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

If it's a battle of wills, Mollie will win every time!:D She will wear you down. You don't stand a chance! LOL :D xxxxx

Oh Molly, you have your Mom right where you want her, good job! Keep those stories coming Sharlene!!!!

Pleased to hear you weren't too badly affected by the storms, but sorry to hear about others who have been.
I love the stories of Molly and how she keeps her family on their toes.

This heat definitely gives these pups cabin fever!! A little better here too but hardly cool outside.
Molly is too funny. She's a demanding little girl who knows what she wants and I can recognize that because I have one who acts exactly the same! :D
Once we get outside Trixie has definite ideas which way she wants to walk, which park she wants to go to..etc.
They don't speak English but these dogs have no problem getting their messages across do they?
Barbara:p

Oh you guys! I can see that Molly has a whole gang on her side in this battle. ROFL!
Never fear, I don't give in that easily. Even my husband has noticed how much more demanding she has become the last couple weeks though. I thought I might have been losing my mind or something, but nope, a couple nights ago, he said, she sure is acting weird lately, like she doesn't want you out of her sight.
We've got cool weather!!!! No storms here either for now. We're all loving it. Hope it last.

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Yay for the cooler weather!!:) Do you think Molly might be feeling insecure about something. You mentioned that she didn't want you out of her sight. Did this start after your last trip, when you boarded her at the vet? Just a thought....

Sharlene:
Wonder what's up with Miss Molly acting that way? Any how I just wanted to say Yahooooooooooooo No storms and it is actually cool today. Tipper is going to go for a second walk soon. Blessings
Patti

Yay for cooler weather :) I actually needed a light jacket last night for our late night walk. I know it won't last, but it's definitely worth enjoying for a bit.

No I don't think it has anything to do with boarding her. This just started in the last few weeks.
And of course, today she was her total normal self. She didn't get antsy at all when I was outside without her. Lately even if my husband is inside with her she'll scratch at the door if I am outside.
Who knows and it may be over with now even. She's doesn't throw a fit if I am going to the office without her either.
Thinking back, I think I really noticed it after we took her with us to a friends house, some place she normally loves to go and she visits her little friend Maise, a cockapoo. This time there were some people she didn't know and she stayed near me pretty much the entire night.

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Sharlene:
Cool again today, with no storms until Saturday. Tipper is going out on the porch with me and enjoy the morning. Blessings
Patti

Molly is adapting to having a year and a half year old rambunctious baby in the house this weekend. She is doing pretty good but not particularly eating as I think she is a bunch of nerves. Crying worries her, running worries her, then she can't get settled till she thinks we have things under some kind of control. Who knew that little miss princess was such a worry wart.
Back hopefully sometime mon or tues assuming that Molly and us all survive and don't become neurotic. Lol

Hugs
Sharlene and Molly muffin

Molly is so smart, sounds like she needs everything under control too, and we think we are the pack leaders lol.....have a great weekend....

awww..Molly. Hard for many dogs to take a disruption in their routine. We can't blame her for being thrown by a baby. Babies have a way of doing that to everyone don't they!!? :p

Barbara

:DYIKES Babies in the house :eek: :eek:, poor Molly sounds like she is on high alert! Stressful!!! Hope you all have fun together and Molly does not get her tail pulled :D

Ack! A baby! Poor Molly girl. If she is anything like my Molly she will high tail it out of there and hide in the closet! Have a good weekend!

Ahhhh Sharlene,
A toddler. Fun for you, but not so fun for Molly girl.:o You better watch it or she'll be kicking that baby to the curb! Not really, She's probably a mother hen like the rest of us. It's going to take weeks for Molly to get over that invasion!:D;) xxxxx

Sharlene:
How is Molly doing now that the little one went home? She probably feel like her territory was invaded by a little person. How is she feeling these days? How is your weather? Blessings
Patti

Hi all, :) Baby has gone home. :) Molly is happier. LOL

She was a bundle of nerves while the grandson was here, but never acted out, so that was good. What was bad, is the practically quite eating all together, except for what I could coax into her. She'd nibble but she wasn't even eating 1/2 a bowl of her food a day. So of course, she wasn't able to have any regular poops, just little bits. That is still not normal as she isn't fully back into her eating yet. She has a long walk on sunday morning to the park and then was acting "off" for the rest of the day. Tail down and just not cheerful self. Maybe the walk was too long for her or something, I'm not sure. She hasn't been into having long walks for a few years now, since her last bout of problems with her back leg. She doesn't limp or anything but when she goes too much, it can bother her. The vet had told us back about 5 or 6 years ago, that she'd have arthritis in that leg and it would bother her sometimes, but other than going in and cutting a groove for the joint to ride better in, which could be more risky at her age, there isn't anything to be done about it, it's a malformation. Anyway, I hope that is what is bothering her and that things straighten out over the course of the week, once she realizes that things are back to normal for her and will stay that way for awhile.

I'm trying to catch up on the forum, you guys have been busy as all get out. :)

It's going to be a long month with a lot going on, work and away for a wedding and just Stuff. You know how that is, so I'll be around as much as possible, just some days may be a bit slower than others. :)

I worry when I can't get on the computer about how you are all doing.

The weather has been cooler here this weekend, so that has been nice. No sweltering heatwaves!!

hugs
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hi Sharlene,
Oh dear, poor little Molly, what a time she had! She really got stressed out didn't she? Shows how much dogs like everything to stay the same all the time! ;) I hope she's quickly back to her perky self now that things are back to normal for her. :p

Cooler here too and we're loving it!!

Sharlene:
I noticed ever since Tipper started with the Cushings she has been a bundle of nerves too. It seems like tiny little things that would never upset her before, now seem major to her. The least little thing out of her ordinary routine sets her nerves off. I am walking her in a different place because of the poison spraying here, and as soon as we get out of the car she starts huffing and puffing and looking around like she needs to get stirred up about something. At first I thought it was her heart, now I think it is because she is nervous in new surroundings. I can definitely see how Molly could get uptight about a toddler in the house. She will calm down to herself in a few days I am sure. Glad we have cool weather today, but the heat and humidity are coming back soon. Where is fall???? Blessings
Patti

Hi Sharlene-

In another week most of the college kids will have gone back to school and in another two weeks all the regular kids will be back at school and "we" will get our beach back.:D THAT is what we look forward to. That is our return to normal. That is when we become cranky much less often.:) Poor Molly. :( She had her home turf invaded, her personal space violated. I think she did pretty well, all things considered.:cool: At least maybe we're through with the blistering heat for this summer. I hope so.

Don't beat yourself up for "slow response" time. You are one of the most active moderators I've ever known and I don't know how you get it all done, but I sure do appreciate it. You're upbeat and always have cheerful, positive thoughts to offer. You are such an asset to the forum. Thank you for all you do.

BIG HUG.
Susan

Hot diggity dog! That would be Molly. LOLOLOL It took one day of napping, a day of hubs and me being at the office and molly having her own chill time and wala, she ate her food just like normal. A bit in the morning, finished up when I came home from work and then had a bit more for dinner. Total about 1 1/4 cup just like normal. I'd say she is back to herself :) and I'm happy of course, and what does my husband say, I never thought there was anything wrong with her. I'm like are you crazy, she didn't eat more than an 1/8 a cup of food for 2 days!! sheeezzzzz
She just likes what she likes and doesn't really adapt to change all that well I guess. Nerves I suppose.
Awww, thanks Susan. I try, I don't always accomplish but this forum is pretty important to me, the people and their furbabies, you just want them to all be the very best they can be, however that is. We have a really awesome team of moderators and administrators here. I think some of the best on the internet. :) (disclaimer, totally biased opinion). ROFL!

hugs, all
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Sharlene:
I could not agree more, this team on here is totally AWESOME! Blessings
Patti

So, Molly has an appointment at the vet. She has a rather large lump under or near the right rib cage/belly area, if you are looking at her. I'd say inch or more. I can feel it, it is mailable. So, I want her regular vet to check it out and if any question as to what it is, then I'll be asking for another ultrasound. It could be the liver has also enlarged more, or lymph nodes, which were also enlarged. I don't think you can feel the adrenals. It could be a simple lipoma too, but it doesn't actually feel like one, so I don't know. I've read many vets diagnose something similiar in written description as a fat tumor, but I would need to be convinced as I've read that is an initial diagnosis that can be a mistake.

She seems to feel fine, so we'll see. I'm taking her in Friday afternoon to have it looked at.

hugs gang,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Oh Sharlene,
Please keep us posted, will ya? Hopefully it's nothing, but always better to check it out. That's for sure! Our babies can be so worrisome at times.:o Good golly, Miss Molly, what are you scaring your mom for? Are you getting back at her for allowing that rugrat into YOUR house? None of that will be allowed Missy!
Big hugs,

Hopefully it's just a fat deposit Sharlene.
Crossing my fingers!

Hope Mollys appt goes well, oh for normal days...hugs

Hi Sharlene,
Glad Molly is back to her usual self! She's like Trixie-happiest when the her world is unchanged! :p

Trixie has one of those fatty lumps too. It has not changed at all since I first felt it in May. We go to the vet the week after next for the complete blood work and check up. He will look at it then but of course it worries me!
The lump seems to not bother Trixie at all. I can push it and kind of move it a bit and she doesn't even blink. Hope that's a good sign.
Always seems there's something to worry about.
Hoping Molly's is nothing but a lipoma!!

Barbara

Hi Sharlene. I hope those lumps are just fat deposits. Keesh actually has 3 almost the size of half my fist, but I'm told they are nothing to worry about.
Glad to hear Molly is feeling good.
Good luck on Friday and I'm thinking about you.

Sharlene,
Now you have me worried about Boriss as well. I wonder if I should push more?!?
I hope Molly's lump is just fat like I think Boriss's are. I am pretty sure Boriss has one close to the rib/belly area as well.
These lumps scare me cause I don't want to dismiss them as nothing & then the next thing you know the vet made a mistake. I am going to have my IMS take a peek at Boriss next time he has a stim test which should be next month.
Good luck today & keep us posted.

Sharlene and Molly Muffin
will be praying for you.
Hugs Sonja and Angel Apollo

Sharlene:
Even though Tipper has had many, many fatty cysts removed from her, I get a lump in my throat every time I feel a new one. I know how you feel. It would seem a lot of the Cush dogs have had fatty lumps on here? Tipper had them way before Cushings, so I am wondering what the connection could be?? We are praying for Molly that it is just a fatty cyst. Blessings
Patti

Hi, we're back from the vet. She thinks that the lumps (there are two, one on each side) are lipoma, with one of them being between two strands of muscle. However, we did do a fine needle aspiration, and the cells look like fatty cells but just to err on the side of caution, she sent them out for a cytology. Which I agree would be a good idea just to be sure. We'll keep an eye on them and make sure that at no point do they grow and start to cause discomfort, if so then we'll remove if needed.

She also confirmed that some areas on the skin were warts and not calcium deposit which was reassuring. She said all of these things are seen in many dogs as they get older. That lipomas can cause problems with smaller dogs if they grow to big. (I'm trying to remember everything we talked about and considering we talked for a VERY long time, like almost an hour, is a lot)

We talked about cushings in general as I was reading on the forum a bit when she came into the exam room. :)

So, we discussed vetoryl and lysodren. She said she has lost one dog with cushings. It was on lysodren and the owner did not bring the dog in for the retesting of the ACTH test, kept giving the medicine even when the signs were there that the dog had gone too low and the person was told to stop and come right in. There was no chance to start prednisone therapy because the owner didn't bring the dog in. She said it was a very sad and a loss that should not have happened and could be prevented.

She did agree that vetroyl could cause a dog to go towards Addisons, but that with vetroyl she felt that there was a very good chance that eventually the glands would again start to produce cortisol, where as with lysodren, addison is usually permanent.

She mentioned that the biggest problem she encounters is people not following protocols to have the follow up ACTH test done, that they can become complacent and just skip them and then they get in trouble. She was actually saying how she should refer people to come to our forum so that we'll at least tell them that they need get in to a vet for a test, especially when symptoms change and they keep on medicating.

I felt pretty good about the discussion and that we are on the same wave length. We're still unknown about what is going on with Molly (which is what led to the conversation). That we are basically keeping an eye for any change (there haven't been any) and keep retesting blood in case something shows up. She agrees that if there is any question, we'll do another ultrasound.

I also gave her the link to the hair cortisol testing press release from the University of Vet medicine, Vienna. Who knows, maybe it is something that can be looked into. Also I mentioned the current study in California to reduce the size of pituitary tumors that is going on.

I was thinking about all this today and I think that both my vet and myself have come a long way since this began. I was a bundle of nerves and tears.

Oh dang, got to run, have to go find costume for 70-80 rock party tomorrow night.

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Sharlene, I hope the results from Molly's needle aspirations come back with good results. Sounds like you had a good visit with the vet.

Would you please tell me about the link to the hair cortisol testing press release from the University of Vet Medicine, Vienna? I was wondering what that is all about.
Thanks

Hi Valerie,

http://www.vetmeduni.ac.at/en/infose...ir-of-the-dog/

About the cortisol hair testing.

Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hi Amy, I wouldn't be overly worried, if the vet thinks it is fat deposits (lipomas). As you can sort of grab hold of them, move them around and they don't cause the dogs pain, unless they grow in such a fashion as to press on nerves, etc. You can do a fine needle aspiration if you have any question, fears though.
We went with the aspiration, due to one of the lumps, not moving. We Think it is in between the muscle strands, which happens sometimes, but we are like I said, erring on the side of caution.
I wouldn't overly worried and you can read about lipomas here:

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/...a#.UgV4BW22WSo

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

hi Sharlene,
I'm so glad that it seems these lumps on Molly are harmless lipomas! I'm hoping that's whats on Trixie too. I can kind of grab on it, move it and press it...doesn't bother her at all when I do. I worry about it though, every time I pick her up I feel it. Luckily it has not changed at since I first felt it in May...I hope that's a good sign.
How did Molly do through all the poking and prodding??
How lucky you were to have so much time with the vet to discuss things. My vet has been very good so far treating Cushings but I never feel like there's any time to really talk for more than a few minutes. When he called with recent test results he was definitely sounding rushed...guess he was making all his calls and had to keep moving along.

Seems like we have a bunch of dogs with lipomas on the board...guess it's common in both older dogs and Cushings dogs too.
So many worries all the time with our pups!!

Barbara

Sharlene, Thanks for the link.

Hi Barbara, yea, lipomas, are age related rather than cushing related and what you describe is exactly how a lipoma would feel. I knew that about one of them on molly, but not the other, as they actually run in my husbands family, it's actually a genetic related issue with them, his mom and grandfather had them as does my husband. So, either genetic or age related, seems to be the consensus.

I made an appointment for later in the day and well, we've known each other for years, she's treated molly since she was a baby. In fact, when Molly was about a year old, and she would board at the vets, she use to stay in my vets office, by her feet, under her desk, most of the day, so I guess you would say they have history together.

I remember feeling like I had to fight the whole cushing diagnosis with her to begin with as I wasn't convinced (none of us here were) and she really was, based upon very logical findings. Yet, here we are today, on the same page, worried about the same things, not just for molly but for all cushings dogs, which is what sort of led to our discussion, that and talking about the forum and what we see here, some of which just really threw her. Vets that don't do follow up testing, or do it correctly. Talking about Dechra in Canada compared to the US. I really do like her, but you know, I'll go to bat for Molly any time of the day. I know you are the same, as we are all are. :)

I have to say, I feel like I'm at a cross roads where I don't really know what is going on with Molly. It is either a matter that she does have cushings, and is in the very few 5% who test negative on an LDDS while positive on an ACTH, or she doesn't have cushings, and something else is causing the cortisol to rise, and that is causing the side effects of liver/adrenal gland enlargement. Which as of just last year, were only barely outside normal range. I don't know what to think some days. Molly doesn't seem to fit in with all the things that I have learned over the last 2 years about cushings, yet some things are fairly highly consistent with high cortisol readings. I was reminded today that this actually began for us in 2011, and the first LDDS testing. *sigh* I wish I had a magic wand.

Okay, that was my frank worry of the day. I'll go back to my normal, molly is a happy, healthy, slightly older furbaby life. :) (If I didn't stay in that place in my head, I'd be crying all the time I'm pretty sure)

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Sharlene:
I know what you mean about staying in that place in head in order not to cry. I came out of my little delusional bubble for a while yesterday and cried and cried. If I had only one wish that would come true it would be that there was a cure for this disease. I would not even ask for a Lupus cure. I would only want Cushings gone from the face of the earth. It has hurt so many good people and taken so many wonderful companions. Blessings
Patti

Hey Sharlene: So glad Molly is still doing okay and you have such a good vet. Glad the growths were just benign lipomas. Hope everything keeps coming up roses. Dance the night away. Love, JoAnne