Specialised clinic
Cat hyperthyroidism
Our mission
Always offer the most effective and safe therapy
Give all our patients the opportunity to access the best care
Provide superior veterinary assistance with doctors attentive to every level of need of each individual patient.
These motivations have driven us since the first day of graduation to study, update ourselves, consult with colleagues both Italian and foreign, and to always strive, every single day, to give each patient the chance to receive the best care for their problems.
The Spinnato Veterinary Clinic is the first centre in Italy to use Iodine 131 to cure cats from thyroid tumours. This centre aims to respond to a need that has gone unattended for too many years. In Italy, dogs have always received better medical care than cats.
I have always dealt with abandoned cats and kittens. The law itself protects dogs more than cats.
I wanted to do something for our cat friends, life teachers since we were children. As a veterinarian and cat owner, I have often suffered seeing how cats were treated with indifference, superficiality, and ignorance.
The Spinnato Veterinary Clinic cares for them with expertise, kindness, and dedication. As cat owners, we veterinarians strive to understand their mood and meet every single one of their needs. If your cat needs to spend some time with us, you will find doctors who know how to listen to you and understand your cats with empathy and professionalism. You will discover at our Clinic a careful and personalised environmental enrichment that will make your cat’s stay as comfortable as possible, just as we would want for our own cats.
Radiometabolic therapy
My first encounter with radiometabolic therapy using Iodine 131 for cats affected by hyperthyroidism happened in 2001. It was love at first sight. I was in Scotland at the Department of Internal Medicine of the Small Animal Hospital at the University of Glasgow, under the supervision of Prof. Ian Ramsey. I was spending several months of practical internship required by the specialisation course in “Pathology and Clinic of Companion Animals” at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Pisa. Prof. George Lubas, my thesis advisor for the specialisation, was the person who enthusiastically introduced me to Prof. Ramsey. During my stay at the Scottish university, I was fortunate to see the wonderful results of therapy with Iodine 131 on hyperthyroid cats. Prof. Ramsey personally handled the cases to be treated and also provided me with material for my specialisation thesis, which was precisely about feline hyperthyroidism. I was also able to publish an article on 11 cases of hyperthyroid cats treated with Iodine 131. Iodine 131 had made me fall in love; a passion was born. It was astonishing for me to see a cat destined to die shortly reborn, healed in a few days with a single dose of radiopharmaceutical. It was a wonderful experience.
After finishing the internship abroad and returning to Italy, I immediately looked for a veterinary clinic where this particular therapy was practised, but I couldn’t find one. In Italy, there were no veterinary centres that treated hyperthyroidism with Iodine 131. Hyperthyroid cats in Italy did not have a very long life expectancy.
So I decided to open a feline hyperthyroidism therapy centre where I could use Iodine 131. At first, I did not realise what it concretely meant to be the first in Italy to open a clinic with a nuclear medicine department.
It was a unique experience, a “surreal journey” where I climbed mountains of bureaucracy, ignorance, and madness. It was tiring and fun at the same time, an unforgettable and unique experience. I met genuine people who inspired and helped me.
A special thanks goes to Prof. Lubas from the University of Pisa, Prof. Ramsey from the University of Glasgow, and my friend Dr. Gava, head of the Health Physics Unit of Rovigo Hospital, who enthusiastically and generously supported me throughout all these years.
Dr. Maria Cristina Spinnato
The clinic
