Cushings for the past two years

[tishocar8]

My dog Caley, who is the most wonderful dog, she is a Lahsa poo and has had cushings for two years now. She will be 13 in december. She has been on Lysodren and it has worked very well for her. Now the past week, she has had diareah with a large amount of blood in it. She has thrown up a few times, and then all of a sudden she acts perfectly fine. Has anywone else experianced this? Is she getting close to the end. My heart has so much pain right now. I have been dreading this for so long, I am scared to go to the vet , afraid she wont come back home with me. And if it is the end, I want her at home with me because that is what she wants.

[labblab]

Welcome, although I am so sorry you are having such a scary time with Caley right now. First off, I do understand why you hate to take her in to see the vet. But please know that you have the right to decide whether/what testing might be done -- if any at all -- and you have the right to take her home with you after she's been seen by the vet. I know you are really afraid that you may hear bad news. But it may be the case that the problem is one that can be solved with proper treatment. Either way, you do not have to leave her at the vet's office unless you decide that is the best thing to do for her.

There are lots of different things that can cause GI upsets leading to vomiting and intestinal irritation. Of course, some are very serious but some may be related to diet or a bug or internal inflammation. For a dog being treated with Lysodren, the most immediate worry would be the possibility that Caley's cortisol has dropped too low and she is suffering from an Addisonian condition. She would need to have blood tests performed to figure out if that is the problem. However, if so, that can be effectively treated.

Can you fill us in on Caley's treatment history? What dose of Lysodren is she taking? Has she had periodic ACTH stimulation tests to check her cortisol level to make sure it isn't dropping too low or rising too high? If so, when was the most recent test and if you actually have the numerical results, that would be great. How about any other recent blood tests, urine tests, or imaging?

Anything you can tell us will be a help as far as figuring things out.

Marianne

[tishocar8]

Caley is on 500mg lysodren, but only 1/2 tablet a week and her prescription only comes with 4 pills that lasts her 8 weeks. She has two more refills before she is do to be tested again. This is the first time though with the bloody diareah. I have never seen anything like it before. It is just a puddle of blood with just a small amount of diarhea substance in the middle. One minute she looks very sick, with her poor little sad eyes, and walking out the door real slow to go potti,then the next day she is throwing her toys around wanting to play. So confusing

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi and welcome to you and Caley!

I have a pup with Colitis and what you are describing sounds very familiar. Trinket sometimes needs antibiotics to get this under control so I would talk to the vet if at all possible.

When Trink gets this bad with lots of blood produced, I stop all foods for 12-24 hours then start her back very slowly with broth only. If that goes well, I add a little bit of overcooked (sticky like wallpaper paste) white or brown rice. If that goes well, I add a little bit of the meat or her regular feed to the broth and rice. I slowly move her back to her regular food and eating schedule.

There is also an herb called Slipper Elm Bark that works great for her but not for all pups. Here is some info on it -

http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/slippery-elm/

http://www.holvet.net/slippery_soup.html

http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/e/elmsli09.html

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-978-SLIPPERY%20ELM.aspx?activeIngredientId=978&activeIngredientName=SLIPPERY%20ELM

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

[tishocar8]

thank you everyone for your help

[jas77450]

Hi and welcome,
My little guy would get this frequently, put on antibiotics and cleared him right up. What Leslie said re start refeeding slow is a good idea. Cush dogs can have decreased immune responses and can get infections. If this is the case meds should do the trick.
I would also consider what Marianne said as this is another possibility.
Let us know how things go.

[Silliam]

And now to be ask as only someone with experience in bowel issues can so comfortably (yes gastros and their patients or carers talk about poo like some people talk about the weather)
What colour is the blood? Bright red and it could be a haemorrhoid or small tear in the rectum blood from the stomach or oesophagus tends to be black then of course all the ranges of yellow to green of bile. If that tiny bit of diarrhoea is congealed like jelly or thick like honey it could be bile. The good news is at the vet they have pain management meds so I would head there. Stay calm which is hard to do when freaky stuff like that happens and throws me off my game I try and find the funny to ward off panic
Really they should have a Bristol stool chart for dogs XP

[molly muffin]

Hi, how is Caley doing? Did you take her to the vet to see what is causing the blood?

[jas77450]

Checking in, hope you have some answers.

[Squirt's Mom]

How is Caley doing today?