Layla not doing so well.

[Rosemarybrody]

Hi,
I am mother of Layla. She is aprox 12-13 year old boxer girl. I have had her since she was seven.I am new to all of this. She started drinking allot and peeing in the house. She also was always hungry. I went to my vet she suspected Cushing. She had 3 blood tests. The results were inconclusive. She referred my to a specialist. This doctor was 2 hours away from my house.She did blood work and decided to treat her with 60 mg of vitoryl a day. She is 70 lbs. after a 2 days I saw changes. Her drinking lessened no accidents. She wasn’t as hungry all the time. She was doing well. 2 weeks later she went for more blood work. All was well. I was supposed to come back in 30 days. I was distracted with life. Two weeks after I was supposed to go back she started failing. Lethargic, throwing up, barely able to stand up,shaking not with it. I thought she was dying.I rushed her to the emergency where the specialist worked. This happened so quickly. I stopped the meds. They did more tests. They called me and told me to stop the vitoryl. This was on Monday. She is slowly starting to eat and drink and walk around. I am a wreck about this. I haven’t spoken to the doctor yet. I don’t know how to handle this.

[labblab]

Hi Rosemary! Welcome to you and Layla, although I’m so sorry she is having such a rough time right now. It sounds as though the 60 mg. dose of Vetoryl was oversuppressing the function of her adrenal glands so that instead of producing too much cortisol, they’re now producing too little. Stopping the Vetoryl altogether was exactly the right thing to do.

When they’ve been overdosed like this, dogs sometimes need to also take supplemental prednisone tablets for a period of time in order to make up for the cortisol they’re lacking. If Layla is already improving after only stopping the Vetoryl yesterday, though, she may be able to bounce back all on her own. If so, the game plan is typically to hold off on any more Vetoryl until her Cushing’s symptoms return and bloodwork shows that her cortisol level has also rebounded sufficiently. At that point, the Vetoryl may be restarted, but at a lower dose than before. How long this break in treatment may last is highly variable. Some dogs need to restart the Vetoryl pretty quickly; others have an extended vacation.

It will be good for you to have a chance to talk to the specialist, and I’m guessing the above info is what you’ll be hearing. Please do update us after you’ve spoken with the vet, OK?

Marianne

[Rosemarybrody]

I spoke to the doctor and she said to hold off on giving anymore vitoryl. She said since Layla is slowly improving she wasn’t going to prescribe the prednisone.she told me to watch her. She is so weak. She fell twice today and is she isnt going out to pee she is laying down. I hope she comes out of this.

[labblab]

If she remains this weak overnight, I’d lean on the vet to give you some prednisone tomorrow morning. And if, by chance, she should worsen again overnight, I’m afraid you’d need to take her back in to the ER. There’s really no reason to make Layla suffer like this when a few doses of prednisone could help provide a temporary bridge. Poor girl and poor you!!

Marianne

[labblab]

Just checking in on you two girls today, and hoping things are going better. We’ve got a couple of sweeties here on the forum that we’re worried about right now, and Layla is definitely one of them. We’ll be anxious for an update when you get the chance.

Marianne

[Rosemarybrody]

The doctor this afternoon gave a prescription for predosone. I gave her the 1 1/2 pill at 6:30. Her muscles look like they are twitching. It looks like the pull is affecting her. She looks dazed. Is that what the pull does? She just went to sleep. I pray she gets better. Her hind legs are week.☹️

[labblab]

The prednisone ought to make her act more normal, as opposed to worse. From what you’ve written, it sounds as though the vet hasn’t seen her since Monday? If Layla is still no better today, I encourage you to take her back in to be directly examined this morning. If the prednisone isn’t helping her, more diagnostics may be necessary. An overdose of Vetoryl can sometimes cause chemical imbalances in addition to a drop in the cortisol level. The balance of potassium and sodium in the body is especially important. I’m assuming those levels looked OK on Monday, but something may have changed since then. A simple blood test can check that out, and if there’s a problem, the vet can prescribe a supplement to correct the problem. If the levels are severely off, a dose of IV meds may even be called for.

Prednisone shouldn’t cause muscle twitching, but I think a chemical imbalance might. And if that’s the problem, it can become seriously dangerous. Especially with the weekend coming up, I wouldn’t wait to have Layla checked out. So if she’s still not better this morning, I’d take her in to be examined as soon as you can arrange it.

Marianne

[Harley PoMMom]

What is the dose of prednisone that the vet prescribed?

[Rosemarybrody]

So when I woke up this morning my husband told me Layla got up followed him in the bathroom for a drink, barked at him, went down a flight of steps and wanted pork loin for a little snack. Walked down another flight of stairs and went outside to do her business. She looks pretty normal for an old boxer girl. For the past week she looked like she was dying. OMG. So do i still give her this predosone?

[Rosemarybrody]

The predinsone tablets are 10mg. I am supposed to give 1 1/2 tablets the first 5 days, then 1 tablet the next 5 days and 1/2 the next 5 days. She is 70 lbs.

[labblab]

Thank goodness she's better!! And yes, under these circumstances, you definitely want to continue giving the prednisone. The fact that she's perked up so dramatically shows that she's been suffering from too little cortisol, and typically this does not correct itself within just a day or two. It can take time for her adrenal function to rebound sufficiently to supply enough cortisol on its own. Your vet is putting Layla on a prednisone "taper," and it's very important to follow the dosing instructions as they've been given. If you stop giving the prednisone cold turkey, you can prompt another crisis. Layla's body has to gradually get used to shifting off the prednisone and resuming making enough cortisol on its own.

I can't tell you how glad I am to hear she's doing better, though. After you've stopped giving the prednisone, then you guys will be re-evaluating how things stand with her natural cortisol production and that will determine when you'd be starting back on the Vetoryl again (but at a lower dose). Some dogs need to start back again rather quickly; others get an extended vacation from treatment.

Marianne

[Rosemarybrody]

Thank you for all the advice��. Sorry for all the typos. I just read it on my big computer.

[Squirt's Mom]

Glad to know she is getting better! I hope she maintains her good spirits and is back to her old self without the aid of the pred very soon!
Hugs,
Leslie

[Rosemarybrody]

Thank you:) I hope so.