Macie (5 y/o pit pointer mix)

[Ali1149]

Hi my name is Allison and I am Macie's mom. May is a 5 year old pit pointer mix who was diagnosed in November. She is now on maintenance lysodren and is doing ok. We have had ACTH testing done twice. I am thankful for this forum and the information you share. I just want her to have the best life possible. She seems pretty good right now. She is one stubborn squirrel chasing food stealing pain in the butt who we love to death!

[addy]

Hi and Welcome,

We love squirrel chasing pains in the butts:D:D Stubborn? no problem, we love them even more;);)

Could you post the results of her last ACTH test and tell us how much her maintenance dose is as well as how much she weighs?

You said she is doing "ok". Are there symptoms that still concern you?

We are here to help you anyway we can. If you just want to hang out, we do that to!:):):):):)

[molly muffin]

Hi Alison and Macie! Welcome to the forum! That is great that Macie is doing okay on Lysodren. It's great when you can get to that maintenance dose and be stable for awhile. There are a couple things we like to know and this is just good housekeeping, but things like what weight is Macie, and what dose did she load at and then settle into a maintenance at. Also results of ACTH tests.
Information like that can be very important and helpful to others who come along looking for information too.
Addy is right, we love squirrel chasing pain in the butts. :) hahaha

Sharlene and Molly Muffin

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi Allison,

Welcome to you and Macie!

I had a Pitty mix and your description of Macie brought back such happy memories of my demon dog! :):cool::D I would love to hear about her escapades. ;)

My cush pup is a Cairn Terrier/LH Chihuahua X and she is a Lyso pup, too. She has been doing really well with the Cushing's and I'm glad to hear that Macie is doing alright as well. Have you seen a complete disappearance in her signs?

Does May have any other health issues that you know of? Is she taking any other meds, herbs, supplements?

Nosy, huh? :p We would love to hear about her journey so far, tho. The more the better!

I'm glad you are here and hope things continue to go well for Macie.
Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

[Ali1149]

Hi and thank you! Macie takes lysodren 500mg three times a week. She weighs 77lbs. I don't know the exact results of her ACTH blood work. I do know that back in November when she was getting her loading dose her adrenal glans shut down for a while. The prednisone helped and she had another ACTH which showed her adrenal glands were functioning again. Macie still drinks a lot of water. She hasnt been stealing food. Something she did every day prior to treatment. She gets a lot of exercise. She lost quite a bit of hair after her near crisis back in November. She also has a nasty skin infection on her back that was originally treated with antibiotics which did nothing. She now gets a bath three times a week and shampooed with ketochlor which seems to be helping. She has been through a lot and has been a real trooper. I am still learning and appreciate all input and advice. Thanks again for the welcome!

[lulusmom]

Hi Allison,

There are only two numbers on the results of an acth stimulation test. Can you either get copies of those tests or call your vet and ask them to give you the pre and post numbers on both acth stimulation tests? Please make sure you get the dates of both. With continued symptoms, we'd be very interested to see if Macie's cortisol is within the acceptable therapeutic range of 1 ug/dl to 5 ug/dl. Depending on where you live, the reporting units could be nmol instead of ug/dl but we can make the conversions after you post. It seems to me that there is something not right if Macie is still drinking and peeing excessively and is having skin issues. Did your vet diagnosis what the skin problem is? A minority of dogs with uncontrolled cushing's get what is called calcinosis cutis. This is a very condition to get under control and if this is what is going on with Macie, it is imperative that her cortisol is well controlled.

Glynda