Lucy - 11 y/o Bichon doing well on Vetoryl

[Lucy Lockett]

My little Bichon Lucy was diagnosed with Cushings in 2009 at the age of 7, 4 years later she is still going strong thanks to a daily dose of 30mg of Vetoryl. It took the vets some time to diagnose her, at first they thought it might have been because we had not had her spayed. So this operation was carried out while we waited for the results of the tests. We had also been warned that it may be liver cancer as when they tried to take a biopsy her liver consistency was that of runny jelly which is not good. :( The vet then told me to prepare my family as we may have to put her down! When we were told what she had we were only given a 2 to 3 year life expectancy but she is still here although now her heart has developed a murmur and she has cataracts. But she still bounces about barking at the kids if they make too much noise and scaring the poor postman by tearing the post out of his hand and then shredding it :) symptom wise she still pants quite a lot, her coat is not as thick as it once was and she can be cantankerous (that might just be old age!!). ;)
I understand why some people are wary of medication and its side effects but it has given me 4 years with my little pet and hopefully she will be here for a good bit yet! :)
Good luck to all those of you living with this disease and hope you find something that works for your pet!

[labblab]

Welcome to you and Lucy, and we are so glad you've posted! We love hearing good news like this. So many vets are still telling people that they can only expect around a two-year life expectancy for their Cushpups. Time and time again we've seen that prediction blown out of the water, and it's wonderful to know that Lucy is another example. :) :)

You will notice that I've moved your reply from the thread to which you had originally posted it. That's because it was an old thread without any recent activity, and I wanted to make it easier for folks to reply to you directly on a thread of your own. I went ahead and made up a title for you; just let me know if you'd like to have it changed and I will take care of that for you.

I just have one question for you, and it is that I am wondering how recently you've had a monitoring ACTH test to make sure that 30 mg. remains the optimal dose for Lucy. If she is still panting and having issues with her coat, it's possible that she may need her dose tweaked a bit. We have found that dogs often benefit from dosing changes at some point down the road.

So we'll appreciate hearing more about Lucy's Cushing's journey and, once again, welcome to you both!

Marianne

[goldengirl88]

Welcome to the forum. Sorry you and Lucy are having some problems, but like Marianne said after they are on the Vetoryl it is important to do the ACTH tests to see where their cortisol number is. She made need an adjustment to her dose. My Tipper also developed a heart murmur. The Cardiologist said it was form old age. I don't believe that for a second as too many dogs on here have developed heart troubles, and Cushings affects muscles and the heart is a muscle. You may want to look into some Hawthorne, it helps with heart problems and is herbal. My Tipper takes it and it has reduced her blood pressure which in turn is good for her heart. It also opens up all the vessels so the heart works better. Good luck to you and your baby. Blessings
Patti