16 year old cat had Radiation for hyperthyroidism but showing signs 2 yrs later

[twopurringcats]

My old kitty Matt had the I-131 radioactive iodine treatment for hyperthyroidism 2 years ago and is not taking care of himself so well and ravenously hungry but skinny. Veterinary help is extremely expensive here and I'm saving up (on a tiny budget) to get an expensive blood test to see if the hyperthyroidism is back. In the meantime I am giving him as much food as he wants (wet food), keeping him very hydrated and dematting his thick, long fur every day. I have Methimazole pills here and wonder if it would be unsafe to give him a little until I can afford to go to the vet (in about a month)? Does anyone have experience with this issue? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[booktigger]

I wouldn't try him on the meds you have as they will skew the blood tests. Would the vet let you do a payment plan to get the bloods done early?

[twopurringcats]

They won't. Vets here where I live now seem to be greedy, pad the bill with extra expenses and if you don't have the money they won't help. I already used the Care Credit (their only other option) on my own dental work and am still paying for that. It's frustrating. The test is @ $250 alone. I will get it eventually but can't do it yet. And I live in a rural area without a car so the Dr that I do like (that does the radiation) is 45 mins away, which costs me $100 each way by taxi (Uber and Lyft don't come out this far).

[Kay]

Have you spoken to the place where the radiation treatment was done? Here in the UK I think it's usual practice to offer free follow up treatment if the initial treatment fails

[twopurringcats]

I did. They said it will cost another $900+. Here in the US we pay for everything unless there's a compassionate veterinarian who wants to work out a plan or helps (very rare). How I wish I lived in the UK.

[Mollycat]

I think things may be changing, Kay. I just rechecked where Molly had hers, the price has gone up quite sharply since 2 years ago and a second treatment if needed is now "at reduced cost" which I seem to remember was free before. But the cost of initial treatment has gone up by 50%.

Did you have the follow up tests after the treatment? What's the cost of the blood test? No I would definitely not medicate without a diagnosis first as other things could be causing the symptoms. After treatment did he have any other issues in his bloodwork, kidney issues for example?

PS we pay for everything too, it's just that sometimes follow-ups are included in the package mainly to make sure people bring their pets back to be checked.

[twopurringcats]

His tests were back to normal after the treatment. I haven't done any since then. I have limited funds since the pandemic hit so now I need to save up and get his blood tests again, which is around @$250 here. I'm in the US and veterinary care is expensive..especially in rural areas where good care is limited like where I live. They charge even more than where I used to live and add lots of extra expenses in. My old vets were more budget conscious but are too far from me to go to now.

I won't medicate him, you're right, it could skew the results. He's doing great today..the doctor said his hormones would fluctuate after the treatment and they have. Some days he's back to normal, others he's not feeling like doing much eating. Maybe the summer heat might affect it..hes a longhaired cat, but I brush his fur to keep the mats at bay and sometimes massage some water into the fur to cool him a little.

[Mollycat]

That is a pretty outrageous price. We get a basic blood panel that flags up kidney values, liver, thyroid and a few more things for £70, more detailed tests cost more obviously but that was the broad test that spotted Molly's hyperthyroidism and two cats' kidney issues. And I get the result in 20 minutes while I wait.

[booktigger]

You are lucky to be able to get bloods including thyroid that cheap and to get them so quickly, a lot of vets round here don't get the additional testing part of the machine to do thyroid in house, my vets have to send it to the main branch to be checked, you'd be lucky to drive between the two in 20 mins, never mind perform the test and get results.

[twopurringcats]

That's amazing. Here they send it to a lab then call us with results up to a week later. I had an ultrasound done on my other cat two years ago and it cost $500. Crazy expensive. They called with results later. No pictures or anything sent to me. It seemed unprofessional. And this vet was supposed to be one of the best in this area. And their one assistant scolded me for getting the ultrasound because my cat (who had cancer) was sick. I told her to get upset with the vet because she ordered the test and I listen to vets over the office staff. I miss living in the city, where people are better equipped and more professional.

[Mollycat]

You are lucky to be able to get bloods including thyroid that cheap and to get them so quickly, a lot of vets round here don't get the additional testing part of the machine to do thyroid in house, my vets have to send it to the main branch to be checked, you'd be lucky to drive between the two in 20 mins, never mind perform the test and get results.

Ah mine is a one off independent, they even used to do their own out of hours though they don't any more. The £70 test is probably used so much it was worth investing in their own machine. It's the same one they use for pre-op tests I believe, obviously more detailed tests needed go to a lab, but I hadn't appreciated how lucky we are maybe. I guess I just assumed lots of vets would have the same technology at hand. But sadly that does not help our friend with Matt.