Our Radioactive Cat

Max was due for his annual checkup in October, so I brought him in to Dr. Dave (our vet) for the usual vaccination updates and worm checks. But right off the bat it turned out to be more than we had anticipated. When Dr. Dave put him on the scale, we discovered that he had dropped 2 pounds in the previous year, going from eleven pounds to around nine. Something was definitely wrong.

We hadn't noticed anything different about his behavior, or even noticed his weight loss. But we probably had become used to picking up Anders, and as he kept growing our perception of Max's weight became a bit skewed.

Dave and I briefly discussed the most likely causes, then he drew some blood and sent it to the lab for analysis. A few days later the results came back: Max had feline hyperthyroidism. His thyroid glands were overproducing - probably as a result of a tumor of some sort - resulting in increased metabolism and thus weight loss. The condition is one of the most common diseases in otherwise healthy (i.e. not overweight) cats. We were presented with several options for treatment.
Option 1: Twice-a-day medication to control the thyroid activity, given daily in perpetuity.
Option 2: Surgical removal of the overactive thyroid tissue.
Option 3: A one-time injection of radioiodine that destroys the overactive cells and should return the cat to normal functioning.
After doing some research online and talking to Dave, we chose the radioactive cat.

Since radioactive substances are involved, there are a limited number of veterinary facilities that are qualified to administer the treatment. The actual procedure is simply an injection under the skin which takes no more than 5 minutes, but the resulting radioactivity requires that the cat be in a controlled, secured environment for a period of time so that the terrorists can't get hold of him. (Or something like that anyway.) We contacted VDIC, the facility in Portland that Dave recommended, and a few weeks later I dropped Max off on a Tuesday morning to start his recovery.

Since he was going to be "behind bars" for 4 days, we brought some of his food and one of his fleece blankets from home so that he might feel more at home. During his stay, we were able to view him on their cat-cams:

Virtually every time we looked at the camera, Max was sitting on that upper ledge, just staring down at the blanket that we brought for him. And since the blanket would be irradiated, we wouldn't be getting it back. Oh well. We did find him sitting on it once, so I guess that makes it worthwhile.

On Thursday I drove back into Portland to pick him up. He had done fine at the facility but was definitely glad to be heading back home. Little did he know that things wouldn't be returning to normal quite so quickly.

When administering radioiodine to cats, many facilities keep the cat for 3-6 weeks until the radiation levels were reduced enough to return him to the owners. While VDIC only kept him for 4 days, he was, in fact, still radioactive. So we had some specific instructions to follow when we brought him home.

1. For the first two weeks, wear latex gloves when handling any of your cat's waste products and bodily fluids and when cleaning the litter pan.
   
2. The litter pan should be cleaned twice daily, placing all contents in a double-lined container. After two weeks, the container should be closed and stored for 3 months in a remote location, away from children and other animals.
   
3. Due to the radiation, we ask that minors (<18 years of age) and pregnant women should avoid any contact with your cat or its waste products for 5 weeks following release.

So, not exactly back to normal. We lock Max out of our bedroom at night so that he can't sleep on the bed; we've moved his litter box; and we monitor Max and Anders to minimize any significant contact.

Since Anders is still sleeping in his crib on the landing outside of our door, he ends up on the other side of the now closed door at night. To ensure that we can hear him, we set the baby monitor on the floor right outside the door. We quickly discovered a side effect of that setup: the very first night back, Max sat outside the closed door and meowed directly into the monitor.

Soon, though, the two weeks will be up and we can begin to return to normal, though we will have to keep Max and Anders apart for a few more weeks. I guess that can be our Christmas gift to both of them this year!

Oh, and we'll definitely let you know if Max develops any super powers.

- Mike, Corinne, Anders Rocket, and Glowing Max