reading about the radiation therapy I didn't love the sound of it either for a variety of reasons. (Having Gen in the hospital for a couple of overnights a few years ago was miserable for me. He did pretty well with the vets--honestly he saves his most fractious behavior for me for some reason--but still.)

It sounds like surgical thyroidectomy has a pretty good success rate, but anesthesia is obviously a concern especially for cats with multiple health conditions, and I see from the Cornell vet college website that medication is usually preferred. It just seems like a lot for you to have to balance in the long term!

You're such a fantastic cat mom. Ivy is really lucky to have you. ❤️
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You’re right on all counts.
It’s a lot to try to manage. It’s been over 3 years and it’s very hard.
I do the best I can. Some days I don’t feel I’m doing enough.
I just want her to feel well and be as well as she can.

I really wish she was easier going. I could do so much more for her. She just won’t allow it 😩
 
Sending PAWsitive vibes and many virtual hugs your way. Ivy looks regal as always. I absolutely love her in all those pillows.
I hope your sunday is calm and relaxing and that you recovered after yesterday 🧙‍♀️
🙋🏻‍♀️🐾🤗💕🥰🐈‍⬛😍
 
Sorry to read about her thyroid, Staci. Do they do thyroid surgery on cats? I was a ENT Dr. in a previous life (before moving to the US ;) ) and we did this, on humans. I am not sure if that's an option for cats, but maybe a question to ask your vet?
I hope you both get some rest. She is so beautiful on her chair.
 
cecile & bella said:
Sorry to read about her thyroid, Staci. Do they do thyroid surgery on cats? I was a ENT Dr. in a previous life (before moving to the US ;) ) and we did this, on humans. I am not sure if that's an option for cats, but maybe a question to ask your vet?
I hope you both get some rest. She is so beautiful on her chair.
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Hi Cecile, yes they do surgery, but I believe it's not really the preferred method. They really suggest the I131 radiation method.
But as we know, Ivy is very complicated.
I don't think she would do well with staying at a hospital for several days until the radiation levels come down to safely release the cat.
I am not sure she would eat well (I have to coax her at every meal, takes me about 30 minutes to "convince" her to eat all her food.
(They can't or won't do that in a hospital). Plus, we know she needs to eat to get her insulin.
And if she crashed and needed care, they really can't do much hands on as the cat has high and unsafe levels of radiation (till the levels come down).

So, all that said...I wish I felt confident she'd do fine. But she is fractious at the vet, and will bite and scratch.
She makes not such a great candidate for the procedure 😩😭
 
Staci & Ivy said:
Hi Cecile, yes they do surgery, but I believe it's not really the preferred method. They really suggest the I131 radiation method.
But as we know, Ivy is very complicated.
I don't think she would do well with staying at a hospital for several days until the radiation levels come down to safely release the cat.
I am not sure she would eat well (I have to coax her at every meal, takes me about 30 minutes to "convince" her to eat all her food.
(They can't or won't do that in a hospital). Plus, we know she needs to eat to get her insulin.
And if she crashed and needed care, they really can't do much hands on as the cat has high and unsafe levels of radiation (till the levels come down).

So, all that said...I wish I felt confident she'd do fine. But she is fractious at the vet, and will bite and scratch.
She makes not such a great candidate for the procedure 😩😭
Click to expand...
I know, I remember you explaining about that earlier. I have a friend who did it for her cat, it was hard not to be able to touch the cat for a month afterwards, too. It's sad that ivy has so many health issues :bighug:
 
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