13 year old staffy with cushings. Possible bad reaction to meds.please help !

[Charl]

Hi there I'm new to this forum and would like some advise please.my dog minni was diagnosed with cushings disease a few weeks ago.She had all the classical symptoms of the disease, hair loss, extreme thirst, urinating more,panting,weakness on legs.Any way after some very expensive blood tests including the ATHC test she came back positive for the disease. My vet put her on a low dose of vetroyl 10mg daily she weighs 17kg.Minni is also on metacam for arthritis and Vetroyl for seizures.I also give her herbal supplement of 1000mg omega 3 each morning to help her joints.minni is struggling with walks now and pretty much sleeps most of the day.Which concerns me more than the cushings in all honesty as she is not having a great quality of life.Anyway she has been on the cushings medication for about 10 days.about an hour ago she had a seizure which didn't last very long.Shortly after she also collapsed but only for a few seconds whilst I was preparing her dinner.it's very scary but something I have become used to but not recently as she is on vivatonin to control this.I'm concerned that the cushings medication might have caused this ? Or maybe the different medication she is on for various things is interacting with each other. She is eating anddrinking and toileting fine.She is extremely lethargic however.Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. I have stopped the vetroyl for today as it's Sunday, I'll call the vet in the morning.

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and Minni!

I am sorry your girl is having some trouble right now and I know how worried you must be. Could you tell us more about Minni as this will enable us to provide you with our best possible feedback, ok? We ask a lot of questions from our new members, so here are some of mine.

If could round up copies of all the tests that were done on Minni and post those values that are marked abnormal with the reference ranges and units of measurements that would be great. We are especially interested in seeing the results of any diagnostic tests, such as that ACTH stimulation. I see that Minni is taking Vivitonin, I wasn't familiar with this medication and from googling it, it is to improve circulation, breathing, dullness, and lethargy in dogs, is this why Minni is on this medication? Also from your post you mentioned that she had a seizure, how scary that must of been for you, was this the first time it has happened? Was Minni diagnosed with the adrenal or pituitary type of Cushing's? Has a monitoring ACTH stimulation test been scheduled 10-14 days after her treatment has started? Also is she getting her Vetoryl with a meal?

With Vetoryl a starting dose of 1 mg per pound is recommended and with Minni's weight of 17 kg (37.4 lbs) the 10 mg is on the low side, which is great because we have seen many dogs start out too high and than have problems. Although seizures are listed as a possible side effect of Vetoryl it's not something we see as a common adverse reaction from the Vetoryl. The majority of dogs have the pituitary form of Cushing's which is a tumor of the pituitary gland, sometimes these tumors can grow large enough to create neurological symptoms. Does Minni have any circling episodes, does she do any head pressing and/or seem to drift off into space?

I am so sorry for the reasons that brought you here but glad you found us and we will help in any way we can. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask them. ;)

Hugs, Lori

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi and welcome to you and Minni!

One of the side effects of Vetoryl is seizures. I'm glad you stopped the Vetoryl for now. Can you tell us again what she is taking for the seizures? Is that the Vivitonin? Has your vet discussed any other drugs for the seizures with you? In the US we have several options but not sure if you do there. Might be worth talking to the vet about tho if this med doesn't seem to be controlling the seizures.

Again good for you for stopping the Vetoryl for now! Looking forward to seeing those test results when you can get them to post here.

Glad you found us!
Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome to the forum. What has the vet suggested? Are they going to check her cortisol levels and electrolytes?

I don't know if there would be any interaction with the vetroyl as I'm not familiar with that seizure med.

Would the vet consider tramadol for the arthritis? It is easier on the liver than metacam or rimadyl and we know it doesn't interact with vetroyl normally.