Two border collie sisters - both newly diagnosed on Trilostane

[kay]

Hello,
This is my first time on this site. I am hoping this message reaches SavingSimon.
I have 2 10-yr old border collie mixes, Stephanie and Kimberly (full sisters) who have both just been diagnosed with Cushings and are now on Trilostane (Vetoryl). They have had the low dose Dex test and Steph has also had the ACTH Stimulation test. The vet has had me increase her Trilostane dose from 60 - 90 mg per day. Even at this dosage her water consumption has increased. I am worried that this medication may be harming my dogs, especially Stephanie. After reading your post about Dr. Oliver, I am hoping you can answer a few questions for me. Did you take your dog to UT for a consultation? If so, what tests did they do and how much did it cost? My vet wants me to continue monitoring Steph with the ACTH Stimulation test but that test is VERY expensive ($325). I was also surprised when you mentioned your dog LICKED THE FURNITURE. MY DOG HAS BEEN LICKING THE RUG CONSTANTLY UNTIL IT IS SATURATED. Is this typical? I am worried because I read on-line that Trilostane is suspected of causing pituitary tumors to enlarge and I don't see improvement in Steph (Kimberly's water consumption has greatly improved with Trilstane but she had the less severe symptoms to begin with). I live in Knoxville and it would be easy for me to take Steph to the University of Tennessee to see Dr. Oliver. Is that what you did? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Having 2 dogs with this problem is very nerve racking. Thanks so much for any help and I hope the little Simon is doing O.K. Kay

[labblab]

Hi Kay,

You will see that I have moved your reply in order to create a brand new thread for you and your girls. It has been a while since we have heard from Dena ("SavingSimon"), so in the meantime, I am hoping that you will also benefit from receiving thoughts and feedback from other members, as well. I am sorry that I am not able to write more to you right now, myself, but I will try to come back again later on.

I am so sorry for the reasons that have brought you here, but I am very glad that you have found us.

Marianne

[StarDeb55]

Kay, unfortunately, Dr. Oliver does not work in the clinical side of things, only in research. He does not see patients directly. He will be more than happy to consult with one of your attending vets with any problems or concerns they may have concerning how Steph is doing. Did Steph ever have a full adrenal panel done at UTK? If she did, you could e-mail Dr. Oliver yourself, including your UTK case #, & he is usually more than happy to respond to your questions. Dr. Oliver's speciality is Atypical Cushing's. If Steph is not being treated by an internal medicine specialist, you may want to consider taking her to one.

The members of this group will be more than happy to try to help you understand what might be going on. We normally ask a ton of questions of new members, so we can get a better idea of your girl's medical histories. I will focus on Steph as she seems to not be doing as well as she should right now. Could you tell us what symptoms led you to take both girls to the vets? Some of these symptoms might include drinking gallons & peeing buckets, a voracious appetite, skin/coat issues, & muscle wasting especially in the rear end. Did your vet do any general labwork such as a super chemistry panel or senior wellness panel? If you could post just the abnormal values off the general labs including normal ranges & reporting units. There are very common abnormalities in liver function tests that may point a vet toward Cushing's, so we usually like to see these general labs. Were diabetes & thyroid ruled out? Could post the results of all cushing's diagnostic testing that has been done on Steph prior to starting the meds? It looks like Steph was started at 60 mg vetoryl daily, what is her current weight as dosage is based on the dog's weight? Was an ACTH done approximately 10 days after the vetoryl was started & what were those results? Have any other ACTH tests been done? If so, please post the results, along with the dosage of vetoryl when that specific ACTH was done.

To conclude, both drugs that are used to treat Cushing's, vetoryl & lysodren (mitotane) have to monitored for effectiveness by use of the ACTH test. You also must monitor by this test to make sure that the adrenals are still functioning appropriately for a Cushing's pup. Once you get the pup stabilized on their meds, the number of tests should go way down.

Hope to hear more.

Debbie