marimaggy
06-28-2017, 09:20 PM
Hello everyone,
I'm new here and looking for help, advise, direction. I have a 12 year old St. Bernard/Border Collie mix, Cooper who has been in the best health and happy all his life.
In September 2016 he went in for an ACL repair and did fairly well but struggled to heal completely. At the 6 week check the surgeon noticed his hair had not regrown since the surgery and suggested our Vet do some thyroid testing.
We actually had already done a senior profile which included some basic thyroid along with all the other routine testing done at his yearly check.
Everything normal.
So, on the surgeons advise, Cooper went in for a more detailed testing and results were also normal.
Gradually, Cooper started with all the symptoms you all list here; increased water consumption, frequency in urination, panting, hair loss, pot bellied, stiffness, insomnia and most noticeable, anxiety in the evening hours.
I took Cooper to the vet with questions and concerns several times, repeated labs, did a cardiac US, urine testing everything I could help with to try and figure out what was happening.
Eventually, after many visits, Cooper began with seizures and they continued for two weeks. During this time we went back to the vet, saw a neurology vet, started on Zonisimide and added Clonazipate and did a abdominal US. Nothing. No diagnosis. Everything normal.
I was becoming frustrated and needed someone to pull all the testing together and treat Cooper as a case and not just look at each normal result because obviously something was happening to him.
So we schedule with a Internal Med Vet and she visited with us and asked a lot of questions and decided she would to the low dose stm testing. We did, and it was normal. We then went in for ACTH, and also non-conclusive.
At this point I was given 3 choices,
1. continue to diagnose through more testing
2. treat his seizures
3. start meds for Cusing's
I chose to have him treated for Cushing's without doing an MRI.
He started Veteryl 10mg twice daily for about 4 days with increased lethargy, body tremors, increased insomnia and anxiety and the final blow, bloody diarrhea.
The Internal med vet asked to see him so we went directly in and his Cortisol level had dropped significantly.
The Veteryl was dc'd and Prednisone 10mg twice daily was started.
Today, day 2 on the Prednisone he is about 70% improved in the water consumption, relaxed but not lethargic, very little tremors.
I'm so confused. I have all the results, but not with me now and I just wanted to start a conversation.
Please help me if you can.
I'm new here and looking for help, advise, direction. I have a 12 year old St. Bernard/Border Collie mix, Cooper who has been in the best health and happy all his life.
In September 2016 he went in for an ACL repair and did fairly well but struggled to heal completely. At the 6 week check the surgeon noticed his hair had not regrown since the surgery and suggested our Vet do some thyroid testing.
We actually had already done a senior profile which included some basic thyroid along with all the other routine testing done at his yearly check.
Everything normal.
So, on the surgeons advise, Cooper went in for a more detailed testing and results were also normal.
Gradually, Cooper started with all the symptoms you all list here; increased water consumption, frequency in urination, panting, hair loss, pot bellied, stiffness, insomnia and most noticeable, anxiety in the evening hours.
I took Cooper to the vet with questions and concerns several times, repeated labs, did a cardiac US, urine testing everything I could help with to try and figure out what was happening.
Eventually, after many visits, Cooper began with seizures and they continued for two weeks. During this time we went back to the vet, saw a neurology vet, started on Zonisimide and added Clonazipate and did a abdominal US. Nothing. No diagnosis. Everything normal.
I was becoming frustrated and needed someone to pull all the testing together and treat Cooper as a case and not just look at each normal result because obviously something was happening to him.
So we schedule with a Internal Med Vet and she visited with us and asked a lot of questions and decided she would to the low dose stm testing. We did, and it was normal. We then went in for ACTH, and also non-conclusive.
At this point I was given 3 choices,
1. continue to diagnose through more testing
2. treat his seizures
3. start meds for Cusing's
I chose to have him treated for Cushing's without doing an MRI.
He started Veteryl 10mg twice daily for about 4 days with increased lethargy, body tremors, increased insomnia and anxiety and the final blow, bloody diarrhea.
The Internal med vet asked to see him so we went directly in and his Cortisol level had dropped significantly.
The Veteryl was dc'd and Prednisone 10mg twice daily was started.
Today, day 2 on the Prednisone he is about 70% improved in the water consumption, relaxed but not lethargic, very little tremors.
I'm so confused. I have all the results, but not with me now and I just wanted to start a conversation.
Please help me if you can.