Vetoryl (My beloved Tadi has crossed the Bridge)

[tadi_girl]

My beloved dog, Tadi, was diagnosed with Cushings Disease about 8 months ago. She was a Minpin and was about 18 lbs when diagnosed (overweight). She had all of the symptoms. I brought her in to the vet initially because of her increased appetite and excessive thirst and, of course, urinating in the house. This happened rather suddenly as she was always a picky eater before this behavior. After many blood tests to confirm the illness they started her on Vetoryl, 20 mg a day for a month. After a month, more blood work and they cut the dosage down to 10 mg a day. She seemed to improve as far as her panting was concerned but her appetite, so increased, never diminished nor her thirst. She was on 10 mg a day for a couple of more months. Suddenly she started to have problems. She was starting to fall, have instability, almost stroke like symptoms. She lost her appetite, had runny stools, vomiting. I had her at the vets twice a week and at emergency clinics every weekend. She started to lose weight very rapidly. (15.4 pounds in 3 weeks). I was calling my vet every other day. I worried that her symptoms were now mimicking Addisons based on my research on the Internet. They put her on Predisone on a Thursday. She progressively worsened and by Saturday she was so ill I made the decision to have her euthanized. Of course, the vet office closes at noon on Saturday, my vet was not available. I am now very angry with myself as I feel I should have had them force feed her as she had not eaten in 13 days even though I had her at the vets office every other day as well as emergency clinics. I wondered why I did not insist that they force feed her. I am really wondering if the Vetoryl killed her. I have read that some dogs like my Tadi have these adverse reactions. Has anyone else had this experience. Is there any resource for bad medical advice? Is it just me not able to accept the death of my 13 year old dog? There is so much more to say but I am really struggling with how to accept this and move on.
Thank you

[Roxee's Dad]

Hi and welcome,
I am so very sorry for your loss of Tadi. I know how much your heart must hurt. My only thoughts at the moment are possibly a macro tumor. Do you know if Tadi had PDH (pituitary based cushings) ?


Moderator’s note: In order to complete your registration, you need to check your emailbox (or spam folder) for a communication from us. Once you respond to that email, your membership will be finalized, and anything that you post will become visible on the forum immediately. Until that time, your replies must be manually "approved" by a staff member before they are visible to the public -- so there may be a bit of delay between the time that you write your replies and the time that you actually see them.

If you have already received and responded to the confirmatory email, please be patient. Your registration will be finalized shortly…Thank you

[mytil]

Oh I am so very sorry. There are so many things that could have happened to cause this. If she could not keep food down, force feeding may not have done any good at some point. Hindsight can be so cruel so firstly be kind to yourself.

I do not know if this is something you want to do now but get all the records of your girl from your vets including the most recent testing results - post the recent tests (ACTH specifically) here. You own your records, you paid for them and they cannot refuse.

Stay with us
Terry

[Budsters Mom]

Hello and welcome from me too. :)
I am sorry for the reason that brought you here, but so glad you found us. Your heart is breaking over the loss of your beloved Tadi. We all grieve in our way. It takes time to work through such a loss. Many of us have lost our beloved pups at one time or another, so we know how devastated you are feeling right now. We would love to hear more about Tadi when you're feeling up to it. Maybe you could post a photo in her memory.:)
Hugs,
Kathy

[goldengirl88]

I am so sorry for the loss of your beloved Tadi. MAy God give you strength to get thru this. Unfortunately without a necropsy you cannot tell what killed your baby. Sometimes when we are scared we don't think straight, I am sure you just weren't thinking right, so don't blame yourself. Go Bless
Patti

[Squirt's Mom]

Oh, honey, I am sorry to hear of yours and your baby's ordeal and sad outcome. :( It does sound as if something else was going on either in addition to the Cushing's or instead of it. Cushing's can be such a difficult disease to diagnose under the best of conditions and if there is anything else going on, it can cause false-positives on the tests, making the picture even more confusing. With the rapid weight loss and loss of appetite, I have to wonder if she was ever checked for diabetes during all of this. Diabetes can come on very suddenly and is not at all uncommon with Cushing's.

I understand the connection when someone has been with you as long as your baby was with you. They leave a HUGE hole that seems filled with nothing but pain and anguish at first. As time passes, slowly slowly, that hole starts to fill with memories of all the days together, all the laughter and joy you shared. These memories help us heal yet maintain that connection that is so very important to us. We are here to help you in any way we can. Our shoulders are broad but soft, and our arms strong. We do understand your anguish.

Our deepest sympathies,
Leslie, Squirt, Trinket, Brick, Sophie, and our Angels, Ruby, Crystal, Tasha, and Josie


A Simple Message From Your Pet
by Ken D. Conover

To have loved and then said farewell is better than to have never loved at all.
For all of the times that you stooped and touched my head, fed me my favorite treat and
returned the love that I so unconditionally gave to you. For the care that you gave to me
so unselfishly. For all of these things I am grateful and thankful. I ask that you grieve
not for the loss but rejoice in the fact that we lived, loved and touched each other's lives.
My life was fuller because you were there, not as owner, but as my friend. Today, I am
as I was in my youth. The grass is always green, butterflies flit among the flowers and
the sun shines gently down upon all of God's creatures. I can run, jump and play
and do all of the things that I did in my youth. There is no sickness, no aching joints
and no regrets and no aging. We await the arrival of our lifelong companions and know
that togetherness is forever. You live in our hearts as we do in yours. Companions such
as you are very rare and unique. Don't hold the love that you have within yourself.
Give it to another like me and then I will live forever. For love never really dies,
and you are loved and missed as surely as we are.

Your pet in heaven.

[addy]

It is such a shock for you and I am so sorry. So many things can go wrong, it is hard to know what happened. I understand your need to know for closure when things happen so fast.

You could ask for test results and ask to review them with your vet. Perhaps they might be able to explain the circumstances.

I am so very sorry and I hope your pain eases in the coming days. We are always here and would love to hear more about your precious Tadi.

[Simba's Mom]

Sending hugs and prayers in the loss of your precious Tadi....

[molly muffin]

I'm very sorry for the loss of your precious Tadi. There is no way to know for certain without seeing the blood tests and acth test results as to what was going on with Tadi. For instance, whether her cortisol did in fact drop too low or not. If she was in fact really cushings. So many things can mimic the same symptoms. Vetoryl when given by an experienced vet and closely monitored does not usually cause any problems in and of itself. However, only the ACTH test, done properly can give you that information.
That is why we would like to see the test results. Usually if the cortisol goes too low, you can see some of these symptoms, but that much of a weight loss is not normal even with low cortisol. The other thing that would have been off is her electrolytes.

Whatever happened, you will mourn for Tadi, as is natural. While we can try to help you with determining what the test results tell us, we can also be great listeners if you feel you want to tell us anything about Tadi. I'm sure she was a real joy to your life and we celebrate every precious moments that we have them with us.

Sharlene and Molly Muffin

[KennyJ]

I am so sorry for your loss. Prayers going your way.

[whatuc]

I am so sorry for your loss. Having gone through this so recently, I know how it is to blame yourself. All the would haves, could haves, should haves that we all think about when we lose our dear pet.

Don't blame yourself. We all do our best for our fur babies and hindsight is 20/20. Stay strong.

[mcdavis]

I'm so sorry for the loss of your Tadi. Please try not to blame yourself - I am sure she would want you to think of the happy times.

[Trish]

Such a hard time for you, I add my condolences to the others here. Hope you are finding some peace and be kind to yourself you sound a very caring owner so don't blame yourself. x