Appetite — little Jelly Bean has passed

Started this journey with my little chihuahua Jelly Bean last year. Vet diagnosed and she was put on Vetoryl which seemed to be working. She used to be an AVID eater but last 2 weeks, she is picky…I feed raw Answers and Darwin’s with some Open Farm kibble and freeze dried crumbles on top of food. She also gets Answers goat milk and is on cbd’s and hyaluronic acid. My other little chi is also a little off the raw (she is the reason I started feeding raw as she was having regular bowel blowouts at least 2 times a week so the raw has effectively healed that). Tried lightly cooking the raw but still lack of interest. Have been syringe feeding Jelly with a slurry of goat milk, baby food and a good quality grain-less dog pate. Have also been told that green tripe might be helpful. Does anyone have any experience with the loss of appetite and if so, what did you use to remedy and keep interest up? Appreciate any suggestions, thank you…

Hi and welcome to you and Jelly Bean (love the name!). How much does she weigh and what dose of Vetoryl is she on? The dose may be too high. Could you tell us what test was given to confirm Cushing's and post the results of those tests? Also please post any blood work done with just the Highs, Lows and Reference Ranges. These would be very helpful to those who have more knowledge reading the results than I am.

Hello and welcome from me, too. I “second” everything that Joan has written above — the info she’s asked about will be really helpful to us. Also, I totally agree that in the face of Jelly Bean’s loss of appetite, my biggest worry would be the possibility that she is on too high of a dose of Vetoryl and her cortisol is being driven too low. Whenever a dog being treated with Vetoryl won’t eat, the possibility of overdose is a primary consideration because other very serious side effects can quickly follow. As a first diagnostic step, I encourage you to arrange to have her cortisol level monitored ASAP. And if she should worsen n the meantime, I’d halt the Vetoryl altogether until she can be seen and evaluated.

We look forward to learning more about Jelly Bean whenever you’re able to write more.
Marianne

Oh gosh thank you…will gather all the info and post it as quickly as I can, thank you.

So she is about 5 lbs now, taking 5 mg vetoryl BID. The test to confirm Cushings was the ACTH Stim test. She was retested on 5/11/21 but in going thru my records I don’t believe I have the results and don’t see recent bloodwork; most recent work up is 3/2/21. I am a bit overwhelmed at the moment as my hubby died recently, and have another chi that has been having some issues and also a senior cat who has been sick.
I am withholding the Vetoryl until the vet can assess; tried to syringe feed her this AM but she was gagging so stopped as I don’t want to add stress right now.
I appreciate you both reaching out…and realize I am not giving you enough info to move forward. I am calling vet this morning and as I know from having worked at a vet’s office, Monday is usually stressful so am calling until I get a live person. Please bear with me knowing that I will provide the info as soon as I can get it.
many thanks.

Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry to hear about your husband’s death and all the other illnesses that you’ve been dealing with. That is so much sadness and stress to be shouldering! No wonder you’re especially worried about little Jelly Bean.

Under the circumstances, I do think you’ve done the safest thing by stopping the Vetoryl for the time being. Even though her cortisol level may have been fine back in May, it could have lowered even more during these intervening two months. Current recommendations from both the manufacturer and clinical specialists are to start treatment at no more than 5 mg. a day, with subsequent dosing changes — either up or down — based on symptom resolution, monitoring blood testing, and the presence of any side effects. At this point, Jelly Bean has been taking a daily total of 10 mg. This higher dose may have been supported by the May testing, but again, her cortisol level may have dropped lower since then. So it will be important to have that checked out.

Thanks so much for checking back in with us this morning, and please do keep us updated as you learn more.

Marianne

Just wanted to thank you for your willingness to help…Jelly is in emergency care as of yesterday and after my visit with her today, don’t hold out much hope for her recovery; though an overnight miracle would be wonderful.

Oh, I do hope for a miracle for Jelly....

Just wanted to let you know that Jelly passed away last night, I am shattered. I do again thank you for being there for me…give your babies an extra hug today ��

I am so, so sorry for your loss. Losing our babies is one of the hardest things we face. They just don't live long enough...