Sebastian’s Diagnoses

Last week, Sebastian had his wellness visit. Now that he’s 15 years old I dread these visits. I have anxiety and stress about finding out something is wrong with my fur baby. But I still do them. Every single year I take him in for his wellness visit and vaccinations. This year, they found something. Sebastian has lost a little over a pound since his visit last year. And then upon physical examination, a lump was found on his throat. A lump! When the doc told me my baby had a lump on his throat my heart just fell.

The doctor tried to convince me this was all going to be ok and not to jump to conclusions. But more likely than not, Sebastian had a thyroid issue. He is perfectly healthy in every other way, beautiful coat, healthy teeth and very opinionated with a large personality. We ordered a complete blood workup so we could get a full picture of what was going on with my little buddy. But, we’d have to wait 24 hours to get the test results.

Those 24 hours were long! I tried to keep myself busy with work and cleaning around the house. The next morning I called the office to see if the results were back. They were! However, I had to wait for the doctor to read them and call me. And, he was in surgery. I knew it was going to be late afternoon before I heard anything. So I tried to focus on work and kept my phone near by with the ringer turned all the way up so I wouldn’t miss his call. Around 4 pm in the afternoon, I received the call. Sebastian’s blood result came back with a lot of positives. His liver and kidneys are working perfectly. But he does have Hyperthyroidism. If left untreated Sebastian’s health would deteriorate and he would die. My best option would be to see if Sebastian is a candidate for the Radioactive iodine therapy. We have our appointment on Tuesday with the radiologist and he’ll let me know if Sebastian is a candidate or not. I’m pretty sure he is, so I’m too concerned there. But the timing and after care for Sebastian is going to be tricky.

When Sebastian has the treatment he will have to stay at the clinic for 5 – 7 days. Once his radioactive levels are at an acceptable level he will be cleared to come home. But then there are 2 weeks of aftercare procedures I have to follow. We have a very busy next few months with trips, holidays and conferences so I need to make sure I can be there for Sebastian and take care of all the projects I have going on. I feel like there are a million balls in the air and I’m trying to juggle them all. But I’m ok with letting some of those balls drop if it means getting Sebastian the treatment he needs. Once Sebastian has this treatment he should start gaining weight again. They say it takes 1-3 months from time of treatment for the thyroid to regain normal function. It is the best treatment option for cats. They can go on and live a normal life without complications.

So if you reach out and I don’t respond right away, I’m probably spending time with Sebastian. Once we start this treatment I won’t be able to snuggle him like I used to for about 3 weeks so I’m trying to get all the extra snuggles and kitty kisses in now.  I’ll keep you all updated on Sebastian. And I’ll share our journey through his treatment.