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

Who would have thought you'd be back again with the cortisol. Abbie is certainly the contrary one when it comes to her cortisol.

Hope this adjustment helps.

Oh my goodness. I tend to agree with you that maybe the Vetoryl would give more consistent control with the everyday dosing versus trying to figure out how to get consistent results with the Lysodren dosing. I am confident that you can teach your Vet to use it. :D :D

Hopefully the current Lyso dose will work and you won't have to make any changes. Hugs to you and sweet Abbie.

Hi, all! Thanks for your support. In typical Abbie style, she eagerly walked for 30 minutes this morning -- so much for her being sluggish the day after a dose. I, too, am hopeful that Abbie's current dosing schedule will even things out but I am going to print out some of the Vetoryl literature from the Resources forum for my vet. Maybe I can challenge him to try something new!

I posted Abbie's portrait in her photo album -- hoping to get it framed this weekend and hang it proudly next to Maggie's.

Oh that is a lovely picture. It will look so nice framed with Maggie's

Glad to hear that she is back to her perky self. :)

Hi folks! Abbie's back legs have been very stiff yesterday and today. She is not interested in walks, had a hard time squatting this morning to poop and won't jump up on the ottoman to get to the bed. I just gave her 25 mg. of Tramadol and will give her same dose this evening. Abbie's vet is on vacation this week (although always reachable by cell phone); the other vet in his practice told me this morning that I could give her 50mg. twice a day if needed. I've never had to give her the higher dose and, hopefully, won't have to now.

I'm trying to think positively in that this all probably means that the every other day of Lysodren is successful in lowering her cortisol levels. Such a balancing act!

It is a juggle isn't it. You are probably right that the cortisol has dropped enough that she is now feeling stiff and achy.
I wish they had a cortisol meter like a blood sugar meter. Then we could easily find out what the base cortisol level is that they feel the best at.

hugs

Sharlene -- you're brilliant -- a "cortisol meter"!!! Not sure if you get to see "Shark Tank" in Canada but that would be a great invention for them to invest in! :D

As an aside, a strange thing happened when I lifted Abbie up on the bed. As I usually do when I have to lift her, I put one hand on her behind and the other on her chest. As I lifted her up, she screamed. I realized that I had my hand up too high and it was pressing on her throat. As I think I have mentioned in earlier posts, Abbie chokes when she drinks water. I have elevated her water bowl but it doesn't really help that much. The vet has thought it might either be allergies or possibly her throat muscles weakening with age. Now I am back to thinking that there might be something else going on. She has her comprehensive visit with the vet mid-April so will add this to the list. I would rather the vet press her throat area and get her upset than me!

Yea we get Shark Tank and Dragons Den, have the Canadian version with much the same people on it up here. Cool show. Now if only I knew where to start with developing it. hmmmmm

Oh gosh, okay, maybe something going on with the larynx, they have ruled out a collapsed larynx? or partial collapse maybe.. hmmm

hugs

Would a partial collapse cause pain if pressed? Since she doesn't choke when eating, don't think it could be a total collapse. Will have to do some reading ... (what did we do before the internet existed -- well, you were probably not born yet but I certainly was!) I will do a search here as well as I do recall someone mentioning their dog having this issue.

I have also noticed that, when I wipe Abbie's eyes (she has yucky discharge from allergies), I have to be careful not to put my hand on her throat to hold her or she flinches. Didn't really connect that to anything until she screamed out today.

Well I'd think a partial Could cause pain if the pressure was just at the right spot. The other option is for something more dire going on and we don't even want to think about that unless we need to.

Yep, research is definitely needed. My husband is telling me that dinner is definitely needed to. hahahaha

hmm, yep, I remember when there was no internet, or if there was I didn't know about it. :) :) When I started working for the military, we still used the ball printers with special ones for high secure messages, and everything was stored on 3 1/4 floppies. Instead of email, I had a drop in tray and notes left on my desk. Funny to think of that now.

Hugs