I-131 Expert.. says no cancer but I have ???

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Carol-Charlie

Carol-Charlie

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Thank God... we're going to go ahead and get the I-131 while we're out East and stop fooling around with the pills. My goodness, what will we do with no meds to give??? Just Joking.... not trying to temp the fates...

The vet said it sounds like a tumor on his Thyroid, but not cancer... is telling me to stop his thyroid meds two weeks prior to the procedure, I'm to start him on heart meds... (I'll check... but no one has ever said there was a problem with his heart) and start giving him 1/4 baby asprin twice a week to thin his blood?????

Anyone have comments on this?
 
A comment, how about yay!

You do stop the thyroid meds before treatment, it's how they can get a proper measurement on how much radioactive iodine to give.

Heart meds, what kind? Some unregulated hypert kitties can get hypertension, is it something for blood pressure?

Where do you think you'll go for the treatment?
 
There are two locations and several vets I've called including my own vet said that Dr. Wesselbaum in a private office near here... About 15 miles drive away in Richfield Minnesota. The other is the U of M and to me... I'd rather have the care that this first offers.

Thanks for answering... I so pray, that waiting and just giving meds for the last few years hasn't injured him. I really thought since he started to act weird in August (we lost Charlie on August 5th)... it was him missing his brother... they were so very close.
 
Not a vet but it was my understanding that they cant know if its cancer without the technetium scan.

Heart meds might be indicated if he had a heart problem due to the hyperT, but if he has no heart problems now I dont see why you would need to give heart meds, in particular aspirin. You might ask why...cuz I iz confuzed.. maybe your vet thinks that without the hyper t meds his heart will work harder?? PM Jess and see what she thinks.
 
Carol, how old is your cat? Sophia has gel right now but I want to ask the vet for the pill. Did the pill not work for you. Sophia now eats very little and is fading away.. does not seem in pain though. She is 15 and dh'd cat and he wants to let her die peacefully, If it had been up to me I would have given her that I-131 treatment but he did not want to.
 
Spunky just turned 13... and I'm going crazy with people unsure of what's going on with him... This new "Specialist" was to have called me yesterday... still no word... We're leaving in three weeks, I wanted to wait to change anything until we came home, as his symptoms are gone now... but vet said he was at 33 and normal is 2.4 for his T4... He had a slight heart murmur when he first went 'off' last August... his number was 7 then 10 then 15, now 33.... He is a bag of bones with fur.... his purr is the same.. very loud and he cuddles and loves me.... I just can't lose this boy.
 
Sending good thoughts your way.
My Laura had thyroid problems. She was 12 (or 13 - don't know cuz she is a stray). They put her on heart meds to slow her heart down - it was racing because of the thyroid. I had to stop the meds (not the heart one) 2 weeks before the radiation treatment and put her on 1/4 ASA until the procedure. She had to stay with the vet for 10 days because of the radiation. It was the longest 10 days of my life but she came out of it great..no problems now, not even with the heart.

Pattie
 
His T4 is 33? Is it the normal scale with 4 being the high end of normal?

What dose of thyroid meds is he on and did the vet say to increase for the time being? You still need to get approved for I131. Chest xrays and bloodwork to confirm that kidney values are good.

My girl Keesha's highest T4 was 32 and she needed a very high dose of the tapazole at that time, 10 MG BID. Most cats start at 1.25 MG BID, she did and slowly increased until we got to that high dose.

Are you using the pill form or ear cream, I can't remember.
 
Carol-Charlie said:
but vet said he was at 33 and normal is 2.4 for his T4... He had a slight heart murmur when he first went 'off' last August... his number was 7 then 10 then 15, now 33.... He is a bag of bones with fur.... his purr is the same.. very loud and he cuddles and loves me.... I just can't lose this boy.
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His T4 is 33? Yeah, that's pretty high. Hyperthyroidism is hard on the heart, so while your kitty is off the medicine for HT, your vet is probably just protecting the heart. There's a yahoo group called feline-hypert, lots of people experienced with this. They much prefer the ear gel as oral methimazole can be hard on a lot of cats, and starting at as low a dose as possible. But the radioiodine treatment of course is best, as it's a cure. You might want to join the yahoo group.
 
Yes... just talked to Deanie, my vet... (I'm not being disrespectful She keeps referring to herself as Deanie, soooo).. She took time and explained it all to me just a few minutes ago. Dr. Wesslebaum is squeezing Spunky into his schedule due to the high number and perfect timing of us being away for almost three weeks.. He even agreed to putting it on time payments... They are giving heart meds because of the rapid heart rate he'll have off his meds. So you were all right on that one... Same on baby asprin 1/4 BID. She said that she's been a vet for quite a while and never had the I-131 not work. She read me Spunky's 'scores' on the Senior Profile from December and said they were all good, the liver was a bit elevated, but should come back down.

I'm not sure of the dose of methemazole that he's on, but we've doubled it again after this 33 reading, he had been at 20 six weeks ago. I've had a long talk with him and told him (Spunky that is) that "leaving is not an option here".... He said he understood and we cuddled and went to sleep.

I'm feeling much better and being gone, I'll have distractions from missing him, and he'll have a supply of shirts I've worn to remind him who is mommy is. Stevie is going to go visit his 'step brother' my Jim and his family, including sweet MiMi the Pit Bull mix... the gentlest dog I've ever seen, unless we include Spike, Jim's first pit bull mix... He sleeps with his kitties, so I'm sure if the kitties accept Stevie, they won't have a rough time...

Thank you all for your help here... I know my diabetes, so of course the unknown is far more scarey than that.
 
Carol-Charlie said:
There are two locations and several vets I've called including my own vet said that Dr. Wesselbaum in a private office near here... About 15 miles drive away in Richfield Minnesota. The other is the U of M and to me... I'd rather have the care that this first offers.

Thanks for answering... I so pray, that waiting and just giving meds for the last few years hasn't injured him. I really thought since he started to act weird in August (we lost Charlie on August 5th)... it was him missing his brother... they were so very close.
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Lya did I131 with Dr. Ralph in Richfield. What stated above is typical, but ECID. She never did the pills so we didn't have to stop. Most I131 cats have heart issues, hence the heart meds. I didn't have to do this with Lya, but he required me to take heart beat readings numerous times a day, at different times to verify she wasn't having heart issues. She wasn't, and we skipped that part.

She did still have to take the baby aspirin, and tapered off after the procedure. Give me a call if you have any questions I can help with.
 
when Maui had the I131 - there wasn't any mention of giving aspirin. I had to take her in a week before, so they could get her weight and order the I131. Due to other problems, she was off the tap, so it was a nonissue.

then she went for the treatment and they did say there is a small chance that it may not work and if so, they can do it again. But 99% of the time it works.
 
I had thought that baby aspirin is toxic, or rather not great to give to cats. Did I misunderstand?
 
Aspirin is hard to use safely in cats because cats metabolize it very slowly so it stays in the system a lot longer than in humans and dogs. Thus, it is easy to overdose by giving it too frequently. If I recall the dose is about a baby aspirin every couple of days.

I has two cats treated with the I131 and neither was on anything after.

Gayle and Shadoe said:
I had thought that baby aspirin is toxic, or rather not great to give to cats. Did I misunderstand?
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