Introducing Sweetie - Sweetie has passed

[Squirt's Mom]

....this mean I will have to dose her at 2:30pm and 1:30am.

Just FYI - the ACTH must be given 2-4 hours after the dose of Vetoryl. So with the above schedule Sweetie must have the ACTH performed before 6:30PM....unless your vet is open 24/7.

[labblab]

There are indeed some vets who choose to perform the monitoring ACTH testing within the 2-4 hour post-dosing timeframe that Leslie is mentioning. However, the formal monitoring protocol recommended by Dechra (maker of Vetory) is to test 4-6 hours after the Vetoryl is given with food. So that timeframe will give you a bit more flexibility given your work schedule.

If your work schedule makes it impossible to fit exactly within that time frame, you'll just need to make it as close as you can. And then, at whatever time you pick, try to keep the testing time as consistent as possible from one test to another, so that you'll always be comparing apples-to-apples.

Marianne

[wftmomx2]

Good point. I hadn't thought about testing. I'll just have to figure it out. How hard would it be to switch to one dose a few months down the road?

Julie

[labblab]

It's not hard at all to make the switch in either direction. To go to once a day, you just double the twice daily dose. Example: instead of 10 mg. twice daily, you'd give 20 mg. once daily. Subsequent monitoring testing will tell you if you need to tweak the dose further. Some research has suggested that dogs dosed once daily may require a bit higher overall daily total to achieve the same ACTH result. So using that same example, you might have to end up giving 25 mg. once daily in order to get the same cortisol response as 10 mg. twice daily.

I do understand that, when possible, some vets always prefer to dose twice daily. But if an owner's lifestyle doesn't support that regimen, I'm puzzled as to why once daily would not be considered as an alternative, especially since the maker of Vetoryl still recommends once daily dosing as the default treatment regimen. So this is a conversation you might want to have again with your vet sooner rather than later.

Marianne

[wftmomx2]

Thanks. I'll talk to her when I go back next Monday. The 12 hour dose messes up her (and my) eating time as well. Especially while she is still hungry all the time, her meals have gone from 3 to 4, with smaller portions of same daily amount. She just looks at me like "is that all there is?" I really hope that symptom eases soon.

The good news is that her insurance paid what they were supposed to so in the long run, it will be worth the monthly premium and I won't have to take so much of a hit.

[wftmomx2]

Sweetie went for her ACTH stimulation test today (won't have results until Wednesday). In the past 2 weeks, she has gained almost (another) pound. So frustrated. Her back is starting to bow. If I press up on her belly, it straightens out. The only change I see in 2 weeks on Trilostane is that she is a little more awake/aware.

Julie

[molly muffin]

When do you get the results back? We'll be looking forward to the updates.

[wftmomx2]

Hopefully tomorrow. Just to keep things exciting around here, I gave a Vetoryl cap to my other dog this morning by mistake. Arghhhh!!!! Sweetie just looked at me with hungry eyes as if to say "where's MY cheese?"

[dsbailey]

I know this is serious business but we all make mistakes. I just recently gave my boy dog my girl dogs estrogen pill by mistake.

[wftmomx2]

Sweetie's ACTH stimulation test came back. Bear with me because this is her first of this test so I'm not used to looking at this IDEXX report. Pre-ACTH cortisol was 2.2 ug/dL. Post was 2.9. Reference range is 1.5-6. Vet said this is good and to continue on 10 mg vetoryl 2x/day.

She has a little more energy. Vet says it will take time for weight to get under control. Hopefully she won't gain anymore or lose any more fur.

Supposed to go back in 3 months unless I see any problems.

Julie