This community here is pretty great for all things cat. But I was never associated with a specific hyperthyroid community.
It would have been helpful to our story though…
story:
My Runswith Markers was always skittish. I don’t even remember what prompted me to take her in to the vet. She was 14 when diagnosed. The vet (Not my normal, just one that was on staff) gave us the news. She said: “You can get her ‘The Cure’ but it’s really expensive, and there’s only a slight chance it won’t work. Or there’s the option of daily pills for the rest of her life. We will start her off at X dose and then recheck her in 3 months to make sure it’s working, okay?”
I replied, “She’s really skittish. I’m not sure I can get a pill in her every day. I don’t even see her every day.”
Then she tore into me about if I don’t give my cat these pills she will slowly die a torturous death.
So I took the pills home and to my surprise, Runswith did really well taking a pill every day. She liked her pill pocket treat, so she came out once a day like clockwork to get her treat.
3 months rolled around and we went back for testing. Her levels weren’t where they wanted them, so the dosage doubled. No big deal, she was taking her pill nicely. We could do this!
Fast forward and a year later she still wasn’t managed real well. And I despised this vet we kept getting in the rotation. So I went for a 2nd opinion. I found an amazing vet. When we went in and gave Runswith’s history she said, “why haven’t you gotten this cat the cure?” I said our previous vet said it was really expensive, and she’s 15 now, so she just went on the pills. Doc B looked us dead in the eye and said again, “the cure costs the same amount as one year of pills and testing. So why haven’t you gotten her the cure yet?”
so she did the preliminary exam right then. She said she’d sent 18 year old cats to the Cat thyroid Center and they lived over a year, so it still paid for itself.
So Runswith passed all the inspections and we took her in for the cure. She did really well and came home quickly after her radio-iodine treatment.
this cat became an entirely new cat. She began coming out more, she started defending territory, and even played like she was a kitten. The real surprise was that she came out when we had visitors to the house. This was a whole new cat. She lived until the age of 20 when she passed from stomach cancer. I’m so grateful we found Doc B and got her cured. Her quality of life was beautiful for those last 5 years!
I was, and still am, livid that other vet stole a year from her in delay, and that I paid as much as the cure in the year of testing and pills when my cat could have just been cured.
If you’d like, we can chat further here, or send me a PM. I hope your kitty is doing well!
