treatment with ketocanzole

[Oliver]

my 10yr dog, Oliver, was recently diagnosed with Cushings. During the summer, I brought my dog to the vet because of a growth on his belly, and at the time, he was drinking more, panting, not as active. The doctor ran some blood work, his alk-phosphatase was over 2000, and he told me that indicated Cushings and we needed to do an ACTH stimulation to confirm but our first priority was dealing with the tumors. The Cushings symptoms got worse, mainly his excessive drinking, urination, hunger and his hind leg weakness, so I brought him in on Monday for the ACTH test, and it confirmed Cushings. The doctor wanted to put him on trilostane but when I went to pick up the meds today, I found out it costs $98 for 30 pills (60mg). I just cannot afford that much each month, plus the $275 acth testing to monitor the dosage, so I left there in tears with no medication. The vet called me & suggested ketocanzole. He said it's not as effective but it is half the cost and worth a try. I was wondering if anyone has had any success with it. I can't imagine not treating my dog and watching him suffer. I don't know what to do.

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[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and Oliver!

The active ingredient in Vetoryl is Trilostane. Trilostane can be compounded which is a huge cost savings. Many members use Diamondback, which is a compounding pharmacy.

Could you please tell us more about Oliver, such as his weight, is he taking any other herbs, supplements, or medicines? Can you get copies of all test/s that were done and post the abnormal levels and could you post the ACTH stim results. The more information we know about your sweet boy the more meaningful our feedback will be.

Looking forward to hearing about Oliver.

Love and hugs,
Lori

[LhasaLover]

Hi to you and Oliver...Just wanted to let you know that I treat my Elfie with trilostane from Diamondback drugs in Arizona at $45 for 60 capsules (45mg). Has saved me a lot of money. Your vet can initiate the order. Good luck to you and Oliver!

[addy]

Hi and Welcome,

My Zoe has been on name brand Trilostane. I pay $90 for 60 10mgs pills. Diamondback has pretty good pricing and so many of our members use it. Some of the pharmacies charge almost the same for compounded Trilostane as name brand Vetoryl. I know our local one charged me just about the same price to compound 5mgs.:rolleyes:
So be a smart consumer:):):):):)

Hugs,
addy

[gpgscott]

Sorry, but Keto treatment is no way less costly in than treatment with Trilo.

Keto is very effective on certain types of Cushing's but very maintenence intensive.

Please listen to the others responding to your post, lot's of good information here.

Scott

[Oliver]

Thank you all for your replies!! I am so glad I found this site & I'm a little less overwhelmed today. I called Diamondback this morning & I feel much better after getting quotes from them. I am a little concerned about the dosage that the vet called in. Originally, they were going to give Oliver 60mg of vetoryl but when I was talking to him today, he said they based that on a weight of 20kg, but he actually weighs 22kg (46lb), so he changed the dosage to 120/mg. I read that is within guidelines, but it's such a big jump in dosage that I think I would feel more comfortable with a dosage in between, like 90mg, to start. Does anyone have any thoughts on that before I call the pharmacy back w/ my billing info?

Oliver's acth test results are:
Sample 1: 5.3 (high) ref range 1-5
sample 2: 28.3

Thanks so much!
Robin

[Harley PoMMom]

I would be concerned with such a high dose, starting at a lower dose seems to work better. The UC-Davis current recommendation is to initiate trilostane therapy at 1 mg/kg once daily. That dose is continued for about one week until a veterinary re-check can be completed.

Here is a link with info about this: http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/dvm/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=460965&sk=&date=&pageID=3

[StarDeb55]

Welcome to you & Oliver! Dechra which is the maker of trilostane is currently verbally recommending a starting dosage of 1 mg/lb, so the dose that is being suggested is pretty darn big for a pup Oliver's size. Since you are talking to Diamondback, you can get the trilo compounded down to a 40mg-50mg capsule. Dechra really recommends that you start low initially & move up the dose up, if needed.

Debbie

[LhasaLover]

Hi Robin...I too agree that it would be better to start at a lower dose. You can always increase after his test results if need be.

[Skye]

is it to late to seek out pet insurance? that would waive that in to be covered?

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi Robin,

How are things with Oliver? Let us hear from you when you can!

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang