Hello, Debt

Polly has hyperthyroidism.   The normal unbound T4 value in cats is apparently about 1-5 ug/dL.  Hers is over 100.  

I’d mentioned the possibility of "hypo-" in a previous post, and that was incorrect and should have been hyper, which is the one more common in cats.  I had just been told the incorrect one by a tech at the time and relayed that, though thinking about it later, it made no sense.

A hyperactive thyroid causes some of the following common signs in cats:
-Polyuria/polydipsea (increased urination/drinking)
-Normal to increased appetite with weight loss/no weight gain, regardless
-Increased "yowling" and hyperactivity
-Skin/hair issues (alopecia, sometimes with itching)

Over the past week, contemplating things, I already had deduced the likelihood that she has the condition (very likely), since she exhibits all of the above.  So, I was prepared for the news when the vet called this morning.  Or, so I thought.  The reality of it hadn’t really settled in until now.  Money for medication, yes.  But also, money for more labs a week after the onset of treatment, a couple of weeks, a month, a few months, 6 months…all over $200-visits each time, plus the cost of the medicine, which could be another $50-$100 per month.  There’s also the option of radioactive treatment, which is a "cure", but can cost somewhere between $600 and $1600, on average.  I’m almost thinking, depending on how much that does cost, it could be the better option, since it’s looking like I’d be paying at least $600 with the meds route in the first month as it is, and that would be for life, as compared to a one-time deal.  Discounting the chest x-rays she’d have to have before radiation therapy, of course, which would be an extra couple hundred.  Also, he noted that once thyroid levels were stabilized, there’s entirely the possibility of uncovering kidney disease, which can be masked by the hypertension caused by hyperthyroidism (which would dilute higher concentrations of other things that build up from poor kidney function).  Obviously, at this point, my hope is that that isn’t going to be the case.  Because, then that’s more testing and treating.  Did I mention that she’s still in need of a dental, too, which is a few hundred bucks?

I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed.  I’m feeling like at the end of the summer, when school ends, I’ll have zero loan money left to hold me over until I find a job, and who knows how long it would take to find one?  Maybe a few weeks.  Maybe a few months.  I really don’t know.  And, I don’t know if my feelings are even warranted.  I understood the responsibility of taking her in when I made the decision to.  I guess I just had thought (and was told) that she’d never had any problems and had hoped for the best.  Instead, there’s been a whole slew of problems that no one ever knew about because I discovered she barely ever was taken to the vet (even if she physically couldn’t have, HE could have), and who knows when this all first started.  My guess is that it’s been going on for years, and now it’s at this level of severity.

Maybe, I shouldn’t be whining so much about this, but I have no one to talk to about it, right now, so I need some kind of outlet.  It’s just that the thought of how much this is going to cost is frightening, and I have to somehow conceal it all from my mom.  And, I have to get through two more back-breaking semesters of grad school, in the meantime.  I also forgot to factor in the fact that my loan bills from vet school AND grad school will start to pour in when school finishes, so that’s something else I’ll have to deal with, when the time comes.

Now that I’ve gotten all of this out, I need to go write Toni a message and then get this last lingering assignment for research class out of the way.