Wiggins....How did you find he 1131, would you recommend it? How long did you have to isolate the cat for?
Hi - One of my girls had it in November 2010 and then six months later her brother was diagnosed with hyper-t too so he had his I131 in August last year. If the cats can cope with the time away from home (2-4 weeks depending on which centre you go to, though some of them will let you negotiate 'early release' if you are willing to follow a couple of extra precautions), then I think it's a good option. I was nervous about surgery and despite this being the first ever vet stay for Tess and Tiger, it just seemed safer and less invasive, plus neither of my cats had huge thyroids, so I131 made sense in case it was ectopic.
The actual I131 was a injection in the scruff, with no need for any sedation at all. They then spent a week in the 'hot room' where contact with humans is minimal (though they can admit some meds). After that, it was two weeks on the ward. The pens were about 2-3 foot square and the same in height, had two levels with shelves and they also popped some cardboard boxes in for Tiger who was a bit of a scaredy cat! I also sent a bed with them so they had something familiar.
The only 2 downsides were that both came back hypo-t though I was told that's often the case with either I131 or surgery and it often goes back to normal. Tess' did go back to normal but Tiger's T4 is still a bit low at 10. They're recommending we don't supplement him as he's asymptomatic. He's due to go back for bloods and a repeat ultrasound for what we hope is IBD as opposed to lymphoma in August.
The other downside is cost. It was approx. £2,200 each which is mainly because of the 3 week hospitalisation. Tess was completely covered by her insurance but I paid 20% of the cost with Tiger because he was a year older by the time he had his. That pushed us into the excess+20% Petplan has when they get older! Even so, I couldn't do it for one and not the other!
To sum up though, the lengthy hospitalisation is very frustrating but everything weighed up, yes I would recommend it.
