OR... then again... there's also the possibility that they left a message at my home number, instead of calling me at work... which... is, in fact, what they had done.
Sometimes the most obvious answer escapes you. Or, at least, they tend to escape me... slippery little things, shooting like greased pigs through my grasping brain, those obvious answers.
So. Now, the good news is: the Old Man, aka His Old Manliness, aka Farticus, aka WhoDaPoopyhead?, is not dead. And his teeth are clean.
The bad news is, Grandma's on the roof...
I'm actually happy that it's been diagnosed; heretofore, His Old Manliness has been an unhappy cat, and this diagnosis means that there are things we can do to make his life much more pleasant...
The three little options are: {1} medication for the rest of his life, {2} surgery, and {3} radiotherapy.
Surgery is too cold... even my vet recommends against surgery {he admits quite frankly that the few times he's done it, the results have not been good}.
Radiotherapy is too hot... my vet says it's the best {if rather expensive} option; however, there's nobody in the entire province of Quebec who is qualified to do it, so His Old Manliness would have to endure a two~&~a~half hour trip to Ottawa... which we may yet do. But, says the vet, the DMV around the corner has all the equipment ready to go, and if we can just hold out until they get somebody trained, maybe in a year or so, then The Old Man will only have to go a hop, skip & a jump down the road. Therefore, for now:
Medication is just right.... or, rather, it will be... after we spend a few months tweaking the dosage... *sigh* poor dear poopyhead...
Since the medication can be a lifelong prospect, the manfucturers make it in many different flavours & forms ~ besides the usual pill, it comes as a liquid, or as a soft treat, or even as a gel that is rubbed on the ears. And The Old Man is mad for the Medi-Cal treats -- I just have to put a pill next to a treat in my palm, and he'll wolf 'em both. So at least the medication ritual won't be a horrid daily experience.
And hopefully, the "increased irritability" mentioned by the FAB information sheet is indeed a symptom of hyperthyroidism, and will be ameliorated by the medication... he is so tetchy with the other cats right now...
I have to let a few days pass, to let him recover from the anesthesia; and then he starts on this course of pills; and then in three weeks we have an appointment with the vet and we see how he is progressing.
Well.
He can't stay with us forever, and the best we can do is to ensure that the time he spends with us is happy, and that his passing on is dignified; but if we do this right, then he'll be happy with us for quite a few years yet. Bast willing...
Posted by edgar at November 6, 2003 10:16 AM