Hello from Sharon and her dog, Hannah

[sblackmon47]

I'd like to introduce myself and my dog, Hannah. I adopted her 13 years ago from the Humane Society. She's mostly shepherd and has been the best friend anyone could possibly ask for. Always healthy. During her annual in January of this year, her ALP was elevated on her blood work(513); calcium score elevated (11.7); RBC elevated (9.3); HCT elevated (59.7); Lymphocyte was low (972); Phosphorus low (2.0); T4 low (0.9).
It was determined that Hannah "more than likely has signs of cancer". I agreed with the Vet to do what is necessary to keep her comfortable.
A couple of months ago, Hannah had a couple of accidents in the house while sleeping (urine); we also noticed that she had started consuming a LOT more water than ever before. The vet started her on DES, which seemed to control the accidental urinating in the house. She never has had an accident in the house in her 13 years with us. The Vet mentioned having the ACTH testing to rule out Cushings, which i agreed to do.
Her test came back 27.4 post cortisol. I was told that was an extremely high response and clearly positive for hypoadrenocorticism. Hannah has been on 60 mg (she weighs 62 lbs) of Vetoryl caps since 5/5/15. He also gave me prednisone tabs "in case there is an adverse reaction, give one to her".
That's our story. I'm very concerned about the possible side effects and her age. So far she is handling the Vetoryl well. I'm cautioius when it comes to leaving her alone for very long just in case she has a reaction.
It is my understanding that the Vetoryl will give her a better quality of her remaining life, not adding any time to her life. That's why i'm willing to spend such a large amount of money to help her. I'm wondering if i watch her closely, and see improvement in her lethargy and water drinking, is it ok to assume that this medication is doing it's job? Without repeating the $300 blood work every three months?
The only other signs she has are some excessive licking and a bit of confusion. I attributed that to old age and the fact that she licks the leg with arthritis. I don't give her NSAID's per warnings taken with Vetoryl.
I will be reading everything i can that you all post and will answer any questions you may have.
It's a pleasure to have a group like this, where we can explore options, compare notes, and express our feelings.
Happy Mother's Day,
Sharon and Hannah pup

[labblab]

Hello Sharon! I only have a moment to post right now, but I want to welcome you and Hannah, and also to let you know that I have moved your thread to our main Discussion forum. This way, more folks are likely to see your thread and reply to you. ;)

I will come back myself at another time. But until then, welcome.

Marianne

[sblackmon47]

Thank you!

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi Sharon,

Welcome to you and Hannah! Sorry for the reasons you are here but glad you found us.

Cushing's is probably the most difficult canine disease to diagnose. Physical symptoms associated with Cushing's are shared by many other diseases, blood and urine abnormalities are shared with other other diseases and the diagnostic tests to measure circulating cortisol are flawed and can yield false positive results in the face of non adrenal illness or even stress. All of these things make it very challenging to correctly diagnose Cushing's which makes it one of the most misdiagnosed canine diseases. There isn't one test that can accurately diagnose Cushing's so multiple testing is required to validate a diagnosis of Cushing's so I am a bit concerned that the only test that was performed to diagnose Hannah's Cushing's was the ACTH stimulation test.

Is the January blood panel the most recent one? And could you edit your post and add the reference ranges along with the units of measurement for those values you posted...e.g...ALP 250 U/L (10-50)...thanks. Was an urinalysis done, and if so, could you post those findings too? Does Hannah have the pituitary or adrenal type of Cushing's? Is your girl taking any other herbs/supplements/medications? Are the increased drinking/urinating the only symptoms she is displaying? Generally the common clinical symptoms seen in cushdogs are: excessive drinking and peeing, I mean peeing rivers and drinking buckets upon buckets of water; voracious appetite, they are like little hoover vacuum cleaners looking for any crumb they can find; panting; loss or thinning of coat; skin issues; muscle wasting; muscle weakness, especially in the hind quarters; exercise intolerant; difficulty or unable to go up steps or jump on furniture, does Hannah have any of those symptoms?

The drugs used for Cushing's do not cure the disease. The goal of therapy is to remedy problematic symptoms of Cushing's, so that is why strong symptoms do play a huge role in the diagnosis for Cushing's.

Cushing's is a slow progressing disease and it takes a long time for the effects of excess cortisol to damage the immune system and internal organs. With treatment dogs with Cushing's can have a good quality of life and there is every reason to believe that they can live out their normal life span.

The key to facilitating safe and effective treatment is an experienced vet and an educated pet owner. Vetoryl does have some pretty scarey side effects but adverse side effects can be mitigated and even eliminated as long as the proper protocols are being followed. So those monitoring ACTH stimulation tests are critical and do need to be done.

We have a wealth of information regarding Cushing's in our Resource thread, which does include articles written by some of the most renown veterinarians that specialize in endocrinology such as David Bruyette, Mark Peterson, and Edward Feldman. Here's a link to our Resource thread: Helpful Resources for Owners of Cushing's Dogs (http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=10) Please know we will help in any way we can, and do not hesitate to ask all the questions you want.

Hugs, Lori

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome from me too.

With a diagnosis of cancer already given, is that still the case? then it is possible that the cortisol levels have gone up due to that. Cortisol will rise with any chronic illness too.

That she has high cortisol is probably not in doubt, the question is the reason and how much do you want to bring it down to. If cancer is still the diagnosis, then I'd bring it down just enough to help control any symptoms of high cortisol but not enough to leave her uncomfortable.

Once you have found a good place for her cortisol levels to be at for her and you, then you won't need to do testing as often.

[sblackmon47]

Thank you for all your information and concerns. I plan to respond very soon to answer the questions. I'm losing sleep over what to do for her. No negative signs from the med as if yet, just a week in.

Sincerely, Sharon and Hannah

[sblackmon47]

I'm following here, and have a question about giving my dog her capsule. I am putting it in her food. I am not sure if she has chewed it or it goes down smoothly with her bite of food. Do most of you put the cap directly into the pups mouth? Thank you.

[Harley PoMMom]

As you can see I have copied your post from another member's thread and placed it here in Hannah's original thread, that way all information regarding Hannah is in one place.

I used pill pockets, cream cheese, bread, deli meat, almost anything I could stick a pill into to give medications to my pups. What I would do is have the loaded piece (the one with the pill) in one hand and another piece (without the pill) in the other hand. Once my boy would take the loaded piece I would wave that unloaded piece in his face, he would swallow that loaded piece real fast because he knew there was one waiting.

Hugs, Lori

[molly muffin]

I do the same sort of thing that Lori does, only I use wet dog food to form a ball around the pill and then have another ball in my hand. She goes for the first one so she can have the second one.