Flynn 11 y/o Foxie Cross - Right adrenalectomy- Good Bye Flynny We will miss you

Hey Trish! Whatsa happening out your way? Hope you had good weather for the weekend and you and Flynn were able to get out and about. No rolling in stinky stuffs! LOL
We went a wedding up in Ottawa this weekend. Bloody hot if I do say so. I think it was hotter here though when we got home. Molly is lazing around enjoy the AC now.

Let us know whats up when you get the time.
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hi all
Had such a busy week/weekend with family celebrations, Dad turned 81 on Saturday and it was also his brothers big 80th party... Lots of rellies visiting and catching up, it was great! I went back to work today for a bit of a rest :D:D

Flynny is doing good, he had a fine time playing with a load of kids yesterday, they took turns taking him for runs up and down the street and even made him go in races with each of them! Flynn won them all :D:D then they nearly hugged him to death! He is such a good boy with the littlies :)

I have spent some time tonight having a good read of that article I posted. It is discussing medication used for protein in the urine. It does not go into dietary or any other treatments. So with that in mind, the author Dr Pressler from Ohio State University writes that medication is not needed until UPC hits 2.0

Initial treatment starts with ace inhibitors like enalopril which is his go to drug. Dosage depends on whether or not BUN and blood creatinine are normal, if they are high you need to start on a lower dose and recheck blood creatinine 4-7 days after drug commencement. Because if their kidneys are that damaged starting at the higher dose could be dangerous. If blood Cr is normal, you only need to recheck UPC in one month. At that stage if UPC is still above 0.5 you should increase enalopril in increments to a maximum of 1mg/kg twice a day. Checking UPC monthly until at desired level. ACE inhibition in people with chronic proteinuric nephropathies slows the decline in glomerular filtration rate, delays progression to end-stage renal disease, and prolongs overall survival time, independent of the severity of initial proteinuria.

Hopefully by the time your dog is at 1mg/kg twice daily the dogs UPC will be at correct level of <0.5, if not then add in an ARB such as Losartan to gain better control. He mentions that before starting ARBs a vet should contact an IMS to make sure it is appropriate.

So that is my understanding! So now applying this knowledge to Flynn, we have never got his UPC down that low, his best was 1.49 and I was pretty ecstatic with that considering it had got up to 3.59. While his UPC has dropped >50% we are not down in that good range that Zoe nearly is!! :) It appears the aim of treatment should be to go for it until it is <0.5.

We have never increased his ace as he is also on amlodipine for BP so it is a bit of a fine line and we do not want to drop his BP too low. But he is due his recheck UPC this week so I have just written to our vet thanking him for sending the article and suggesting we need to be a little more aggressive in managing Flynn's proteinuria and depending on his result this week I am fully expecting we will be increasing his dosage and probably changing him from benzapril to enalopril.

I have probably made that as clear as mud, but hopefully it might help our protein pups when dealing with treatment options!! For sure I will let you know how we go :D

Have a good week everyone, Monday is done and dusted here and it was not too bad :D xxx

Thanks Trish for summing it up.:):):) If a pup's BP is not elevated, what happens? When I reread it I was not clear on that.

I hope the reunion was wonderful and glad Flynn had a good time as well. Hope Monday is good, yuck start of the work week:( Mine is short though, I hope to have off Friday but will be hangin out with our youngest granddaughter, hopefully in the pool!!!!

Hugs and love and thanks for reading the article and posting. I feel better knowing I can wait until Zoe's UPC is 2.:):):):)

Hi Trish,
I just recently found a blood pressure report when they did Trixie's initial testing back in April and I see she has high blood pressure--her reading taken with doppler was 230. I right away googled this and see this is high! The vet never mentioned it to me at all...and she hasn't had a pressure reading since so I didn't even know to ask or check about it. Then I just read your post about all this...ok...I'm freaking out! Would Trixie be showing any other symptoms that are noticeable??
I am about to call the vet because I am pretty worried about this. She is acting completely normal...long walks, running up the hill at the park even...but she does have this rapid breathing that I am concerned with, and her urinalysis from last week has a 2+ for protein.
Only other abnormal numbers on the blood work were liver numbers which actually are down, cholesterol and triglycerides. I'm feeling really nervous about this now and I feel like I better get her over there for a blood pressure test.

Hi Addy

I am not too sure what the effect of these drugs would be on a dog with normal BP, the ace inhibitors do drop it somewhat and they would have to keep a close eye on the BP to make sure it does not go too low. So glad Zoe's proteinuria is not at a level that you need to go there!! Long may it last and I am sure it will!! Finger's crossed for nice swimming weather and no dead mice in the pool :D:D

Barbara, I posted on your thread about your BP concerns with Trixie, so pleased you picked it up and are going to get it checked, hopefully it is all back to normal now and nothing to worry about :)

xx

Hi Trish,
Rosie has been having some ear problems. They started out as ear mites. They are finally gone, but a double ear infection remains. It's not getting better. Please read Rosie's thread when you have time and let me know what you are thinking. I am taking her back to the vet in the morning. Thanks.

Big hugs to you and my special boy.:)

Done, I posted in Rosie's thread so you can keep track of things. Flynn sends a big hug back!! xx

Hi Trish,
Sounds like Flynn is loving life. I love how he immediately tore a hole in his new blanket. That sounds just like Boriss.
Your dads birthday sounds like it was a blast for everyone. I don't even know what my dogs would do with that many kiddos around. Probably have nervous breakdowns trying to decide which one to chase first.
Glad things are going good your way.
Amy

Oh bet the party was grand! All those people showing up. I love reunions. lol Flynn sounds like he was the star with the kidlets. I can only imagine how much fun the races must have been to watch.

Glad you had a good weekend!
catchya laters
hugs,
sharlene and molly muffin

Hi Trish,
Thanks so much for your help with monkey girl. She was spayed today. Not at all what I expected when I took her in to have her ears checked again. :o It's a long story. You can catch up on it on Rosie's thread if you like. Rosie will be able to come home tomorrow if there's no complications tonight. I am once again without a fur baby.:o