Advanced Veterinary Medical Imaging

More than 6-​weeks ago my wife Marilyn and I had concerns over our 10-​year old cat — Midori !
After medical consultations with Vet Dr. Janet Meyerhof at Porter Pet Hospital (Northridge, CA), it was suggested that our cat (Midori) be checked for treatment of hyperthyroidism and we were referred to Advanced Veterinary Medical Imaging in Los Angeles. Upon important medical checks done there, adequate treatment was done and procedures completed. What great care and concern from AVMI with follow-​up and monitoring of Midori while under care with Internet services. Now, after 30-​days after the procedure, Midori was home with us and seems to be very normal. We just completed our 30-​day check-​up and the follow-​up by AVMI with remarkable with reminders and concerns to do that. This was important to evaluate other functions (i.e. kidney, liver, & heart) along with hyperthyroidism. Fortunately, medical tests turned out great and results forwarded to Dr. Broome and his staff. Thank you AVMI for wonderful care and treatment for our beloved kitty cat, Midori ! Andy

My BFF «Bob» the cat was recently retested for his hyperthyroid. .. It’s been 1 month since his radioactive iodine procedure. All his labs came back A-​Okay!!! Yay!
Both my daughter and sister had experienced the same treatment for their cats and had only wonderful ‘reports’ about AVMI so when Bob was diagnosed with the same disease, I made an appointment immediately!
Bottom Line ~ Dr. Broome and the staff, caregivers at AVMI are wonderful. The communication from them via phone and email is fantastic.
Being able to see how my Bob was doing throughout the day on the Cat-​Cam was great and helped ME relax knowing that he was handling his stay there okay.
I happily recommend AVMI.
And the best part ~ Bob is now healthy and his old/​NEW self!

Very professional and organized treatment facility, staff and protocol. We only said ouch one time, i.e. when we got the bill. But it wasn’t that expensive if you consider they’re administering radioactive iodine, and again every aspect of the experience except the incompatibility of the web video feed with mainstream browsers, i.e. IE* and Chrome, was flawless. Once we downloaded Firefox the web video feature worked well and we were able to eavesdrop on our kitty as she waited out the decon time until she could come home again.
Was kind of surprised how long after coming home they advised us to limit direct contact, i.e. 11 days. But better safe than sorry :) Another nice feature was the personal consultations by Dr. Broome, both during the intake process and later the same evening when he called to let us know how Annie was doing and inform us of some important points related to her treatment. All in all we’re quite happy with AVMI and are hoping that the initial treatment will be successful (which we should find out in about 10 days when blood tests are performed).

Thank you to Dr. Broome and his assistant Vanessa for getting our little pit boxer stella in for an MRI when Dr. Hanson refused to help us. The last minute MRI saved Stella’s life as she was able to go straight into surgery right after the MRI before the surgeon had to leave for thanksgiving vacation. If we had to wait who knows. And the fees were more than fair and reasonable. Thank you again Dr. Broome.

My experience with Dr. Broome and his entire staff was quite honestly the best service I have EVER received from ANY service provider and leaps and bounds above any service I have ever received from any doctor in the medical/​vet profession! I wish humans were treated as well and with such compassion as Dr. Broome and his staff!

We have been extremely pleased with every aspect of dealing with AVMI. They are kind, professional, efficient and reasonably priced. We never had a moment’s worry as to whether he was being treated well due to their much-​appreciated web-​cam feature. The process was difficult for our sixteen year-​old cat, due mostly to the post-​treatment isolation that’s required because of the radioactivity, but we felt it was the best option because a lifetime of pill-​cramming just wasn’t going to work for him. But AVMI did their best to minimize the negative aspects and we are so happy to have him on the mend.

I brought my cat Toulouse here after his vet found what we thought was just an enlarged thyroid. All of his thyroid blood test came back normal so we believed it was the start of thyroid problems.
I was not comfortable with a wait and see approach so my vet recommended that I see Dr. Broome for some more testing.
I made an appointment to see doctor Broome and to have more testing done. I had lots of questions for doctor Broome and he was very patient answering all of my questions. He was a compassionate doctor who was clearly very knowledgeable about thyroid issues. Toulouse received a Thyroid Scan and Uptake (I believe that was what the test was called). He spent the day at hospital.
When I came to pick Toulouse up, doctor Broome did not have good news for me. He said he was very suspicious that it was cancer. He advised me to see my vet as soon as possible. Dr. Broom did a wonderful job of not upsetting me but making sure I understood the urgency in getting him treatment immediately. Again I was full of questions and doctor Broome answered all of my questions.
I think it is important to point out that thyroid cancer in cats is very very rare. So rare In fact that everyone of Toulouse’s doctors was shocked when the diagnoses of cancer was confirmed.
Toulouse is now in remission and cancer free. Doctor Broome was right that day and headed me in the right direction. I was blessed to have a wonderful team of doctors that worked well together in saving Toulouse’s life. Doctor Broome was one of those doctors and for that I will be internally grateful.

We could not be happier with the care that our best guy received from Dr. Broome and his staff. Everyone connected with AVMI was extraordinarily friendly, helpful, and communicative. Dr. Broome personally answered questions that I asked via e-​mail. Our cat is recovering nicely from his hyperthyroidism and seems so much more relaxed and comfortable. We only wish we had a cat cam all the time.
I will note that the staff of the facility that AVMI leases in LA (not the AVMI staff, though!) was not the most helpful, and that they run a pretty noisy outfit (lots of barking dogs) that had my cat a bit nervous. I hear the Tustin offices are a bit quieter and nicer, so if you have the option, you might want to go to Orange County. Even if you are limited to LA, though, I wouldn’t go anywhere else. Dr. Broome is the best.

I can’t say enough about Dr. Broome and his super friendly staff at AVMI. For years, my cat suffered from hyperthyroid disease. After pills and y/​d food (which she hated), Jewels dropped to 4 lbs. She was a skeleton. She looked horrible and sad. Her eyes were dark and droopy. After discussing further options with my Vet, he referred me to Dr. Broome. It only took a few minutes with him to make me feel at ease. He explained everything to me in detail about radioiodine therapy. Jewels ended having two rather large tumors; which explained her howling and insatiable appetite. Their state of the art facility is amazing. I was able to see Jewels on her own iCat web cam, and read her daily information in her medical record. After staying at their facility for one week, I was able to take her home. She looked like a total different cat. I just had her one month post thyroid levels checked yesterday, and am happy to say she is doing much better. She gets them checked again in two more months. She now weighs 5.5 lbs. For some of us, our four legged animals are our children. Thank you Dr. Broome for giving life back to my Jewels; and giving her back to me. You are the best!

I recently brought my cat, Winky, to AVMI for a large thyroid tumor. From the very first phone call Dr. Broome and his staff were responsive, knowledgeable and caring. I am happy to report that Winky is doing very well and looks and acts like a new cat only 30 days after her treatment!

Given the option of either administering pills twice a day to my cat every day, rubbing a possibly ineffective gel on her ears, or this radioactive iodine treatment, I choose the iodine treatment any day of the week.
My hyperthyroid cat was dropping weight at an alarming rate, and yowling restlessly every night. When we dropped her off for her treatment, it turned out that she had a relatively large tumor that would require a medium/​large dose. She ended up having to spend nearly two weeks in isolation, during which time she got a little depressed and stopped eating. Once she came home, she bounced right back. Now she is at a healthy weight and she’s calmed down considerably.
The biggest tip I can give is that if your cat is a picky eater, or has special food needs (like prescription foods such as k/​d) be sure to bring enough dry and wet food to feed it for up to TWO WEEKS. You won’t know until after you drop them off how large the tumor is and how long they’ll need to be hospitalized. Since the cat is actually transported to Tustin for the treatment and recovery, it’s not easy to send them additional food if they’ll end up needing it. They may only end up being in isolation for a few days, but if it takes any longer, you don’t want your cat dropping even more weight due to preventable food issues.

Extremely professional people.
VERY organized, and even had photos/​webcam access of our cat while he was in therapy there. Very impressed.

What a wonderful experience for the crazy cat lady who has never let her cat sleep away from home. Dr Brrome and his amazing staff were wonderful. He patiently answered all my questions that were probably in the handouts I was supposed to read. The staff at AVMI were kind and patient as well. I got a phone call everyday with an update as well as an email with a picture of my kitty. EVERYDAY! The follow up afterwards was just as wonderfull. FIRST CLASS OPERATION!

If I could give 200 stars I would. I can begin to describe how happy I am with the service at this care facility for kitties. Cats with hyperthyroidism need specialized care and AVI delivers that care. Not only is the staff so friendly and responsive but attentive. Any pet owner who loves their cats and treats them like family understand the anxiety that you go through when they are sick. The AVI team answered every one of my questions with a smile no matter how many annoying times I called to check on Cassidy.
Let me take you through the process: first you must drop off kitty to the facility, then Dr. Broome will speak with you about the hyperthyroid disease and what causes it and how to treat it with radioiodine therapy (please note that the pills and ear gel do not cure the problem it treats it like a bandaid). Then the hard part begins, kitty must stay for a minimum of 4 days. This is where the anxiety comes into play for the owners. Again I had to call and check on my cat at least 20 times and everytime they where understanding and friendly.
While at the facility they offer a kitty cam where you can log in and see your cat (even though all they are doing is sleeping or sitting). Then twice I received a random email with pictures of my kitty with a freindly note from the staff.
If you have a kitty who has hyperthyroidism do not hesitate to take him/​her to Dr. Michael Broome. Between him and his staff your cat is in good hands, they truly have a love for the animals and understand they are our children and take care of us and them.
I can’t stress enough if your cat has this disease the pills and ear gel are just a waste of money in the long term. They do not cure the tumor that causes the hyperthyproidism. What will happen is that after a while the tumor will grow bigger and your kitty will get sicker. Then sadly you will either end up at Dr. Broomes facility and have to pay for the treatment in addition to the medicine you already paid for or make a decision no pet owner wants to make… hyperthyroidism if left untreated causes heart disease.
Thank you Dr. Broome for taking care of Cassidy and to all your staff especially Venessa and Renee who are the nicest people. Thank you.

Can’t say enough good things about Dr. Broome and the people at AVMI. I was astonished at the level of care provided to both me and my kitty — everyone was patient, kind, and gentle with everyone involved. Dr. Broome took far more time than I would have thought he had to explain the process and the science involved — I imagine him giving this talk 10,000 times (the approximate number of treatments they’ve done) and I am even more impressed with his patience. We never felt like a number in the process (though at 10,000, we must be!), and the follow-​up contact from Dr. Broome and the others at AVMI was more than I could have asked for. I knew every step of the way what was happening and how the kitty was doing. The pictures and webcam were charming (I imagine a lot of this is geared toward crazy cat ladies… I like to think I’m not one, but I still found it terribly sweet).
Bottom line: if your cat has hyperthyroidism, seriously consider going this route. They couldn’t have been kinder, and the one-​time treatment (intimidating though it seems) is both less stressful and likely less expensive overall than doing medication — which only masks the problem anyway. My cat went in on a Wednesday, and came back on a Sunday, which appears to be pretty typical. They do drive them to Orange County, which I imagine the cats don’t love, but their facilities there seem terribly nice once they get there (as the webcam reflected).
Note: the pre-​treatment tests (thyroid levels, chest x-​ray, FIV test) have to be done relatively close in time to the treatment, so if you’ve recently had a diagnosis, you may want to not wait on making a decision — it gets expensive if you have to repeat the tests! They did, however, appear to have appointments every wednesday, and got us in on short notice. I have to give a shout out to RadioCat, an alternative, which we also considered. They had to cancel our appointment and only do intake once a month, so we would have had to repeat tests. Thus, we went with AVMI — but RadioCat seemed like a great operation too, and would have been a bit cheaper (but for the re-​testing issue –especially as they don’t require the FIV test).

Thank you, Dr. Broome, and all of your amazing staff for helping my beautiful little Allie cat. His residency at the hospital was wonderful, his care was impeccable and everyone I talked to was incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. I can’t thank you all enough. If your kitty has hyperthyroidism, I would highly recommend Dr. Broome and the radio iodine treatment instead of daily meds for the rest of your kitty’s life. The meds have side effects and even though the radio iodine treatment sounds expensive, over time the meds actually cost more than the one-​time cost for the radio iodine treatment. My kitty’s ‘accommodations’ were excellent, the live kitty cam was fantastic and his initial ‘photo shoot’ for Facebook was such a pleasant surprise – I loved it, not to mention all of the continual follow-​up with email and phone calls. Dr. Broome and his staff definitely go the ‘extra mile,’ which was greatly appreciated. Thanks again to you all!

When my cat was diagnosed with hyperthryroidism, my vet suggested radioactive iodine treatment instead of daily pills. He recommended Dr. Broome and said Dr. Broome was the only person he had used for the last 20 years. As I trusted his opinion, I called and made an appt right away. From the first contact, my experience with the doctor and his support staff was positive. I was a little nervous about the treatment but the doctor took the time to answer all of my questions. I had researched the doctor and the procedure on the internet before my appt so I was pretty comfortable about having the procedure done. My inital contact with the doctor reinforced my decision. The doctor himself called me to let me know the results of my cat’s scan. The offfice called me several times and sent me pictures of my cat so that I could see that he was okay. I wish some of my doctors and their support staffs would take a lesson from Dr. Broome and his staff. I would not hesitate to recommend AVMI to anyone considering radioactive iodine treatment for one of their animals.

5 stars is not enough. I give AVMI, Dr. Broome, and his wonderful staff a millionhillionshmillionskillion stars today.
Chachi, my orange kitty, is my baby. I adopted him 10 years ago, when he was 6 years old. As someone who grew up with dobermans and rottweillers, I was iffy about the whole having a cat thing. This was no big deal to Chachi. He’s impossible not to adore. He quickly became the love of my life. So when I noticed him eating voraciously but becoming inexplicably bony, I had to get him checked out. My vet diagnosed him with hyperthyroid, prescribed some meds, and suggested I try taking him to AVMI for radioactive iodine treatment. I looked into it thoroughly, decided quickly that I didn’t want to put the Chachman on meds that would only control the issue and might cause all kinds of side effects, and scheduled an appointment for radioactive iodine treatment (which has a 95% cure rate for hyperthyroid without side effects).
The receptionist was extremely nice and answered all my questions patiently. I made the next available appointment, two weeks from the call.
I was nervous about everything, plus driving a cat who shomits in cars from Pasadena to Tustin was a little daunting. But his recovery was worth all of it, so I didn’t hesitate. We made it to Tustin in record time with minimal shomiting, and Chachi explored the immaculate lobby of the place (he was on a leash and harness) while we waited. We didn’t wait long at all before we were taken to a room, and Dr. Broome came in just a few minutes later. I had heard him patiently answering questions to another client in another room while I waited, and he did just the same for me. I felt at ease with him immediately (as did Chachi, who sat right by the Dr. right away). He was extremely knowledgeable, kind, and caring. It was very clear that my baby was in the best hands possible.
A few hours after I left, I got a call from Dr. Broome updating me on the results of Chachi’s scan (just hyperthyroid– nothing else! Yay!), and today I have received no fewer than 4 emails from the AVMI staff updating me on Chachi’s progress, providing me a link to his medical records online, and, best of all, providing me a link to the ChachiCam! Since I’m not allowed to visit radioactive Chachi, they let me see him online as he recuperates, which is so awesome I can’t even begin to explain it. I posted it on Facebook. I’m such a dork. But seriously, he’s not in a kennel– he’s in a cat hotel room. There’s an open cat bed, an enclosed cat bed, and a ledge, plus clean bowls of food and water. Amazing. I also got a phone call today to tell me that Chachi’s gotten his treatment and is resting comfortably, and an email relaying the same information. I have never, EVER gotten this much communication from a vet’s office before. I am so bowled over with impressed-​ness.
Gratitude does not even begin to explain what I feel for Dr. Broome and the AVMI staff. They go above and beyond every step of the way, and they quite bluntly saved my baby’s life today. If your cat or dog is ever diagnosed with hyperthyroid, there is no better place to take him or her than AVMI. I love them. LOVE THEM.