Tara_Mtl
06-11-2009, 02:47 PM
On May 6th my beloved Tuffy had 6 seizures--4 small ones and 2 large ones. They were terrifying. He began on potassium bromide and has not had a seizure since, though the meds gave him terrible side effects (severe muscle weakness, collapse, confusion). His dose was greatly reduced and his symptoms have mostly resolved. We still don't know what caused the seizures, though. The vet said it could be that he ate something toxic, or due to his age, a brain tumor.
All his tests came back normal except for liver enzymes (liver function tests came back fine). Two years ago they were high (800) and were attributed to his age and now they're at 1600. The vet suggested doing an ACTH test that involved two blood tests. The first one came back normal and the second came back slightly abnormal. The vet said he didn't present as a typical Cushings patient and said he didn't suggest further testing. My cousin who has had two dogs with Cushings sent me a list of Cushings symptoms. I wnt through them, and the list below has the symptoms that I've noticed in the past several months. As I have 2 dogs and 4 cats, I couldn't be sure who was drinking so much water, but I just noticed that I was having to fill the dish much more often; I since narrowed it down to Tuffy. Now it's hard to tell if his thirst is because of the meds (potassium bromide is almost pure salt). Also, his dog bed would have accidents on it, but it was occasionally, and I always thought a cat had peed on it (not that they usually do this, but I knew Tuffy would be mortified at peeing in the house). Anyway, this is what I've noticed (he has all of the following to various degrees):
• increased/excessive water consumption (bad)
• increased/excessive urination (marked increase in asking to go out)
• urinary accidents in previously housetrained dogs
• increased/excessive appetite (asks for breakfast and dinner all the time)
• appearance of food stealing/guarding, begging, trash dumping, etc. (VERY BAD!!!)
• loss of muscle mass, giving the appearance of weight loss (a friend said it looked like he lost muscle mass in his legs)
• bony, skull-like appearance of head (not excessive, but there has been a change)
• exercise intolerance, lethargy, general or hind-leg weakness
• new reluctance to jump on furniture or people
• excess panting, seeking cool surfaces to rest on
• symmetrically thinning hair or baldness (alopecia) on torso (slight, on his "waist" and tail)
• other coat changes like dullness, dryness
• slow regrowth of hair after clipping
• thin, wrinkled skin
• susceptibility to infections (I think he's had urinary issues)
• seizures
What do you think? What should my next steps be? If it is Cushings, then time is of the essence, isn't it?
Thanks in advance,
Tara :)
All his tests came back normal except for liver enzymes (liver function tests came back fine). Two years ago they were high (800) and were attributed to his age and now they're at 1600. The vet suggested doing an ACTH test that involved two blood tests. The first one came back normal and the second came back slightly abnormal. The vet said he didn't present as a typical Cushings patient and said he didn't suggest further testing. My cousin who has had two dogs with Cushings sent me a list of Cushings symptoms. I wnt through them, and the list below has the symptoms that I've noticed in the past several months. As I have 2 dogs and 4 cats, I couldn't be sure who was drinking so much water, but I just noticed that I was having to fill the dish much more often; I since narrowed it down to Tuffy. Now it's hard to tell if his thirst is because of the meds (potassium bromide is almost pure salt). Also, his dog bed would have accidents on it, but it was occasionally, and I always thought a cat had peed on it (not that they usually do this, but I knew Tuffy would be mortified at peeing in the house). Anyway, this is what I've noticed (he has all of the following to various degrees):
• increased/excessive water consumption (bad)
• increased/excessive urination (marked increase in asking to go out)
• urinary accidents in previously housetrained dogs
• increased/excessive appetite (asks for breakfast and dinner all the time)
• appearance of food stealing/guarding, begging, trash dumping, etc. (VERY BAD!!!)
• loss of muscle mass, giving the appearance of weight loss (a friend said it looked like he lost muscle mass in his legs)
• bony, skull-like appearance of head (not excessive, but there has been a change)
• exercise intolerance, lethargy, general or hind-leg weakness
• new reluctance to jump on furniture or people
• excess panting, seeking cool surfaces to rest on
• symmetrically thinning hair or baldness (alopecia) on torso (slight, on his "waist" and tail)
• other coat changes like dullness, dryness
• slow regrowth of hair after clipping
• thin, wrinkled skin
• susceptibility to infections (I think he's had urinary issues)
• seizures
What do you think? What should my next steps be? If it is Cushings, then time is of the essence, isn't it?
Thanks in advance,
Tara :)