amers199
02-25-2011, 09:28 PM
Hey gang,
My name is a Amy and I am new. New to this group and new to Cushing's Disease. I've had dachshunds for the past 15 years and have had all kinds of medical issues come up and thought I had it under control until my 13 year old dachshund, Chopper Stokes was diagnosed with Cushing's last November. Since then I've been lost...just when you think you understand and have one thing figured out about this disease, one little lab value or symptom or other piece of info messes it up and you are searching again.
Curretnly I have two concerns: diet and mood
I am not sure what info you guys need to help me but here are the basics...Mr. Chopper is 13 years old. He showed signs and symptoms about a year prior to being diagnosed. Last Summer we did lab work to see if he should be tested for Cushing's and it was borderline so the vet told me to keep an eye on his symptoms and if they got worse to come back. They got worse fairly fast and he was diagnosed in November. In addition to Cushing's he also has spondylosis which is a deformity in his spine and has caused the four disks between his shoulder blades to collapse and fuse together so he pretty much looks like a stegosaurus. Curretnly he is on the following meds and supplements: Vetoryl 30 mg 1 x per day, Tramadol 50 mg 1/2 tab 2-3 x per day as needed, Rimadyl 25 mg 1 tab every 2-3 days, Duralactin 1000 mg per day
I feed Orijen Senior Formula since it has the joint care supplements already in the kibble and mix it with my home made blend of dog food. My home made blend is a rotation of the following: brown rice, barley, lentils, sweet potato, carrots, zucchini, kale, green beans, peas, apples, chicken, turkey, lean ground beef and talapia. I mix and match and make it into a stew. Chopper also gets a spoonful of plain non fat greet yougurt every other day and fiber cookies when needed. Since Chopper's skin is crazy due to Cushing's and just in case of allergies it was suggested that I bulk up my food with sweet potato and the other veggies and back off the barley, rice and lentils. I did that. And thus the mixture Chopper was eating twice a day.
Rimadyl is new to the mix of meds. While the vet was double checking to make sure it could be given with the Vetoryl he told me to be careful with giving bananas and yogurt because we needed to watch Chopper's potassium level. I asked why...because of the disease or the meds and he told me because of the Vetoryl. Have any of you heard of this or that potassium is a concern with the Vetoryl? Chopper had bloodwork done about a month ago...everything looked great compaired to last November...his liver values were much better...one was still really high, not as high as it was but it was expected because he is a Cushing's dog. Eveything else looked great except for his potassium level. It was fairly high. I was told to check his diet...back off the sweet potato and let's start working on getting his potassium down. I started checking through all my home made ingredients and became so discouraged since all had potassium and not knowing how much he should have and which items were the most beneficial to his diet and immune system with the potassium that I now have him on Orijen and a mixture of talpia, barley and green beans.
Any suggestions on what you all feed your kids and what tips you have for me would be greatly appreciated. I feel like his diet and tummy and digestive system was much better with all the other veggies and fruit and protiens. Flaxseed was also suggested to me by my vet which I have not started yet. I am looking to have him on the best thing I can have. We did have a bout with colitis not too long ago which was awful and I was told Cushing's dogs could get this from time to time and he was on a round of antbiotics for that..so I want to boost his immune system and do what I can for his Cushing's as far as his diet is concered.
Mr. Chopper's mood hasn't been the best as you can imagine. I thought that his grumpy butt had issues because of he pain from his spondylosis and figured with the meds he is on for that he should be much more comfortable at this point. He does seem to move around better and is more alert and has a little spunk back but my goodness he is one mean doggie. Mean as a snake. My vet told me that this is a side effect and due to the extra steroid production in his body from Cushing's. If this is true and all of his other symptoms are being controlled with the Vetoryl...shouldn't his mood be more improved. It has taken me from November up until about two weeks ago to get all of his symptoms under control...I see his skin improving...his hair growing back...his pot piggy belly is gone...he finally quit being ravenously hungry and just last week the massvie drinking binges finally stopped...he no longer wakes me up 500 times a night to get to the water bowl and drink excessively then get back up to potty every hour. I feel like his symptoms are now better controlled except for the fact he's mean. He growls and snapps at the other dogs here that he's lived with for years, he will not tolerate anyone in his space for any reason now except for his wife Chili dog who he is bonded with and he's just mean and snappy and he was not even close to being this way prior to Cushing's. Do you all think this is a symptom and product of Cushing's or is he just getting old and grumpy and crazy? Do any of you have any experience with this and if so how have you handled it?
I hope I have posted properly and given all information needed for any tips and tricks. Feel free to let me know if you all need any additional info from me and I look forward to your responses!
Thanks,
Amy and Mr. Chopper Stokes
My name is a Amy and I am new. New to this group and new to Cushing's Disease. I've had dachshunds for the past 15 years and have had all kinds of medical issues come up and thought I had it under control until my 13 year old dachshund, Chopper Stokes was diagnosed with Cushing's last November. Since then I've been lost...just when you think you understand and have one thing figured out about this disease, one little lab value or symptom or other piece of info messes it up and you are searching again.
Curretnly I have two concerns: diet and mood
I am not sure what info you guys need to help me but here are the basics...Mr. Chopper is 13 years old. He showed signs and symptoms about a year prior to being diagnosed. Last Summer we did lab work to see if he should be tested for Cushing's and it was borderline so the vet told me to keep an eye on his symptoms and if they got worse to come back. They got worse fairly fast and he was diagnosed in November. In addition to Cushing's he also has spondylosis which is a deformity in his spine and has caused the four disks between his shoulder blades to collapse and fuse together so he pretty much looks like a stegosaurus. Curretnly he is on the following meds and supplements: Vetoryl 30 mg 1 x per day, Tramadol 50 mg 1/2 tab 2-3 x per day as needed, Rimadyl 25 mg 1 tab every 2-3 days, Duralactin 1000 mg per day
I feed Orijen Senior Formula since it has the joint care supplements already in the kibble and mix it with my home made blend of dog food. My home made blend is a rotation of the following: brown rice, barley, lentils, sweet potato, carrots, zucchini, kale, green beans, peas, apples, chicken, turkey, lean ground beef and talapia. I mix and match and make it into a stew. Chopper also gets a spoonful of plain non fat greet yougurt every other day and fiber cookies when needed. Since Chopper's skin is crazy due to Cushing's and just in case of allergies it was suggested that I bulk up my food with sweet potato and the other veggies and back off the barley, rice and lentils. I did that. And thus the mixture Chopper was eating twice a day.
Rimadyl is new to the mix of meds. While the vet was double checking to make sure it could be given with the Vetoryl he told me to be careful with giving bananas and yogurt because we needed to watch Chopper's potassium level. I asked why...because of the disease or the meds and he told me because of the Vetoryl. Have any of you heard of this or that potassium is a concern with the Vetoryl? Chopper had bloodwork done about a month ago...everything looked great compaired to last November...his liver values were much better...one was still really high, not as high as it was but it was expected because he is a Cushing's dog. Eveything else looked great except for his potassium level. It was fairly high. I was told to check his diet...back off the sweet potato and let's start working on getting his potassium down. I started checking through all my home made ingredients and became so discouraged since all had potassium and not knowing how much he should have and which items were the most beneficial to his diet and immune system with the potassium that I now have him on Orijen and a mixture of talpia, barley and green beans.
Any suggestions on what you all feed your kids and what tips you have for me would be greatly appreciated. I feel like his diet and tummy and digestive system was much better with all the other veggies and fruit and protiens. Flaxseed was also suggested to me by my vet which I have not started yet. I am looking to have him on the best thing I can have. We did have a bout with colitis not too long ago which was awful and I was told Cushing's dogs could get this from time to time and he was on a round of antbiotics for that..so I want to boost his immune system and do what I can for his Cushing's as far as his diet is concered.
Mr. Chopper's mood hasn't been the best as you can imagine. I thought that his grumpy butt had issues because of he pain from his spondylosis and figured with the meds he is on for that he should be much more comfortable at this point. He does seem to move around better and is more alert and has a little spunk back but my goodness he is one mean doggie. Mean as a snake. My vet told me that this is a side effect and due to the extra steroid production in his body from Cushing's. If this is true and all of his other symptoms are being controlled with the Vetoryl...shouldn't his mood be more improved. It has taken me from November up until about two weeks ago to get all of his symptoms under control...I see his skin improving...his hair growing back...his pot piggy belly is gone...he finally quit being ravenously hungry and just last week the massvie drinking binges finally stopped...he no longer wakes me up 500 times a night to get to the water bowl and drink excessively then get back up to potty every hour. I feel like his symptoms are now better controlled except for the fact he's mean. He growls and snapps at the other dogs here that he's lived with for years, he will not tolerate anyone in his space for any reason now except for his wife Chili dog who he is bonded with and he's just mean and snappy and he was not even close to being this way prior to Cushing's. Do you all think this is a symptom and product of Cushing's or is he just getting old and grumpy and crazy? Do any of you have any experience with this and if so how have you handled it?
I hope I have posted properly and given all information needed for any tips and tricks. Feel free to let me know if you all need any additional info from me and I look forward to your responses!
Thanks,
Amy and Mr. Chopper Stokes