From: badboy@netcom.com (Jay Keller)
Subject: Re: Radioactive Cat: How Dangerous is She?
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 92 07:01:23 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)

Thanks to all who responded on the current subject.  Thanks especially to those
who expressed a concern for the well-being of the patient cat.

I have some more facts to add to the discussion.  The isotope in question is,
as many have suggested, I-131 with a half-life of approximately 8 days.  The
cat is first injected with a small dose of Technetium which allows a scan to
be done to evaluate the situation.  Then the Iodine dosage is determined and
it is administered.  At this point the cat remains in the hospital for about
a week.

I am told that the state of California forbids them to release the cat until
it is emitting less than 2 mR/hr.  

What that means I don't know, but I'm sure someone here will.  Is it
milliRoentgens, milliRads, milliRems, or milli-something-elses?  I suspect that
it is nothing to worry about.  The people working at the clinic are exposed to
several of these hot cats every day and seem to feel that they aren't in any
danger, based on monitoring their personal dosages.

I will ask about taking iodine supplements to avoid any uptake of the I-131.
Thanks to the person who suggested this.

To the person who suggested that I have "nothing to lose" by going ahead with
this treatment, I'd like to point out that it costs at least $600 for starters
and that certainly if it threatened my kids I'd never go through with it
even though I love my cat. 

To Mr. Nil, who suggested that "it is very egoistic of you if you let it suffer
for personal reasons" and that "the only humane and responsible thing to do is
to take the cat to the vet and have it put to sleep", I can hardly express the
amazement and indignation I felt when I read your posting.  I can only say to
you that you are wrong, very wrong.  The procedure in question is painless
and apparently has an excellent chance of restoring the cat to her previously
healthy condition.  By what logic could it be inhumane to offer effective and
painless medical treatment to a critically sick animal?  

For those people who expressed an interest in this cat's well-being, again I
thank you.  You might like to know a bit more about her.  Her name is Grenny.
Also "Gren" and "Gren-Gren", all of which are short for her full name, which
is Grenache.  I got her and her step-sister in 1983 at the local Humane Society
as 2-month-old kittens.  The other cat is Slinky (also "Sling", both short for
her full name which is Reisling).  Grenny is by far the lover of the pair.
While Slinky roams the neighborhood all day and only comes home each evening to
eat and sleep, Grenny is never more than a few yards from whomever is around
the house.  She wakes us up in the morning and is always waiting for the car
when we come home.  She is a real "talking cat".  She constantly emits various
meows and the careful observer realizes that she always uses the same sounds
for the same situations.  Like when we open the front door to let her in, there
is a characteristic meow which we know means "thank you".  Gren is a longish-
haired tortoise-shell with all pure white snow underneath, very beautiful.
At the moment she is scheduled to start her iodine treatment on Friday.  I will
report the results to the net.

Best regards,

Jay Keller
Sunnyvale, California
badboy@netcom.com

Newsgroups: sci.physics