Re: Newly diagnosed Cushings (8 y/o Min Schnauzer) Jasper
Welcome to you & Jasper! Kim & Glynda have given you great advice, so I will try not to repeat. I have used lysodren with 2 pups quite successfully. My first boy had been loading for 8 days, showed no change in appetite or water consumption which I had been measuring on a daily basis. I took him in for an ACTH to see where we were. I get a phone call from the vet the next afternoon asking me if I had checked water yet. I said no, & was told to check water that she would wait. Low & behold, his water consumption had dropped something like 70% overnight. She said that the stim reflected that as his numbers were so low, she told me to give him 5 mg prednisone daily for the next 3 days, then bring him back in for another stim 48 hours after the last dose of pred, so we could determine, if & when maintenance could start. Unfortunately, I don't remember the exact results of the either stim & when we were able to start maintenance as this was something like 13 or 14 years ago. My point is that you absolutely can't determine if Jasper can go to maintenance without doing another ACTH. Some dogs will regenerate their adrenals almost in the blink of an eye, other pups may take months to regenerate, some may not regenerate at all. You just can't tell without the test. Please do not let your vet start maintenance dosing without confirming that Jasper is ready.
Again welcome to both of you!
Debbie
Mom to 2 Cushing's angels