Down the Cushings Road Again -- Abbie, 15 year old beagle is now at peace

Hi, all! Just wanted to give an update on Miss Abbie -- she is doing really good (saying that quietly -- I got jinxed with Maggie as every time I said she was doing good, she would have a major medical event!). The vet and I talked at noon today to discuss how she was doing and what Lysodren dose to use next week. When he asked how she was, I said the best word to describe her is "perky"! :D She has energy (we went for a 45 minute walk this morning), she has normal poops and her water intake is definitely reduced. Last week we started her back on Lysodren with 250 mg. (two doses of 125 each). This week she is getting 375 mg. (three doses of 125 each). She gets her dose after dinner in a peanut butter ball which, of course, she loves! I have been dosing her every third day to try and keep her Lysodren at an even level.

Since she is doing so well, we are going to keep her on the current dose rather than increase it next week. Her next ACTH is on 2/24/15. It will be very interesting to see what her numbers are. Still a mystery why she never showed any symptoms of low cortisol after her last mini-load/ACTH which was <1 on both pre and post.

The vet and I agreed that a full chemistry panel, CBC and urinalysis should be done in April (6 months since last labs). I also told him I wanted a UPC run as well as a blood pressure check. Her last two urine tests have had 2+/3+ protein and her last BP check was at 160. Is there anything else that would be recommended?

Judy, looks like you have a well thought out plan. Just wanted to let you know that when having the UPC test done that you want the urinalysis to be done first to make sure there aren't any contaminants, sediment, bacteria, etc in the urine, if these things are found in the urine they can falsely raise those UPC results.

Glad to hear our Abbie is doing great, give her some hugs and kisses from her Auntie Lori.

Wonderful to hear that Abbie is doing well. Thanks for the update and her beagle cousins Snugs and Bran send Abbie hugs, kisses and a huge arooooooooooo!

Whoo hoooo go Abbie! She is a little trooper isn't she. So glad she continues to do well and yea, 6 months sounds like a good time to recheck bloods. I do that with molly too. Love it when they feel good and act like they are on top of the world. hmm, in fact, I hear what sounds like molly getting into the shoes right now!

hugs!

Hey, Sharlene--so glad you are feeling better!

In order to consistently give Abbie 375 mg. a week, I've gone to a Monday, Wednesday, Friday dosing schedule. I have noticed that Abbie is a bit duller the day after she gets a dose--just not as alert. She perks up on the second day. She is definitely drinking less (didn't even have to refill bowl today) and peeing less.

Wondering if I shouldn't go back to every third day even if that means she won't get 375 mg. in a seven day period. On the three day schedule she wouldn't get a dose the day before her next ACTH test which would be a different scenario than her previous tests. Neither the vet nor I had a calendar in front of us when we talked about the three day schedule ...

Could you change the date of the ACTH test so it is the day after her dose if you want to change the schedule? Do you think changing the schedule will make her not be as dull after her dose?

I mean you could certainly try it and see if it changes anything.

Hi, folks! This may sound like a strange question but here it goes ...

Is it possible that Lysodren could exacerbate nightmares? Abbie has had very infrequent nightmares since I adopted her -- she will be sound asleep and, all of a sudden, jump up in a very startled state, i.e., run around looking very scared. It takes her a while to calm down and usually doesn't want to go back to sleep in the same spot. Over the past few weeks these episodes have greatly increased in frequency. From personal experience I have had nightmares when given certain types of pain medications after surgeries. I adopted Abbie when she was seven but she didn't have any signs of having been abused but, of course, one never knows with a rescue.

(Sharlene -- I've decided to pretty much stick to the every 3 day dosing schedule. Will switch things a bit the week before her test on the 24th. I want to stick with that day for testing because the techs who do the best job with her glands and nails will both be at work that day. Abbie's glands are "unusual" and the head tech has figured out how to empty them completely. They do the glands/nails after she has had the blood draws so as to not stress Abbie out even more.)

Well that makes perfect sense to me and I'd stick with the schedule that gets you the good techs that can do Abbie too.

Interesting, I've not heard of nightmares being worse on lysodren, but anything is possible, as with the cortisol lower, the fight/flight instinct doesn't have that cushion of cortisol adrenaline to get them through it. I know molly is much more jumpy since her cortisol has been coming down. I thought she was going to go into attack mode and take out a sign that was flapping in the wind this evening on our walk. She refused to budge I had to pick her up and then she snapped at me too until she realized that I wasn't backing down and the sign was off limits to her.

Hi, all! Well, we are still on the Lysodren roller coaster. Abbie had another ACTH on Tuesday. Her numbers are: pre of 5.7 and post of 13.7. This is pretty much back to where she was before the mini load the week of January 10th. As a reminder, the numbers on the ACTH after the mini load were both below 1.

Abbie's water intake and urinating frequency continue to be normal. Her belly has gotten larger (no weight increase) and, most days, is not interested in going for long walks (pees/poops and back home). Poops are normal--I have started to wean Abbie very slowly off the flagyl. I forgot to mention the slippery elm to the vet.

The vet and I agree that another load would not make sense at this point. We decided on giving her 125 mg. every other day (increased from every third day). Going to hold off doing another ACTH for a while unless drinking/peeing increases. We still plan on running lab tests, etc. in April.

I said that maybe it was time to try Vetoryl--there was a long silence on the phone followed by a laugh--I said it might be a good learning experience for us both (he has never used Vetoryl).

I had a portrait done of Abbie--I'll add it to her photo album tomorrow when I'm on the computer.

Well bless both your hearts! She really has had a time getting regulated, poor baby. I hope the increase in maintenance helps!