Vante's back home!

I picked up Vante this morning and she's is her gorgeous, ornery self.  She was so talkative at the clinic this morning.  I could hear her talking to Bobbi as she was pulled out of her cage and put back into her carrier.  She was just full of opinions!

They treated four cats this week and it sounds like that was more than normal for them.  So they were quite busy.  Also, two or three of the cats (Vante included) were talkers.  One would start meowing, then the others would chime in.  I guess they had a little chorus going at times.

Vante ate and drank well yesterday, but hadn't eaten much this morning.  She's eaten a little bit in the 2+ hours we've been home, so I'll monitor that but I think she'll be fine.  

I spoke with Bobbi and she told me that I had incorrectly referred to the radioactive iodine treatment as R131, when it's actually I131.  So I've gone back and fixed all my incorrect blog postings.  Thanks for setting me straight Bobbi!

I also found out that the bilateral thyroid adenoma just means that her thyroid was overactive on both sides, which I guess is normal.  If you look at the below image from the gamma camera you'll see that Vante's left thyroid is more overactive than her right thyroid.  (I think this is so neat!)

When Vante got home she checked out her water pitcher, made her rounds of her downstairs domain and then promptly laid on the floor and stretched out as much as she possibly could.  I think she was so happy to be home and stretch out on carpet.  Bless her heart, I spent probably an hour just hanging out, scratching her when she wanted it, tossing toys to her and making sure she was all set up and comfy.

Here are my take-home instructions until Friday, April 19:
1. Keep cat indoors
2. A small amount of radioactivity is being excreted in her urine and feces.  Use a plastic liner for the litterbox.  Wear gloves to clean the litterbox.  When cleaning the box put it in a plastic bag and immediately take it out of the house.  Put the gloves in the bag to be thrown away too.  Wash hands.
3. If she vomits or anything else outside the litterbox, clean it up ASAP while wearing gloves and immediately throw it away outside the house.  Put the gloves in the bag to be thrown away too.
4. Anybody under 18, pregnant or trying to get pregnant shouldn't be around the cat.
5. Close contact is discouraged.  Avoid face-to-face contact and contact with your cat's saliva.  Wear gloves if you have to pill your cat.  Don't let the cat sleep in the bed with you.  You can hold and pet your cat for short periods of time, but wash your hands immediately afterwards.
6. If your cat walks on the counters, use a cutting board for food preparation or thoroughly clean all food preparation surfaces before use.
7. If your cat becomes ill, take them to your normal veterinarian but immediately tell the front desk that she has had I131 treatment (for the protection of staff under 18, pregnant or trying to get pregnant).

Approximately one month after discharge Vante's thyroid needs to be rechecked by our normal veterinarian.  

So, as you can see I'm going to have my hands a litter fuller than normal keeping up with Vante.  Right now her radioactivity is less than .1, and it will, over the course of 60 days, go down to zero.  People get sent home every day after drinking this, so I'm not worried.  I'm keeping the hand sanitizer close by though. 

 I want to extend a big thank-you to the staff at the Feline Hyperthyroid Treatment Center.  They took excellent care of Vante for me.  Thanks Bobbi and Dr. Lynch!