From: jonb@Ingres.COM (Jon Berger)
Subject: Re: Thyroidectomy
Keywords: Thyroid
Reply-To: jonb@ingres.com
Organization: Ingres, an ASK Company
Date: 22 Jul 92 18:14:48 GMT

In article <1992Jul22.004620.9746@phlpa.pha.pa.us>, scott@phlpa.pha.pa.us (Scott Scheingold) writes:
>Hi cat lovers,
>
>I have a domestic short hair 13 yr old cat. I just have taken it to the vet 
>because she was not eating and she was loosing  alot of weight. We have found
>out that her thyroid has a tumor and must be taken care of. Her thyroid level
>is way up and she has just started tapazole 5mg 1 1/2 tabs twice a day. This
>is to lower her thyroid activity....
   [ deletions ]
>I have been told that I may get another 2 years from her just from meds but
>surgury or the radiation *should* be done because meds don't work after a
>while and the surgury or radiation could give me another 7 yrs or so. I love 
>her so much. I could not put her to sleep because she is running me some real 
>bucks. I don't want her to suffer either. But I am nct rich and by the time all
>is said and done it will be over $1000.00. I would do anything for my  cats.
>People have a hard time even pondering the idea that I would take her to NY
>for the radiation. But you cat lovers can understand I am sure.

I understand perfectly.  This is a horribly difficult decision, and,
in the end, one that you'll have to make by yourself, based on what you
decide is really best for your cat.  

I'm preparing myself to face a very similar decision about Ivy, my
14-year-old calico shorthair.  She's quite healthy and active at the
moment, but she's lost some weight, her blood work is showing early
signs of anemia, and she's probably heading for urinary tract and
kidney problems.  I've thought about this a lot, and I've basically
decided that I'm not going to take any heroic measures that will make
her uncomfortable.  She's old, she really hates being taken to the
vet even for a checkup, she's miserable when she's away from home,
and she doesn't understand that it's for her own good.  I've been
through the surgery/transfusion/extended-hospital-stay route with a
previous cat, Aubrey (who died anyway, at age 4), and I just can't see
putting Ivy through that at her age.  I'm feeding her K/D -- which helps
considerably, actually -- and I'll do everything I can to make her as
happy and comfortable as possible when the time comes, but I really think
the trauma of the hospital treatment outweighs the benefit of the few
additional years of life she might gain by it.  I really think that's
what she'd say if I could ask her.

This is my decision -- and I don't know how well I'll do at standing
by it if I'm told that she'll die in a month without a transfusion.
You have to decide what's best in your particular situation, in part by
listening to what your cat tells you as much as possible.  If you decide
that the number of years she might live is a factor, incidentally,
you should consider that seven more years of life in the case of a
13-year-old cat is an _extremely_ generous estimate.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jon Berger     jonb@ingres.com     {mtxinu,sun,amdahl,pyramid}!ingres!jonb
"If you push something hard enough, it will fall over." 
                                         -- Fudd's First Law of Opposition