Just Introducing Myself and Bulger - Bulger has now passed

[LauraA]

Hi all. Though I would just say hi to you all and share my so far short experience of having a dog with Cushings. Bulger is a Shih Tzu/Maltese cross.

Back in October of last year my girl Bulger (10 1/2 years young) had a pancreatic attack. She was on antibiotics for 10 days and within 24 hours of finishing the last antibiotic she began to eat and drink and urinate like a dog possessed. She was panting and wheezing constantly. Had a blood test done but all it showed was an ever so slightly elevated liver. Anyway my Vet did a Cushings test and apparently she was off the charts.

It was scary seeing her go from no symptoms to every symptom overnight. She has continued to not follow the norm as she likes to be different and has cost me lots of money at the vets. Something I am sure is to continue. But she is so worth it.

Yes there were bad time and lots of tears and stress but she is doing so well at the moment (touch wood). It isn't the death sentence I originally thought it was - such a relief!! I would like to thank those that are members in the facebook Cushings forum for all their help and advice. I seriously would have been a mess without you all.

Our last test was 2 days ago and the number were excellent and her protein in her urine is down to just trace elements. She still pants, and drinks more than she did pre Cushings, but she is back to her old annoying, grumpy, walk demanding self :)

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi Laura!

Nice to see you and Bulger here! I'm sure you will find lots of info and support here as well. Oh, and be prepared to play 20 Questions! We aren't really a nosy bunch...just like to get all up in your business with Bulger. ;):p We will attempt to establish the history here since many do not belong to FB so any info you want to start sharing will be great. ;)

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang
(Leslie Hays Richards on the FB group)

[molly muffin]

Hi Laura and cute adorable Bulger,

So glad to see you show up on the Forum too. :) It's been quite the journey for you two.

Glad to hear that Bulgers last stim was perfect and just where it needs to be. She's done really good since last October with only a few blips along the way.

See you here and on Facebook. :)
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly muffin

[goldengirl88]

Welcome. What a cute baby!! You will get a lot of help and support here. This is the best place to be when your dog has Cushing's. Blessings
Patti

[Trixie]

Hi Laura,
Glad you joined up here on the forum! Barbara from Facebook here. :) Hoping Bulger continues to do well and maybe the symptoms will trail off a little more. Seems like so many dogs with Cushings also have gastro issues too...like pancreatitis and irratable bowel. Guess it all ties in with the cortisol...there must be a connection.
Trixie had a pancreatic attack last month...tested borderline but had all the signs of pancreatitis except for the pancreas itself which looked fine.
Hope you'll be able to post Bulger's test numbers so others here can learn more.

Barbara

[LauraA]

So good to see so many familiar names :) Yes I think there must be some correlation with Cushings and gastro issues. Bulger has never really suffered from tummy problems till this all started. Fortunately this time her Stim test doesn't seem to have upset her tummy as much as the last few, very happy about that :) No bleeding ulcer!!! My other non Cushings girl Maggie however is a different story. But think that has more to do with her eating footballs, sticks, honkey nuts, eyes off her toys (yes they do look evil now), leaves....yes the list goes on.

I found that having a Cushings dog I never stop observing all aspects of her life. It has become automatic. Checking her water last thing at night and first thing in the morning is just habitual these days. And I have been very fortunate in that her heart murmur has stayed the same for the past few years and not got worse.

Having read through a lot of the threads though I have to admit I am a softie when it comes to dogs and my 'allergies' play up quite a bit hehe. Nothing like red teary eyes :) It just helps so much though knowing that support is out there, even if it is just to say hi.

[goldengirl88]

I just wanted to say my Tipper has a heart murmur from all this also. Thank God hers has stayed the same too. I use Manuka honey for Tipper's gastro stuff and acid reflux. You can get it on Amazon, and the higher the number the more potent the honey. You could also try Slippery Elm. A lot of people on here use it for their dogs with good success. You are doing an excellent job. Blessings
Patti

[LauraA]

Thanks for that Patti. Going to look into the Manuka honey and slippery elm. Now I have got through the first 3 months of not having to be tested and all was well I am a little more confident with trying some of the things I have seen mentioned. I think Milk Thistle was another. I do give her a fish oil each day which she loves to play around with before she eats it :) My other girl has tummy issues so would the honey help her as well?

Have to say I have the utmost respect for Cushing's parents, it can really be a roller coaster of emotions.

[goldengirl88]

Yes. Check out Manuka honey it has such good healing properties it is used on burn victims. Tipper has acid reflux at times. The IMS had looked down her throat and stomach, and said she was amazed at no lesions from the acid, that her insides lookedmlike that of a younger dog. Blessings
Patti

[LauraA]

Yes it seems to have some good reviews. I was looking through the forum about the honey and came across Peety's fur-moms thread where she had used it. Needless to say by the time I got to the last page I was a blubbering mess. It hurts so much to have to say goodbye to them :( Gave my two fur girls lots of extra cuddles (they weren't impressed as they were already in bed asleep).

I think I will introduce the honey first and see how they go on it. I will start at a small dose and build it up. Thanks so much for that. Am eager to try it for Maggie as well.

[goldengirl88]

It is definetly hard to see that people you have come to care about, lose their beloved friends. I think that has to be the hardest thing of being on the forum. We all take mental health breaks when it gets to be too much. Unfortunately that is nature of this awful disease. Blessings
Patti

[molly muffin]

Laura,
Invest in Kleenex brand. You know it's going to be doing well as long as this forum exists. ;)
I spend many hours blubbering away on here. :)
It's just that there is no way to not form those connections and care what happens to the dogs and the people they leave behind. I wouldn't want it any other way to be honest. It is good for the soul I think.

huggers
Sharlene and molly muffin

[molly muffin]

Oh Laura, I'm sorry Bugler is not having a good week. :( Whats going on?

hugs
Sharlene and molly muffin

[LauraA]

She had the Vet on Monday to extract a tooth. We were hoping to do it under sedation but they had to put her under anesthetic. They kept her in for 10 hours to keep an eye on her because of her heart/Cushings. She spent Monday night pacing and looking for food - Tuesday she was still starving!! But Came good Wednesday.

I am just hoping the stress of it all is what is making her a little unwell. She stopped coughing badly Wednesday night thank goodness but she was dry retching on Friday and Friday night she was drink a lot. Saturday night I was up and down with her as she was eating grass all night (sleep is over rated anyway hehe). And she is a bit quite today.

She is wanting to eat, go for her walks and her stools seem okay. Though the grass she ate in the early hours will be coming through this afternoon I am sure :) She definitely isn't herself. I am wondering if the stress an the injections etc have stirred up her ulcer. Gave her one of her ulcer tablets about an hour ago so will see if this helps (and I can sleep!!).

And just because, she has jumped off the bed and hurt her leg lol. When it rains it pours as they say. Have set up some makeshift steps to help her get up and down but I know I am going to be walking into them in the middle of the night when I have to get up to toilet - whats a bruise or two though, as long as the dogs are fine :D

[goldengirl88]

I removed the message I posted on you thread by mistake sorry Laura.

[LauraA]

She had been doing really well up till the vet visit. She hasn't actually vomited at all just gone through the motions. I am thinking that her throat is still a bit gravelly from the anesthetic. I actually went to the vets yesterday to talk to the vet and they seem to think it could be her ulcer, hence the losec. She seems to be doing much better tonight, however if she hasn't noticeably picked up by the morning then I am not going to give her the Vetoryl. She is also battling a bacterial infection in both her ears which she has had for a few months. They did swabs while she was under as her ears looked perfect on first inspection but she was constantly shaking her head.

She has always had some problems on this leg as this is the one she had been operated on, she also had a kneecap problem (luxating patella) on the same leg. She isn't limping on it at the moment (was this morning) but I just took her out to the reserve to do her business and didn't take her for her afternoon walk.

Is the slippery elm bark easily available from health food shops? I usually give her a fish oil but have just been giving her rice and chicken the last few days.

I always give her some breakfast before I give her the Vetoryl, I have no trouble getting her to eat!!

[molly muffin]

Hi Laura,

My bad, I should have asked about Bugler on your thread. Patti I think got you mixed up with Katy on this thread. Moving now. :)

Sharlene

[LauraA]

Easy enough to do :) It's nice to know that people care though and it's great to have such a support network ��

[Squirt's Mom]

I use the NOW Foods brand of SEB (Slippery Elm Bark) and order it online. You can also order the powdered herb from houses like Mountain Rose Herbs, a reliable source.

[goldengirl88]

Sorry I was posting and nor watching carefully enough this is not meant for you as Sharlene said.

[KatyGirl]

It was OK to post your conversations on my page. I was reading them and signed on to join in and they were gone. Thought I had accidentally somehow deleted them. LOL

Rebecca, Katy' Mom

[molly muffin]

LOL Rebecca. :) I'm sorry about that, I just wanted to keep everything clear as to what problem was going on with whom. :) You can talk here too. :) We chat all over the forum.

Laura, I do hope Bugler is going to be fine. I bet the anthesia did a number on her system, and she'd has that bought a couple weeks back of not feeling great.
Molly shakes her head too all the time. I am having a dickens of a time with it. :(

hugs
Sharlene and Molly muffin

[LauraA]

Well the Losec seems to have done the trick, we all slept soundly and she was up at some ungodly hour barking at me to go for her morning walk lol. No chance of a sleep in around here with my two fur girls! Wasn't too happy that I carried her for 2/3 of the walk and made her displeasure known the whole time. Have some anti inflammatory's for her dickie knee/leg, but don't want to give them too her at the moment with her ulcer playing up.

She sailed through her Stim test 4 weeks ago without any tummy troubles and I didn't even think about her visit for her teeth making it flare up. From now on if she has any more procedures I will start her in the Losec a few days before like I do for her Stim tests. Am going to get some slippery elm as well and see if that helps her out :)

Now to try and stop her from doing psycho runs around the garden and trying to get her to rest her leg. I reckon that I will have some serious arm muscles from carrying her on her morning and afternoon 'walks' by the end of the week lol. If I don't take her then she will drive us crazy (or should than be crazier) than we already are.

Patti I continually get people mixed up!! Pretty easy to do :)

[molly muffin]

For some reason I can carry molly with my right arm, but not as well with my left arm, which has left some strange muscular memory on the right side. LOL Probably all because I'm right handed, but with her disc playing up every so often it's got to be done.

Anthesia can certainly cause some issues and sounds like she really reacted to it. So, maybe the losec before will help. She has really done very well, other than a few issues, like the ulcer and leg.

You're doing awesome!
hugs
Sharlene and molly muffin

[goldengirl88]

There is never ever any sleeping in at this house either!! Tipper makes sure of that. If she would slip some how and not get up, Toby is her back up to make sure I do not get any extra sleep!! Blessings
Patti

[LauraA]

I don't mind so much in summer as it is fairly light out at 5am, but now we are into Autumn and it is so dark!! Rain, hail or shine they demand their morning and evening walks. I know who the real bosses are in the house. If I don't get up Bulger will drape herself over my face so I am forced to get up to move her lol. And they will bark and bark at me till I get up.

[goldengirl88]

I know what you mean. In the winter Tipper would be up hours before it was light out. I used to think it would be great to sleep in. I don't worry about it any more, because every more this sweet girl wakes up is a blessing to me. It does wear you down, and some days I barely make it all the way through. You eventually get used to it!!! Blessings
Patti

[LauraA]

Just thought I would update how the Grumpy old girl has been going as it has been over a year since I last posted here and thought some good news would be nice to hear for those that are only at the start of their Cushing's journey :)

Bulger is still doing really well (hope I haven't jinxed myself!!). Of course she is getting older but there is no slowing down on her walks. She is faster than her sister who is 2 years younger. Her heart murmur is no worse ad her kidneys actually improved at her tests in January. She had a bad patch with her luxating patella towards the end of last year but that is the worst thing she has had to deal with. Winter approaching here though so I guess I will see if she has more stiffness this winter soon enough.

I lurk daily reading the threads and love that so many Cush pup owners are so proactive in getting the best care for there dogs. It is hard to question your vets, but sometimes we really have to :) And to those Cush Angels that are here interpreting our results and giving us such great advice - thank you, thank you, thank you :D

[LtlBtyRam]

I have been off here for a long time too and am reading your thread now. Glad to hear your fur kid is doing well.

[labblab]

Awwww Laura, this is great to get such a good update on Bulger! I was astonished to see it's been a year since you had written. You are so very good and helpful to write so frequently to our other members that I did not realize it has been so long since we had heard about your very own girl! :D

So thanks very much for your kind words, but thank you so much for all your own kindness and support here. It is definitely noticed and appreciated!!!

Marianne

[LauraA]

Just paying forward all the kindness that we have all been shown. And I am sure everyone appreciates the fact we can come here all stressed out and find someone to help talk us down from our self induced panic and give us some direction on the next step.

Time sure flies - Oct 2012 was the start of my Journey, gosh I feel old now lol.

[molly muffin]

Yay. So glad Bugler is doing good. She is a feisty little thing. Yes those luxating patella can be a dickens to deal with. We have issues with that too.

Big hugs. Hope winter isn't too hard on her or you

[LauraA]

My girl passed this month :( She had Cushings for 6 1/2 years and was nearly 17 years old. She just couldn't outrun old age unfortunately, but she had a great life and we know it was her time which helps a lot in dealing with the loss. If it wasn't for the Cushings meds there is no way she would have lived to a grand old age, so for that I am ever thankful.

[labblab]

Dear Laura,

I saw your note on our “Checking In” thread as soon as I awakened this morning, and I’ve taken the liberty of moving it here to your original thread about Bulger. I know it’s been quite some time since you posted about Bulger, but it seems important and also fitting for folks to know how her Cushing’s journey began, what wonderful care you’ve taken of her, and what a “dog-worthy” life she was privileged to enjoy. I hope that many newbies who come to us in fear and dread will take heart in knowing that effective treatment is possible, and that Cushpups can reach the end of their normal lifespans with such pleasure and grace.

I also want you to know how much we’ve appreciated your steady presence here on the forum throughout all these years. Even though you’ve not been writing about Bulger, I “see” you here almost every day — watching over our little flock here and stepping in on those occasions when a member has been overlooked or a reply has been needed. I don’t know whether you’ll still choose to remain with us now, going forward. If not, we do understand. But I so hope we’ll continue to see you here, because you have had so much support and experience to share, always.

Lastly, and most importantly, thank you for sharing Bulger with us. After writing this note, I’ll be adding her name to our memorial thread of honor. If you’d like for the date of her passing and a photo link to be added, just let me know. But no matter what, she’ll always be remembered here. I am so deeply sorry for your loss, Laura. It was such a gift that you were granted so many years together, but that doesn’t change the hole in your heart and in your home, now. Please know we are always here for you, at any time now or in the future.

Sending my thanks and so many hugs across the miles to you today,
Marianne

[Harley PoMMom]

Oh Laura,

I am so sorry for the loss of your beloved girl, Bulger, and my heart goes out to you at this most difficult time. Please know we are here for you and always will be.

With Heartfelt Sympathy, Lori

[LauraA]

Awww thank you both :) I will definitely be lurking about and have no intention of leaving. And I know each and everyone of you gets how hard it is to have to say those final goodbyes. She passed on the 24th March, though it still feels like it was yesterday and whilst I miss her, I know I let her go before she really had to suffer and I know she would be thankful for that .

[Joan2517]

I'm so sorry for your loss, Laura. It is encouraging though to see what a great life Bulger had in spite of Cushing's. It gives the rest of us hope for our babies...

[LtlBtyRam]

I am so sorry to hear about your loss.

[LauraA]

Thank you LtlBtyRam, those final goodbyes seem to get a little harder as I age.