Embla update

[cellio]

Embla has an appointment with Radiocat next month to treat her hyperthyroid condition. She had her baseline tests this week, for which she was required to be off of the medications for one week.

This was her first vet visit since we made a minor change to her medicine in June, so it's not properly grounded, but we do the best we can. (There was no medical need to get her tested right before going off the meds, and the test is expensive enough that my own curiosity wasn't enough of a reason.) In June her T4 was 0.5 (normal is 1 to 4) and her weight was 7lbs 14oz. The vet adjusted her medicine slightly (overshot on the T4), dropping her from 2 tablets a day to 1.5.

I knew that being off the meds for even just a week would make a difference. How much of one, I wasn't sure.

Monday she weighed 7lbs 1oz (!) and her T4 was 21.6. The vet who called with the results said "I think she's an excellent candidate for Radiocat". Yeah, you don't say. :-)

(The pre-screen included other blood tests and a chest X-ray (not sure why on that). Everything there was as expected.)

Comments

[schulman.livejournal.com]

Good luck with the treatment. Do you have to bring her up to the Northview clinic in Ross?

FWIW, the treatment worked perfectly when I had it done on one of my cats, and was definitely worth the money and hassle. The two weeks of radioactive cat poop was kind of a pain, but the hardest part was convincing Cricket not to perch on my head at night, getting radioactive cat spit all over my poor defenseless brain.

[cellio]

Do you have to bring her up to the Northview clinic in Ross?

Yup. I really dislike driving up there, but what can I do? It's the only place they do the treatment around here.

The folks at Radiocat said that it's possible that Embla will need a second treatment because her (uncorrected) T4 is so high, but there's nothing that can be done about that now (and no way to predict), so it doesn't change anything.

The thing I worry about with the radioactive cat poop is not the radioactivity but my plumbing. I hope this old house is up to the task.

(In the category of "why must they make this difficult?", Radiocat will not give or sell me an extra jug or bag or whatever of the special litter. They say with multiple cats the standard allocation won't be enough, so I should go to a pet store and look for this special stuff. For a multi-day $1200 treatment, you'd think they could pack a few extra bags to sell! At a profit would be fine... Oh well.)

Anyway, I'm looking forward to being able to fix this problem permanently instead of having to medicate her.

[schulman.livejournal.com]

Unless they've changed brands, the "special litter" is Swheatscoop, which you should be able to find at any Petco (like, say, the one right down McKnight from Northview). I was nervous about flushing all that waste, too; I recommend breaking up the bigger clumps.

Do not succumb to temptation and put the radioactive litter out with the trash. You can Google for a horror story about a guy who did just that, and set off the radiation alarms at his trash facility.

[cellio]

Yeah, I remember you mentioning that news story. I know better than to put it out with the trash (now). :-)

[sue-n-julia.livejournal.com]

The chest X-ray is to check the health of the heart. Hyperthyroidism can cause heart problems (we need to get an echocardiogram for Vandal for a possible hyperthyroid-caused murmur).

Good luck. Vandal's numbers were high and one treatment took care of him.

S

[cellio]

Ah, right. One of mine had a heart murmur once, attributed to the disease. (Didn't show up on subsequent visits.) Thanks.

In other news, "Radiocat" sounds like an indie band

[brokengoose.livejournal.com]

Hmm. So NoCat (http://nocat.net/) uses radios (but -- true to their word -- not cats) and Radiocat is for cats, but has nothing to do with radios.

Good luck with the treatment. Watch for new superpowers.

Re: In other news, "Radiocat" sounds like an indie band

[cellio]

Heh. You're right; it does sound like a band!

I will be disappointed if she doesn't get a superpower out of this. (Mind, I'm used to disappointment.) I just hope it isn't teleportation; it's hard enough as it is to get her into a carrier.

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

Quantum has her appointment with Radiocat on Monday. I will let you know.

[cellio]

Oh, I didn't realize it was that soon. Good luck!