Chief - 13 y/o Rat Terrier, just diagnosed

[ChiefCrazyHorse]

Hi my name is Beau. My 13 year old Rat Terrier Chief has just been diagnosed with cushings. When the Vet told me mind went blank.I have had him since he was a puppy.I started noticing his hair falling out,frequent urination in the house ,which he has not done in years, pot belly and excess panting, thirst and hunger.So the Vet did a blood test, i believe it was Blood Serum Test, and confirmed cushings. Now here comes the part i hate thinking about because it makes me feel guilty. To manage this disease the Meds alone are $80 a month. He will then have to be check every few weeks for cortisol levels at $150 per test on top of what i pay the vet. I hate putting a price tag on the little guy, but i am on a fixed income and really don't know what to do. I obviously don't want him to suffer. Yes ; i know he is pretty old , but the idea of not having him around is making me crazy. Especially if there is something that can be done for him to live a while longer. Does anyone know of a natural alternative treatment that has been shown effective? Something that does not cost a fortune? I thought human meds were expensive :(

[labblab]

Hello Beau, and welcome to you and Chief! I'm so sorry it has taken us so long to reply to your questions. I'm even sorrier that I have only a moment free to post right now, so it will be later today before I can return with a longer reply :o. But I just want you to know that we are glad you've found us, and we will do our very best to help you sort things out.

Marianne

[labblab]

OK, I am finally back again! First off, if you can find out more specifics about the blood testing that diagnosed Chief's Cushing's (including actual test numbers), that will be very helpful for us to see. His symptoms certainly do fit the disease profile, but it is always useful for us to review the actual test results themselves.

Assuming Chief truly has Cushing's, I am sorry to tell you that we are unaware of any non-prescription supplement that will effectively lower cortisol levels into a range that provides ongoing symptom relief. Lysodren and trilostane (brandname: Vetoryl) are the two medications that reliably provide confirmable results. And as you have discovered, these medications do require ongoing blood tests for monitoring purposes, in addition to the medication costs themselves. :o

The price your vet is quoting you for the monitoring ACTH stimulation testing ($150) is actually very reasonable in comparison to many offices. Not that this amount is inexpensive, but at least it sounds as though your vet is trying to make it as affordable as possible. If the $80/month quote for the medication refers to brandname Vetoryl, one cost-saving option would be to consider purchasing a compounded version of the drug prepared by a specialized veterinary pharmacy. We do have many members who use compounded trilostane, and the cost is typically much less than that for brandname Vetoryl. Current recommendations are to start dogs on trilostane using a formula of 1 mg. per pound. So depending upon Chief's weight, his initial dose may not be very large and therefore somewhat less expensive than you are fearing.

One other possible medication option is the use of a drug named Anipryl. It is approved for treatment of canine Cushing's, and was originally hoped to be widely successful. However, it has been found to be effective for only a very small percentage of Cushpups -- those suffering from a tumor in a specific, localized area of the pituitary gland. One plus of this treatment, however, is that it does not require the same monitoring blood testing. So it may be something to discuss with your vet as an initial trial for a couple of months. If it helps, great. If not, then you'll know that you'll need to reconsider other alternatives.

I do understand why you are feeling badly about having to hesitate about treatment due to the costs, but I surely hope you will not beat yourself up with guilt. It is not your fault that the treatment can be very expensive :o, and you are doing the very best you can within the limits of your own health and income. There is no shame in that.

So for right now, we'll await a bit more info from you about the testing, and then we'll try to brainstorm even further.

Marianne

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi Beau,

A belated welcome to you and Chief from me as well! You can save money on those ACTH stimulation tests if your vet is open to cooperating. There is no reason why s/he shouldn't so make sure you talk to him/her about splitting the vial of cortrosyn, which is the stimulating agent used in the ACTH stim test. It is the cost of this agent that makes the stim test so darned expensive. Those members with small dogs can capitalize on this savings. You and your vet can read about this on Dr. Mark Peterson's blog for veterinarians, found here: http://endocrinevet.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-extend-your-supply-of-cortrosyn.html

One of the ways that helped me with the expense was applying for Care Credit. It's a revolving credit line that allows you to pay large bills same as cash for a year. This information and other financial resources can be found here: http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212

Hugs, Lori

[ChiefCrazyHorse]

Hello all i ham sorry about the late reply. I am having problems with my computer. I am not sure about the specific numbers from the test.I have asked the doc to send them too me but have not received them yet. Unfortunately i have not found much in the way of a alternative except Si Miao San that seems to have had some good results as well as changing up his diet to a lower protein formula.

[molly muffin]

Ugh, computer problems are the worst. Yes we've had some use Si Miao San, some use it in conjunction with cushings treatment. There aren't a lot of alternative out there.

I am pretty sure you can get trilostane compounded from Diamondback at a very decent price that would be manageable. A rat terrier isn't very big, so the dosage would probably be low, 1mg/1lb to start and I saw someone the other day say they got it for under 20. a month for a small dose.