New Personality

I was warned that there would be some changes in his "voice" which I have not seen, in his energy level etc.

I have been away helping my mom (truly a sick cat was allowing me to obsess in a very benign way until he got well. Now I have a real mother with REAL cancer) as she has results, and doctor appointment and a MOVE from the cold side of the state to the warmer one for the season. The ability to travel is the gift my cat has given me!

Upon returning from two 2-night absences in the past two weeks, all the Dude does is gripe! He has a sort of "YOU know what I want and you are NOT doing it!!" tirade. He also has a separation anxiety sort of siamesy thing that he pulls when the neighbor cat walks out of the yard. I got a serenade when I got home, but no real lovin'.

He LOOKS wide!!! I mean he literally appears to have added a lot of weight. I don't see it on the scales because I have to hold him and subtract the two weights - he jiggles too much! We need to get him in after 30 days post procedure to see what NORMAL looks like, so I will know more.

But for now, I believe I have my old aloof, terminally bored, plotter of my demise back!

dj*

Normal Doesn't Feel Normal

But it is.

I actually have no idea what to expect from him. Other than looking aloof. One might think he would be a little aware of all of the hubbub going on around him, and at least act a little grateful.

One very cooperative thing he has been doing is isolating himself. I like to keep the back room shut off. It is on the west side of the house and I don't tape it, but I shut the door and the vents so the heat from the sun on that side is not being cooled all day and costing A/C. He sneaks in and seems to like the warm. Or actually, I think the windows have a better view and I am not there wandering around. At least once a day he has run in there for a few hours. Looks up at me all smiley and happy, not hiding in the dark or anything, right there where I would step on him if I didn't look. Just stretches and looks at me.

He used to like to go in there and raid my socks drawers. LOVES my socks.

So.

Normal is just normal.

I am in the middle of art again. It is a lot easier than worry. The thing is, I have a headache now, so the typical thing is come in here and blow my eyeballs on the computer, give them a break from the drawing board!

Called the Hospital

Mostly just to check in. My biggest problem is he has suddenly become very mellow and social. NOT lovey-dovey, but very friendly! An unusual condition indeed!

The results for his outgoing test, five days after treatment had his T4 (the big thyroid indicator - normal range between 4 and .8) at 2. SO PERFECT!!!

His thyroid which has come back from hiding while the wild cells took over his life, is apparently popping back into action. He is mellow, not lethargic - nappy, not sleepy - alert, not wired - and now we add more and more pops onto my lap to say hi... which is regulated to 30 minutes a day. He is getting even in his very personally subversive way!

HOME!

I picked him up at about 4:30 today. I asked them to put him in his carrier while they had him out, so we could avoid the switch back a couple of times.

They said he did all of his necessary potty stuff while sedated. What guy! So they took blood, gave him a tummy shot, measured and weighed and whatever they needed.

It was a mere 108 today, so I brought a wet chilled towel to drape across the cage, to keep him cool.

It was the nicest thing! He was groggy but not at all ticked off. Just out of it enough not to say anything, but I was so thrilled: he kept sticking his nose out on my side. No complaining, just sniffing me!

When we got home, he was exploding fur and looking wet-down. The last was is to clean up all they can of the fur and I approve of the sedation. I think the blood in his furball yesterday was from his bad attitude! Hissing, growling and making himself a drama queen about it all while the little girl next door was all cuddly and lovey! He was living in stress. The sedatives made it easier on all of us. Him most of all.

By the time he was back home, introduced to new litter, a re-arranged household, and a couple of treats which he chased as usual, although with noticeably less vigor, I only got one or two editorial grumbles from him.

He went under the couch for a while and I talked him into a couple of brief rests on my lap!

There is a far away look in his eye, but he is very much NOT at all the worse for wear.

I feel his shoulder blades which were seriously bony when he left seems a bit meatier! He is walking a bit weak kneed, not sure how to explain it, but his eyes are looking around and well focused, just seriously ignoring me.

This is from less than half an hour home. He looks JUST fine now. Aloof but fine.

The cool part, and I may be hallucinating, is the little lump in his neck, smaller than a dime, that I would rub under his chin and he would occasionally choke a tiny bit when I did . . . I have not rubbed vigorously, but I SWEAR it is gone! Perhaps Mom is wishing it away but I cannot find it and he is breathing just great no matter how I scratch his chin!

WOW!

Back to watching him.

Saturday Morning.

I called them around 10.

They are busy today so I am going on the "NO NEWS . . ." good news principle.

Rhiannan said he had not taken any water or food overnight (they tend to check at 7 for weigh in and food) but as he had eaten they have no problems. I made sure they would call if there was any stool report. They gave him his first shot and again, no news.

I have decided the white tile and shower of my bathroom make a perfect little hide out for him while he cools down this week.

They won't let us sleep together, which is not how we do it. Contact is more at his "beck and call" than cuddle or "sleep together!" Short and intermittent contact is the norm but at night he sometimes sneaks up on the bed nearby.

I figure there is plenty of room for food, toys and scratching and even a cozy room in the shower for hiding out. Just would rather clean up radioactive barf off a tile floor than hunting it down under beds.

Going to get his disposable litter box and a bit more food for him to have in case he is stubborn and won't eat the usual stuff.

Glad to have his ugly scratcher go! I don't know that he much used it, but I was comforted that he had something to relieve his frustration . . . which he probably did NOT. . . which means we will be getting it at home tonight!!!

Will see you later this evening.!

An Issue.

On the way home they were leaving me a message. The fur ball we pulled out was pinkish and it was not color from kitty treats, it was apparently a bit of blood.

We suspect ulcers. They wanted to inject an anti nausea and some tummy meds. The barfing is about parr for his usual behavior but the blood is not.

Nor is the fur ball. He throws about three a year.

Normally he binges, eats a lot of dry food, tosses it and comes back to it later (if I am not there.) I wonder if it is the actual vomiting or the stress that is causing him to eat then vomit. He was doing it a LOT before we took him in. When the disease kicked back, he was pretty hungry but not really good at telling what he needed. I understand that is a little normal for HyperT - all the systems run in overdrive. Good news it that it is putting on weight.

The question is why blood?

I am going back this afternoon, as I saved up my geiger counted minutes so I have about 20 more. Not at all sure if he is happy to see me or mad that I did this to him. They think he is improving. His attitude is tolerant of them much more that the last few days.

This is trauma. Actually as freaked as I am I really DO believe more for him. What have I gotten myself into!????

I Shall Have HELL to Pay!

I liken him to a drama addict. The kitty next door is just happy to see people. My guy is really a bully. He sees very few people and tends to pretend he is a "cat", friendly prr's and chats and rubbing of legs with visitors.

When they leave, he just sits and "plots my demise".

That was all his pictures EVER looked like. He never would have a clue as to how to take care of himself, but I always knew he waited for that day.... and then he got older and sicker and started realizing I was useful.

When I first started giving him treats like cheese and bits of meat from my own meals he thought that was REALLY COOL and now he literally would pull my hand away from my face to sniff everything I brought into the living room as a snack. He is a bully!

Now in his cage, he is like a grumpy old neighbor, complaining about EVERYTHING! He threatens them when they come to clean up after his recent fur ball, he showed real teeth with me today.

I have found that backing him down works. I grab his head and scratch behind his ears and he is fine. But it is hard to do in a box!!!

I brought extra dry food as he was eating well and they ran out of the bag of goodies. They didn't want to court the runs with the other issues he had!

I stayed briefly and will be back later today to just put my face in. He is the king of his domain and absolutely a mess away from home.

I will be wearing cowboy boots in 100 degree days for the weekend at least! He will not be quick to forgive me!

Other than that, he seems quite fine.

Visiting Day

I got a call that he was receiving visitors at 3 and I put a cheese stick and jar of his treats in my purse and headed out.

I got some very bad photos, but there are some informative ones.

They gave me purple gloves and a big gown. I was NOT to let him out on the ground or hug him if possible. . . ha ha ha!

A big bank of rather lavish silver cages with stainless floors and walls. There were two cats side by side on the bottom and smaller cages above.

The still drugged, somewhat damp Dude sat in his cubicle, and greeted me with a very nasty hiss and growl. He is obviously not a happy drunk. Melanie alerted me to avoid punctures and bites, as (like Spiderman and his bug....?) he was still radioactive.

First thing he whacked at me. As usual, no real attempt to scratch, just the usual threat of violence. Can one have a verbally abusive cat? If he was talking he would have been bleeped on tv! He did not want to make contact really but I gave him a treat and instead of eating it, he shoved his head against my hand. When he realized it was food, he had a very hard time locating it. When he realized what it was, his aim was not so good and nearly got a finger. He was definitely a cat under the influence.

Finally I was rubbing his head. Aggressively. He was very fidgety and seemed like he needed a jog around the block. He was happy to have me there, but still more upset for all the activity going on around him. I think he may have just gotten into the big cage from the tiny ones.

I got half an hour visit today. That is all we get - 30 min. Tomorrow I will make it two 15's one early and one later. It was a little upsetting to see him wacked out. I want to see MY cat tomorrow.

Hopefully these work.

This is the treatment table in the isolation ward. There is a little lead lined box where they inject him then move him to one of the 6 small cages for three days.

The isolation ward

This is a bad shot of his new little cell where he will lounge for a couple of days, now that he is out. It is pretty spacious. He can dash around if necessary,

and the shot of his fond farewell as he growled me off into the sunset.

Early Call This Morning

Of course I freaked when the phone rang a little after 8.

All the news was good. He even stinked up his cage so he has eliminated through elimination the stuff he is supposed to.

He also threw up his food. That sounds awful, but he does that a lot. I think it is boredom. He chews on his dry food like I do potato chips. He is smart enough to barf it back. I gain weight and get migraines!

I was telling a friend online how, although my cat is not at all affectionate, occasionally demanding of attention, he has short interactions with me. He and I will check in. I hear him do a little mmmww under his breath and I say hi. He is sleeping in a corner too long and I will call out "Doood!" and he looks up, answers and goes back to sleep. He runs into my foot while I am sitting in a chair and rubs it. He HATES me to pick him up or pet him. It is ALL on his terms.

At night RIGHT about the time I doze off, he will plop himself on my tummy and indulge in quality petting. About five minutes and he is off.

When he first was getting well from the meds, he started falling asleep on me. THAT was so amazing! Living with a cat for 10 years that would LEAP on and leap off my chest (never my lap. That may have been partially due to his former 18 pound weight) for his own reward, actually being peaceful and happy enough to sleep with me, heartbeat to heartbeat. . .

I am going to bring a little cheese stick for him this afternoon. He has been called playful. That means I might wear my long sleeved shirt. We are not actively seeking bites or scratches while he still glows in the dark, but I bet he may want to express a bit of displeasure with his recent incarceration.

Wednesday Morning Report

I am just a potato.

The car is scheduled to be done this morning. . . that nebulous time until like 3 PM.

So I was watching tv and doing email and just waiting.

They outsmarted me today, as both times yesterday I called as Melanie was still in her garb from doing her rounds. She called right about 9. And her assessment was "FANTASTIC."

She said he was still hissing but after talking to me, had a better assessment of his personality. She said he even purred a little when he was examined. His urine is great but the bowel is a little slow. I warned her that he is VERY good at that part when it works!

She explained that the little cages have a litterbox and food and water and that my scratcher is a bit big for it. So she took the mousey off the board and he is cuddling it. AH. . . . He would probably be using the board to take his frustrations out on me but he will have to satisfy himself with a slightly catnipped sisal mousey which he doesn't really give a hoot about.

No weight GAIN, but he is stable, and stuff is going in. His panic attacks are diminished and he is apparently used to the gang. For now.

Tomorrow is bath day, and I won't be able to come see him until after 3.

They sedate him and want to be sure he is not limp when I get a look. Apparently is it 36 hours after treatment and they did him after 1 so they estimate a couple of hours to make him presentable.

I am pretty sure I will be able to take a few more snaps, maybe even of the isolation ward, when I go tomorrow. They have a bank of cages, a little roomier (vet dog size) and we can come scratch noses and feed treats for a couple of days. Then Friday again, then they will allow me to bring him back after the last bath on Saturday.

This all is great. They call it ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) radiation. This is another reason I was thrilled to use VCA instead of Radiocat. I was unhappy to make him sick for an additional 11 days, but Radiocat was fine with four days off meds. They understood I had misgivings, but I also could not see how the BEST effect could be achieved if they didn't maximize the activity of the disease. We had an ongoing miscommunication that was very frustrating.

They also would only keep him for the three days. YES AND NO. I live in a small house and was thrilled to see him back, BUT I like that VCA is monitoring him those two full days more. The days out of isolation and under the care of the staff is going to be good for ME. I am old enough to probably not have to worry about a lot of the issues that a younger woman would have from exposure, but my thyroid is just fine right now. Nice to keep it that way.

AND VCA is authorized to only do a top end of radiation. It should work fine on him, as he has a pretty high number, when he is tested later and his numbers should be fine, he comes up sick, they will RE-treat him at no added charge. This is very comforting, as the fund is all I have. I would NEVER be able to afford this twice!

Tomorrow - pictures!

4:15 and all is well. . .

I just got the call from the office and he is back awake, and they are going to give him some dry food and a bit of his cheap Friskies!

(He is NOT a picky eater, but when he got sick, he didn't eat. I started him on junk food and he loves the pate as a treat when I would give him his meds. So I threw a couple of cans of the usual in a baggie.)

Not much.

She says she will call tomorrow before 10 to see how his appetite is and what the post procedure effects are.

HOLY COW! Theoretically, I have a normal healthy cat after this! I am tearing up trying to remember what NORMAL was!

TODAY IS THE DAY!!

Here is the cage sitting in the vet's office waiting for them to come and take him away.

He had his little anxiety attack... and his mom is starting to be a mess.

You see, the vet said he has a slightly large heart.

That did freak me.

Feather had congestive heart failure. For a year or more, she just sort of sat in on a chair and watched life go by. The Dude is not in that condition. But . . .

He did his panting thing. Even the Radiology vet looked and wondered why. I explained he was having an anxiety attack. I KNOW he is.

They decided to change his meds from a simple knock out, bring back to feline Valium! PERFECT!

The whole procedure is less than 15 minutes. They do a bit of sedation to allow the injection and for a couple of baths that keep the radiation at the office and not in my living room.

Melanie, the girl who has helped me all the way along, said she will call me later this afternoon when he is done with the procedure and observed to be back to normal. He has a buddy who is coming in at 11 and both of them will get the procedure around 1. Then they sit in their very clean bank of cages with micro filtration banks of air sweepers for three days until they stop glowing.

From here on in, I hold my breath, go see what is wrong with my car (!?!?!?!?!) and hope that the sign over the desk is true:

Two More Days to Watch. . .

It was another very normal day!

I will say he is getting much more pushy. I have a lot of canned food, and treats and whatever I think he will eat. He has been begging cheese and I have been allowing every whim. He does not look as robust as when we took him off the meds, but every day closer, I am so grateful that he is not ill.

He did do one very weird thing...

He likes to lie on my chest while I recline on the sofa. When he wants to go he is obliged to pat my cheek and give me a real kiss. ONE good lick at least. And he knows it.

Some of his love pats have been a little sharp so I grabbed the clippers and thought I would be smart and just take the edges off.

Normally he bites a bit when he is fed up. This time he did a very odd threat (I WILL NEVER get it on camera but it is odd...) like about to hiss but didn't. Then kept his mouth open.

What is that????

Like "I CAN. . . really I can bite your face off so stop. . . Really! . ."

It was disconcerting and I allowed him to leave.

I say it is weird because it was a bit like he just didn't have the energy to follow through. He jumped off just fine, but I sort of wondered if he was maybe even a little dehydrated. Never stared into his wide open mouth that long! And he did it twice!

We shall see what tomorrow brings.

HEEBIES!

I was watching the Dude, and absolutely thrilled that he was not looking uncomfortable, did not throw up last night and really seems so good, if a little skinnier than I hoped, when tonight I saw the first sign of his heebie jeebies return...

He was kicking his feet, which he was doing a little, but the foot fight was a definite FULL BLOWN symptom... and today he did his little backflip, that starts this older video off...

BUT he is quiet, doesn't yell or hiss at me. He eats his food and his extra wet food.

WE ARE SO CLOSE and I am really happy to see him not getting sick!

Yawning Welcome Home...

We had a couple of nights apart and the Dude... well....

Ever the exciting one, was not too impressed.

I did find a little more vomit trails (he had the habit of cleaning up after these things . . . GROSS!) but food was eaten well, water was consumed somewhat normally.

A little loose stool in the cat box and he is starting to be grumpy. He boxes me a bit more and does not want me to pet him - even after the long separation. I do see a little of the heebie jeebies starting.

He fights his feet, but still silently. I used to have him sit on me and purr and suddenly get a little wild eyed, go silent and run to the floor to hiss and chase his tail. I have had a couple of un warranted hisses in the last week. A lot more foot biting, but no real out right crazy spells.

I can see his personality getting a little different. He is more alert. As I mentioned, I figure it may be going off the medication, not having the disease re-appear. The symptoms are that his more lethargic and detatched attitude since he got back to normal, is going. He LIKES to chase the treats. For a while he would sort of watch and decide if he felt like the reward was good enough.

This morning, he is still a lot more away. More talky than lately and a wee bit leaner, or so I think.... four more days home then off to the kitty spa.

FIRST Trip Away in a Year...

Well, nearly.

Tomorrow, with no need to sit and stare at him I am heading out on an overnight!

It is odd, leaving him alone, but honestly, just this week, I have been wondering if I had him a little over medicated. I swear, I can't tell you how happy he was looking this week.

I do notice his back, behind his slightly bony hips is a bit greasy. It used to look like he couldn't groom back there. He would hate for me to pat back that far on his back, but when the meds kicked in, he was much more docile. Off meds he just seems spunky! He has been chasing my heels and talking up a storm! He asks for food, but doesn't seem unusually hungry or thirsty. He has been laying around but less sleepy! It is odd that making him sicker seems to have made him happier. He lolls around on his back, purrs like mad and has a much brighter personality than recently.

I am hoping that the act of being on medication, although it helps his health might actually not making everything so good . . . Like when I was a kid, I had allergies. The meds made me function, as in not sneezing on everyone, but I was seriously dopey! Like that!!

So we shall give a fuller report when I return to see what a couple of days have produced.

Wish us all luck!

Good Bye To the Bottle. Can Your Rescue Use It?

For close to two years these little bottles have been keeping the Dude from crawling the walls, yo-yo-ing his weight up and down and allowing him to find a good life. Tonight will be his last dose if all goes well.

The nifty thing about this process is that it only kills cells that make thyroid hormone. The gland that is supposed to is regulated elsewhere and when the tumor cells start going crazy, spewing out the stuff, the gland is told to shut down. Because it goes dormant, we regulate the amount in his system with this drug. And it works well.

For two weeks ahead, we want the bad cells to do their worst! The radioactive stuff seeks ONLY these kinds of cells and chews them up. Also, just in case ANY of the normal cells are functioning, we try to drive them way underground by the sensors in the pituitary shutting the spigot off hard because of all the yuck from the bad guys. We want ALL of the medicine out of the system so the treatment can do its worst.

After the three hot days, when the cat is actively radioactive, before the half lives start breaking the iodine down, the levels will drop as the treatment clears out. By the time the bad cells are gone, the nuclear missiles are too. When the all clear sounds, the dormant gland will be awakened again and there may be a few odd months of him starting to regulate his own levels.

They tell me not to panic for three months. There is no exact prediction, but way into the 90%'s of the cats come out with perfectly normal thyroids. It is rare that a healthy thyroid is damaged by the process. Apparently if the thyroid comes out underfunctional. (hypo) it was already damaged for some other reason. We x-rayed him to be sure no physical abnormality kept him from having it work.

Fingers crossed I will no longer need this half bottle again!

I am going to send this post to as many local cat rescues as I can. This is a good three or four months of normal for a rescuer who has a sick kitty and can use a little help.

IF any of you know a rescue that needs this, drop me a line and we can meet up when my vet says The Dude is good to go. All the generous people that have helped me needs a bit of passing it forward. THANK YOU ALL.

The Spa?

Short note.
I have been posting on the YAHOO GROUP for "Feline HyperT" for more info and support since he was first diagnosed.
I just wanted to comment on the way they talk about the procedure. I like it!
They say he is heading to the kitty SPA.



OH does that suit him!

A Change of Venue

Ever get a sort of sinking feeling?

Well, I had talked to the Radiocat people and was starting to get MORE confused than calmed. I had talked to my vet about a conflict wherein her "Instructions to Professionals" indicated a two week "flush" so the meds would no longer mask the active irregular cells, so the Radioactive iodine would find all of the nasty stuff, but she was supposed to send along a one week clean test. LOTS of tests!

I got a paper that said four days before we scheduled, we went off the meds. That is all. My vet (the wonderful Dr. Delac) had left at least two messages with them that they had not replied to. I had also waited for four days at one point to get information.

Every time I talked to Radiocat, I got too much information. The first time I felt like I had a lot of info, but had missed the window of opportunity by a day. The tests would not be done in time and I had to wait for a month until the doctors came to town. Then it was two more weeks. Then it was the tests that we SHOULD have.

I had tried to explain that he had gotten very ill when I had a bad bottle of medication... she kept thinking that his levels were topping out and that there must have been SOME medicine. Radiocat kept reinforcing that they could only do the maximum amount. IF it was not enough, The dude might need to be treated again.

Well, there are a lot of issues but yesterday, when I DID talk to her, I was even more confused. The tests were due back today and the Doc was going to send them over. During my conversation, among the contradictions and odd replies to my questions (such as how come my paperwork said four days, hers said two weeks off meds?) explaining that the process was personalized for EACH cat. And her explanation of my cat (who she assumed was TOPPING out the numbers) would be just fine with a few days off meds... I SUDDENLY realized that early in this quest to repair my dude, I had talked to the ONE other local radio-oncology vet's office in town. The girl was very helpful and I LIKED what she had told me but I was not sure what she was saying.

So, I looked it up again!

EVERYTHING I heard sounded completely understandable, I liked knowing the place was there all the time, not just once a month... or month and a half.

So I took my papers and went over.

I talked to the doctor who would administer the treatment, toured the whole place, liked very much what I saw!

So.... we have moved it back ONE week. Again, I timed it off, but we will have a two week flush and fix him up on August 29...

I just feel better!

Got all the Paperwork.

Waiting is the hard part.

I have all the paperwork. The list of things we have to do before the procedure. The stuff they sent to the doctor.

This is going to be very boring from here on in.


I may have to start remembering stories to tell about the dude. NOW that he is back in good health, he is back to his normal, staring, waiting and sleeping. That is pretty much it!

I will try to snap a good race around the living room next time he tries one. He likes to do laps... across the vertical blinds, various chairs and often into the laundry area.... Try to keep the camera handy.