Monday, September 10, 2007

Hamilton's in!

Well, I did the hard thing today and drove Hamilton the 40 minutes to Angell Memorial in Boston, then left him there to be tested and hopefully pass through to be allowed to have the radioactive iodine treatment.

While we were in the car, the little guy sat quietly and trustingly in his carrier, and my heart broke because I felt like I was betraying him. I had to keep reminding myself that this was for his own good, and that he'd be a healthier and happier cat once he had the treatment.

The vet at Angell was wonderful. She checked him out thoroughly, talked to him, rubbed and scratched him, and made me feel better about our decision. She told me that hyperthyroid disorder makes cats susceptible to all kinds of other problems, including the eye infection she could see he was developing, and that we wouldn't have been able to leave him for even a day without messing up his medication schedule and his levels, for the rest of his life. She assured me that the treatment has a very high rate of success and should guarantee him a much higher quality of life.

I'll hear from her tomorrow, when she'll tell me the results of his preliminary x-rays and let me know if Hamilton will be having the shot on Wednesday. She didn't foresee any problems.

The hardest part was watching her walk away with him in her arms, bundled in the blanket I left with him along with some toys. It could be almost three weeks before we see our little guy again.

But I know we're doing the right thing!

No comments: