Small Animal Department, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
Department of Morphology, Medical Imaging, Orthopaedics, Physiotherapy and Nutrition, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
J Feline Med Surg. 2023 Feb;25(2):1098612X221150191. doi: 10.1177/1098612X221150191.
Radioiodine (I) therapy is the most appropriate treatment option for many hyperthyroid cats, as it is minimally invasive and often curative. Nevertheless, I treatment is not always pursued by owners. Hence, it is important to obtain more insight into owner satisfaction during and after I treatment, and their decision-making process. In this study, we describe the characteristics of owners and their hyperthyroid cats referred for I therapy, and determine owners' motivation and how they experienced the I treatment of their cat.
A survey was sent to owners whose cats underwent I therapy (n = 1071) between 2010 and 2017 at Ghent University. The survey contained 35 questions with tick-box or free-text answer options concerning family situation, pet insurance, previous therapy, comorbidities, motivation for I therapy and owner perception of this treatment.
In total, 438 owners completed 94% or more of the questionnaire. Over half of the cats (55%) had received previous medical, dietary or surgical treatment. Motivations for changing the initial therapy to I therapy included difficulties in administering medication (31%), insufficient improvement in clinical signs (23%), side effects (16%) and following the referring veterinarian's advice (16%). Almost a fifth of owners (18%) were not informed about the existence of I therapy by their veterinarian and found information on I treatment online or through friends. Hospitalising their cat was very distressing for 17% of owners. Most owners (92%) were satisfied with the treatment. Reasons for dissatisfaction were insufficient communication, iatrogenic hypothyroidism, persistent hyperthyroidism and comorbidities post-treatment.
Our study stresses the importance of communication regarding the possible outcome of I treatment, the importance of managing underlying comorbidities before treatment and anticipating the stress of owners during their cat's hospitalisation period. The results of this study could help in improving client communication when advising on I treatment.
放射性碘（I）治疗是许多甲状腺功能亢进猫的最适宜治疗选择，因为它微创且通常具有治愈性。然而，并非所有主人都会选择这种治疗方法。因此，了解主人在接受 I 治疗期间和之后的满意度以及他们的决策过程非常重要。在这项研究中，我们描述了接受 I 治疗的猫主人及其甲状腺功能亢进猫的特征，并确定了主人的动机以及他们如何体验猫的 I 治疗。
我们向 2010 年至 2017 年间在根特大学接受 I 治疗的猫主人（n=1071）发送了一份调查问卷。该问卷包含 35 个问题，采用勾选框或自由文本答案选项，涉及家庭情况、宠物保险、先前的治疗、合并症、I 治疗的动机以及主人对这种治疗的看法。
共有 438 位主人完成了 94%或更多的问卷。超过一半的猫（55%）接受过先前的药物、饮食或手术治疗。将初始治疗改为 I 治疗的动机包括难以给药（31%）、临床症状改善不足（23%）、副作用（16%）和听从转诊兽医的建议（16%）。近五分之一的主人（18%）未从兽医处获悉 I 治疗的存在，而是从网上或通过朋友获取 I 治疗信息。17%的主人认为将猫住院非常痛苦。大多数主人（92%）对治疗满意。不满意的原因包括沟通不足、医源性甲状腺功能减退、治疗后持续性甲状腺功能亢进和合并症。
我们的研究强调了在建议 I 治疗时进行沟通的重要性，包括可能的治疗结果、治疗前管理潜在合并症以及预测主人在猫住院期间的压力。本研究的结果有助于改善与 I 治疗相关的客户沟通。
