It’s a cure, not long-term management.

Unlike medication or a low-iodine diet, radioiodine is a permanent cure for feline hyperthyroidism. It’s also almost always a one-off treatment; less than 1% of cats will need a second dose. Your cat enjoys better health, and you avoid the $600-$900 annual expense and time involved in the usual lifelong treatment methods for hyperthyroidism.

It works on ‘hidden’ thyroid glands.

About 20% of cats have thyroid glands in their chest, but you’ll only know if your cat does by having tests done with highly specialist equipment. Unlike surgery, radioiodine will find its own way to any glands in the chest, making your cat’s treatment highly targeted and effective.

It works quickly.

Most cats will have normal hormone levels within 1 or 2 weeks of radioiodine treatment (although it can take up to 6 months to take full effect).

There’s no need for a special diet.

Even if your cat has been on a low-iodine diet, that can stop once their radioiodine treatment is complete. This means they’ll get a lot more variety and enjoyment from their food–and it’ll be significantly cheaper for you!

No healthy tissue is affected.

The iodine isotope used in this treatment is only taken up by your cat’s thyroid tumor – not by healthy tissue in either the thyroid glands or any other part of your cat’s body. This is particularly important because there are other important glands close to the thyroid gland, which might be damaged if your cat has surgery.

There are no side effects.

There really aren’t. We will sedate your cat when treated, so sometimes a cat will feel under the weather, or off their food for a very short time, after treatment. This soon passes, and there are no side effects from the radioiodine. Very occasionally, a cat’s thyroid hormone levels will tip the other way, becoming too low, so a cat may become hypothyroid – but this is very treatable with supplementation in food.

Radioiodine is painless.

Just one injection in the scruff of their neck. No surgery, no implants, no wounds, no stitches, no pain. That’s especially important, because hyperthyroid cats are typically older, and often have secondary conditions, such as a fast heart rate, which make surgery even more risky.

There’s no need for lifelong medication.

All the hassle of tablets and medications will be over (for you and your cat) and you’ll save the cost of these too.

Why choose I-131 over other treatments?