Our special patient this month is Rupert – a very handsome older man who possibly has some oriental blood in his family tree. Rupert visited us last year because his family had noticed that he had lost some weight and was sleeping a lot. We ran some blood tests and found that Rupert was hyperthyroid, which explained his weight loss.

The thyroid gland produces hormones which run our metabolism – when we produce too much thyroid hormone our metabolism speeds up causing weight loss with a ravenous appetite, and high blood pressure among other things.

We started Rupert on some oral medication to reduce his thyroid function. The challenge with managing these patients with long term medication is that the disease is progressive and worsens with time requiring higher and higher doses of medication. Rupert’s family decided that the best option for Rupert’s long-term health and well-being was to refer him for Radioactive Iodine Therapy. The radioactive iodine targets the thyroid gland and reduces the production of thyroid hormones permanently. The treatment is intensive for a 10-day period, but the likely outcome is that the patient is cured – and that is exactly what has happened for Rupert. He has put on 2kg and is back to being a happy and healthy mature cat who is running the household again. His recent blood tests were fabulous, and his family are thrilled with the results of the Radioactive Iodine Therapy.

You rock Rupert!