Molly, 13 yr, shih tzu - lhasa aspo - Molly has passed

Molly might win tonight. Hubs is not displaying nearly the level of enthusiasm desired at this point.
gggrrrrrr

Yes, They are such creatures of habit! Buddy will not go to bed at night until I come into the bedroom to stay. He will lie on the floor in front of the door to the bedroom and pout until I'm ready to come to bed. I hope you make it to the theater. You deserve a break from all you do. Tell the hubby I said so. I pull a lot of weight, you know! LOL:D:D
Hugs,
Kathy

Yea that didn't work out very well. He came home from his morning out with a black and blue finger and needing an ice pack. He doesn't feel like going out anywhere today. Oh well, great ideas and all, defeated by a racquetball racquet.

There is nothing you can do about the boys with their toys!:D Sorry about the theater Sharlene. Send the jet and I'll go with you!LOL:D

drat! Foiled again! I can't find the blasted jet keys!

Doesn't the maid know where they are? Better sack her!

Wouldn't that be awesome to have that much to do stuff like that. Our pooches would be even more pampered!

Molly's antics last night made me smile, she knows how to get what she wants :)

I think that little Miss is spoiled enough. hahaha :) Can you imagine any more?!!

eh, we love them. :) sharlene and Molly muffin

So funny about the teeth cleaning. I have the same problem with Peety, don't touch the face and especially the mouth. I like the idea of the gel to put in and clean overnight and the stuff for their water bowl. I ordered both for my lil guy. He loves giving kisses, but they should be sweet smelling. :D:D Thanks for the tips.

I'm with you Pat. I just ordered some too. :) I'm trying the gel and spray Petzlife.

You find out the best stuff on this forum. Really!

Hey, who turned on the water tap here! Molly just came under my desk like a bat outta h***. Rain just started pouring down. Bah HUMBUG

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hi Sharlene
Molly's antics always make me laugh!What personalities they all have-never a dull moment.Its pouring here as well-of course,Grace could care less and Romeo doesn't seem to mind either.Lazy day was had by all-playing,eating and snoozing-ah,the life of a dog!:).Hope the weather calms down for poor Molly.
Patty

Hi Patty, so good to hear from you! Awww, a lazy day sound perfect to me. Molly and me neither want to get up in the mornings when its raining or when it's dark out. (winters are tough ones let me tell you, I have to yell upstairs to her "molly, get up, walkies, Now, wake up) and sometimes I still have to go get her up, which doesn't make her very happy at all.

I tried to come home a couple times today from the office early. It wasn't in the cards though, but I sure did try. I'd even say, look I'll be back online in an hour, can you guys wait that long and no go. Everything was a "now" emergency it seems.

Well, we're home now, she is hiding behind the couch (my desk didn't do it. I might have toe tapper her once or twice) LOL

Romeo loves those lazy days too. That's awesome, can just see him and Gracie lazing around with you.
How much longer are you off work? That is going to be rough getting back in the grind again. I feel for ya, I really do. It's always hard on me after having a vacation.

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hi Sharlene
Love Molly's personality!Think I prob mentioned before that Grace is the same way.Fella was my man-it was his "job" to wake up the moment I opened my eyes,whether it was 4am or 10am,he would get right up with me and sit beside me as I had my coffee.Not Gracie!!:D.The minute Fella and I would hit the first floor step,I could hear her getting out of her bed and jumping into mine!:).And like Molly,I'd be calling her and calling her AND CALLING HER!:D.It reminded me of my poor mother trying to get my brother and I out of bed in the morning for school!:D.

Romeo and Gracie went to the vet today.Romeo got a clean bill of health and if you remember,Grace had multiple cyst like lumps all along her midline that I just couldn't handle getting checked a few wks back.I finally had them checked today and she aspirated them all and they all came back just debris,thank GOD!!I'm to report any changes but for now-good news.Of course,my googling had her diagnosed with lymphoma:eek:-sometimes the internet is NOT such a good idea!I did think of Leslie and had a good laugh because I said"see,I think I'm feeling lumps right here,I think they are her inguinal lymph nodes".The vet felt and said"I think you're feeling her nipples":eek::D:D.

Romeo is a love!!He has finally given up(for the most part for NOW)on Buster and is now playing with Grace-she is so happy to have a playmate!My dogwalkers came over today to meet him and get the lowdown on whats what.I go back to work on Wed.My dogwalkers are wonderful,in their 40's,responsible and live around the corner.The husband does the night walks.I assumed that he used to just come by around 10pm for a quick walk but his wife told me that he was quite devastated when Fella died-he used to come early most nights and stay for an hour or two,playing with them and Fella would cuddle with him on the couch!He even told me that for the last few visits he had,before Fella's surgery,he would massage him and perform reiki-made me feel really good to know Fella was so cared for and loved!:).

Anyhow,nice talking with you and hope the weather calms down so Molly can have a more peaceful night.
Patty

Gosh I love your dog walkers patty
Still raining here but Molly decided she wanted her walkies anyway
No thunder or lightening so she must have decided she doesn't care and is lying beside mr cleaning her toes.
Molly cannot go to bed without cleaning her feet every night for the last 9 years. Vet said its just her thing and not allergies.
Oh that is funny about the boobies. Hahaha. Leslie would definitely have a giggle.
Hugs
Sharlene and Molly muffin

HI Sharlene and Patty

They are very committed dog walkers Patty! Aww that warmed my heart how he would cuddle and massage Fella, what a lovely guy you are lucky you have them! ohhh thats going to be a shock to the system heading back to work this week. Hope it is not too traumatic and Romeo does not get into much mischief while you are gone :D

Popping in to see if we had any results yet Sharlene, hope you hear soon!! I'm with Miss Molly, not a morning person and stay in bed until the last possible minute!! She is a sweetie :D:D xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi Sharlene,
Patty's mistake was completely understandable! I often mistake my nipples for inguinal lymph nodes. ROFL :D. Any results from the testing gods yet? :confused:

Hugs,
Kathy

Spew alert!!! Kathy I just about had ice tea all over the keyboard!!

Thanks for reminding me. I just checked my cell and had missed a call from her vet. So I called her back. I still have to go in and pick up a copy, but the changes are not much.

ALKP is down about 300 units to 918 and it was in the 1200's.

ALT is up by 7 units, she said, it isn't worrisome and that isn't much of an increase.

I think she said the Albumin was now normal and the sodium might have been a bit low but that everything else looks good.

Sodium could be low, because I've had a dickens of a time lately, getting her to drink enough water. She is Not a big water drinker which is a huge problem for us, but that can account for that being low. I'll see how low it is when I go and pick up the results, but the vet didn't mention it on the call, only when I pressed her if anything else was abnormal and she didn't have the file in front of her at the time even.

I think it is pretty good results actually. I'll go get the lab results probably tomorrow. So I can do my own comparison.

I know the ALT didn't go up by much, but I'd still like to get that number down into normal range. I asked her what she thought about that and she said, based on how molly is doing, and the other numbers, that she doesn't know, but thinks the supplements have helped her. We still don't know what caused that ALT to go up last year when Molly was a very sick little doggie. Whatever it was though, it affected her a lot.

So, over all I am pleased and I'll be more pleased when I have the results in front of me and can verify everything myself. You know how it is. :)

hugs all,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Whew Sharlene!! ;) I guess the testing gods are looking out for little Miss Molly this time!:). The results are good! I'd be happy with those!:) ALKP went down almost 300 units, that's great!:o Celebrate with a yummy snack for Molly, not those crappy teeth cleaning things from the vet! She's never going to let you live that one down!:D

Hugs,
Kathy

Great news Sharlene.. :D

I have to admit.... I quickly passed over the nipple remark LOL :o:o:o

hahahaha John. Ignorance is bliss! ROFL

Leslie would have particularly enjoyed it, in light of Her experience. :D

Sharlene,
Sounds like overall,you got a great report-300 pt decrease is pretty impressive!Good job Molly and mommy of course!:).That Molly has such a funny little personality!I cracked up reading about how she cleans her toes every night!:D.I wish"roll in the mud,the dirtier the better" Grace would catch on to some of Molly's grooming habits!

Yes,I am very lucky to have the dogwalkers,they are awesome!They are straight out busy all week long and they also do boarding.I forgot about that and one wknd night I called her and thought she would be relaxing and she said "are you kidding,we have 9 pups tonight-we're having a pajama party watching Animal Planet and having some home made treats!:D.And it was touching to know that they were so good and kind to my dear Fella.

Well,hope your weather has improved and Molly is settled down.It's still gloomy and rainy here.Cleaning the feet-I'm still smiling at that!:):).What a character she is!

Sounds like a good report, that's such great news, happy for you and Miss Molly.......:)

Thanks Letti and Patty and Barbara, I'm pretty happy. I'm never truly happy though till I can do a full comparison on the lab results with the previous ones. OCD maybe. :) I guess when it comes down to it, I may not be a number chaser, but definitely am a numbers person.

You're right Barbara, I'll never live down giving her that horrid tooth treat. If you could have seen her expression of disdain when she just spit it out and looked at it and then at me like, "really mom, this is what you give me after no breakfast and them taking my blood, really?" LOL

Now little miss has the dirtiest face in Canada. I don't know what she does, puts her whole face in the food bowl and then in the water bowl I think. Ugh. I usually just clean with water, but this needs soap I think, and I don't want to get any in her eyes. Well, guess we all know what I'll be doing later on tonight.
Maybe I just need to bring her in and get her groomed.

Hubby and I are getting ready to take her out for an early evening walk. That should get her settled down for the evening.

Sharlene and Molly muffin

Hi Sharlene

Yay all considered that is a great report.. YAY!! Just thought I would mention about fluid intake and sodium, usually if they have real low sodium we RESTRICT fluids, as sometimes excess water makes it go even lower because when all the water is moving through the body (tissues/blood) it can wash out even more salt and make the problem worse. There are lots of causes for low sodium though and I think if it is only marginally down then it could just be a normal fluctuation and nothing too much to worry about!

So pleased to read the improvement in ALP, thats a win! :D xxx

Sharlene:
Glad to hear your Molly got a good report! Just keep em coming the same way! Blessings
Patti

Trish, once I have a copy of the results, I'll know how low it is. So not dehydration. I was thinking that could throw the electrolytes off, but I hadn't googled or looked it up. Of course, now I have and yikes. I hope it isn't off too much. I think I will ask for the last urinalysis copy too. Might be worth having the kidneys looked at if it is too much out of normal range. I want to look over everything on that report.

This mornings walk she wasn't very energetic at all but she did have that long walk last night and might not have been all that interested in walking very far this morning.

Thanks Patti, we'll try to keep things moving along in a positive manner. :)

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Great news Sharlene! Sodium aside, it sounds very positive indeed, especially the ALKP! Great progress.

I have to wonder about this place sometimes though, we seem obsessed momentarily with hair growth, nipples and bowel movements. No wonder the muggles think we are weird :D

Maybe last night's walk was enuff for lil Miss Molly. I know sometimes I try to read something into Peety's change in routine, when really it's nothing more than "I don't wanna, so there". She is such a cute lil cuddle bug. When Peety and I walk, I try to do a brain dump before leaving so that nothing interferes with his time. And "no rushing", please. I have to remind myself that he is in the house all day and he needs to reconnect with all the new smells and identify who has been out there that he missed. And even if he goes poop in the first block, we still have to walk the whole route, because he has to be the last one to leave the "mark". Then he can go home and think about all his lil buds that will be coming by. Such is a dogs life.
Glad Molly is better. Give her a big tummy rub from me. Hugs from me and Peety.

Yay for the very positive test results! That alp is down to a nice 3 digit number and that must feel good!! Anything special you were giving or feeding to get a drop of 300?
Hope Molly continues to drop those liver values!!
Rain moving this way tomorrow so here we go again with the torrential downpours. Trixie will be hiding out...it's either under the kitchen table or my daughter's bathroom. :D
Hope Molly's got her energy back up now! Trixie was like that yesterday, a bit tired and less energetic. I probably wouldn't fret over a less than peppy day if it weren't for this stinking disease! Now I question every little thing. :confused:
Happy to hear about the good numbers!! :D
Barbara

Yep, Molly has her energy back this evenings walk. She was either just stiff or not ready for much of a walk this morning. Either way, I'll take it.
I'm just giving the hepato support supplement and her glucosomine. She has been on the hepato since 08/20/2012. So it's taking a while to get to this point. So, here are the numbers, now that I am back from picking up the lab results. I'll copy in the old labs too because really who wants to go back looking for them.

Ultrasound July 2012:

Liver: mildly enlarged, diffusely hyperechoic and margins rounded
gall bladder: moderate amount of echogenic debris present
stomach: moderate gas
left kidney: hyperechoic speckling in the cortex and mild derease in corticomedullary definition
left adrenal gland: mildly enlarged with caudal pole larger than the cranial pole
Urinary bladder wall: mildly thickened at the apex, although lumen is not fully distended.
Mucosa: mildly hyperchoic and irregular and two small calculi present
right kidney: similar in apperearance to the left kidney - small non obstructive calculi present
right adrenal gland: upper reference of size to mildly enlarged
lymph nodes: mildly enlarged

Test Histories:


ALT - 54 (10 - 118) May 2010
ALP - 518 (20 - 150) May 2010


Albumin 46.7 (26 - 44) April 2011
Protein 78 (51 - 72) April 2011
ALT - 110 (6 - 118) April 2011
ALP - 764 (5 - 141) April 2011



DEXA (LDDS) May 2011
Cortisol (Base) 82.2 (20 - 300)nmol 2.97ug
Cortisol (DEXA) - 4 hours 28.7nmol 1.04ug
Cortisol (DEXA) - 8 hours 35.1 nmol 1.27ug



Albumin 44.1 (26 - 44) (barely out of range) March 2012
Protein 76 (51 - 72) March 2012
ALT - 139 (6 - 118) March 2012
ALP - 1121 (5 - 141)


ALT - 152 (6 - 118) June 2012
ALP - 1003 (5 - 141) June 2012


ACTH (2 draws - this is due to the agent used by the vet) June 2012
Cor1 - Cortisol (base) 172 (30 - 300) 6.23 ug
Cor 21 - Cortisol (ACTH) - 1 hour 924 33.49 ug
Cor 22 - Cortisol (ACTH) - 2 hour 1014 36.75 ug

Lab states, that in a normal animal Cortisol will increase above 250 but not above 600.
The results are consistent with Cushings Disease; Pituitary-Dependent Hyperadrenocorticism

Albumin 46.8 (26 - 44) August 2012

Protein 74 (51 - 72)
ALT - 144 (6 - 118) August 2012
ALP - 1054 (5 - 141) August 2012


LDDS - August 2012
Cor1 - Cortisol (base) 30 - 300 range nmol/L 2.86 ug
Cor34 - Cortisol - 4hrs < 27.59 nmol < 1 ug
Cor38 - Cortisol - 8hrs <27.59 nmol < 1ug

and finally Urine gravity 1.038 August 2012


LDDS - December 2012
Cortisol Base 87.2 nmol (30 - 300) 3.16 ug
Cortisol 4 hr <27.59 < 1 ug
Cortisol 8 hr <27.59 < 1 ug

not cushings

Throid Mini Profile - all within normal ranges December 2012

Albumin 47.3 (26 - 44) - December 2012
Protein 73 (51 - 72) - December 2012
ALT 125 (6 - 118) - December 2012
ALP 1229 (5 - 141) - December 2012
Cholesterol 10.39 (2.50 - 9.90) - December 2012 (I was told to ignore this due to possible sm amount food in the AM)

Urinalysis all normal, no crystals
gravity - 1.035 (clear, dark yellow, concentrated) - December 2012


ALT 132 (6 - 118) - June 2013
ALP 918 (5 - 141) - June 2013
Sodium 143 (144 - 162)- June 2013

Urinalys specific gravity in May was 1.020 which is more dilute than it was.
Hazy, Leukocytes Ca 70 leu/ul, WBC 3 - 5/hpf (1+), Bacteria 2 - 5/hpf (1+) cocci

So, probably not a clean sample, she did have some blood in her urine, but we cultured and nothing grew.
That was from when she had her accident in the house and I thought it smelt strong. She had some very small bladder stones that the IMS thought she would pass eventually and wasn't large enough to block anything. I am thinking now that she might have passed one of those to cause the blood in her urine. Nothing since then as far as accidents in the house or strong odor either.

Her albumin, protein and cholesterol are all back in normal range. I looked carefully and nothing is close to too high or too low on any other result, other than the sodium this time and since it's just a point low, I'm not super concerned, unless it shows that it is trending downward when we test again in August. Her Potassium is fine as is her Na/K ratio, so nothing worrisome there.

Her ALP is remarkably down, her ALT is up but it seems to be bouncing around for whatever reason. It is not alarmingly high either, so so vet said not to worry about it at this point. It goes up, it comes down, goes up, seems to just bounce.

Rechecked previous tests and sodium has never been out of normal range before.

I'm happy. :) I will say that I think the hepato support is working better now, that I've figured out how to get her to take the whole pill instead of sprinkling on her food, like I was before. It just feels to me like it is working better anyway.

So now that I've written another whole chapter in the book. :)
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin (onward to august!)

Hi Sharlene,
I'm glad that the queen bee was ready for her walk this evening!:D You can breathe a sigh of relief now that you've compared the test results.;) It looks like little Miss muffin is in pretty good shape thanks to her mama!:D Give her Majesty a belly rub for me!

Hugs,
Kathy

LOL Kathy, it's true, I feel better once I saw the numbers. :) Little miss queen bee is bouncy as can be this evening and I gave her belly rubs (I call them rubber bellys) and she wagged her tail like mad. She also goes nuts if you blow raspberries on her belly or give her belly kisses. Just loves them!

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

So happy to hear you are enjoying a good nite with Molly, sending hugs and prayers!

Yay, Miss Molly, that deserves x-tra belly rubs. Good job...

Hi Sharlene
They look good!! Sodium only just low, so that is good... agree with you not to panic and just monitor and I bet it is normal next time.

I bet the couple of stones she has rattling around in her bladder what is causing those few red blood cells so I would not worry about those either :D

I like good news and she is up for a nice walk tonight so it's all doubly good for Miss Molly.. YAY!! :)

Sharlene:
Only true dogs lovers would blow raspberries on their babies stomachs!! I have done this with Tipper for years and she loves it. You can tell the dog lovers from the others when they learn about this activity as most want to barf. The idea of a person touching a dog with their mouth is so repulsive to them, it secretly makes me gleeful that they cannot handle it!!! The noisier the better for Tipper. God bless the ones that experience this deep of a love for their babies, it is truly a wonderful blessing. God Bless you and Molly.
Patti

I thought we all blew raspberries on our babe's tummies. There's not much more fun than that! ;) Hope Miss Molly is out and able to guard her tree today. Have to pounce on those suckers walking by!;)

Hugs,
Kathy

Rasberries !!! ... LOL My Roxee hated them, when my daughter in law would come over which was about twice a year because of the distance, she would blow rasberries on Roxee's belly... then when she would come to visit, maybe months later, Roxee would see her turn and run and jump in my arms with that look on her face... there's that crazy lady again, hide me... hide me... :eek::eek::eek: LOL.

Rozee on the other hand used to love em :)

Yay for Molly - good to see she's doing well.

I remember giving Hamish the Hepato Support - trying to remember if it was those or the SAMe's that I had to hide in spoonfuls of wet dog food ;)

Now Flynn is not a nippy dog at all but I am pretty sure if I blew a raspberry on his belly he would give me a good kick to try and get away :D. That would freak him out :eek::eek:

Hope Molly Muffin is having a good week and yours is going well at work! Do you have a summer holiday coming up?? xxxx

Sharlene,
Just checking in to say hi and enjoying reading the "blowing raspberries" and all the responses!:D.Molly is one lucky girl and glad the report you recieved was overall good news!

Grace is IN LOVE with Romeo and Buster is,well Buster is PISSED OFF!Even when Romeo needs a break and is conked out on the couch,Grace is throwing toys at him like "come on,lets play!":D.

Hope you and Molly have a great day!Nice to hear good news for a change.
Patty