10 year old female beagle just diagnosed with Cushings - Ginger has passed

Sharlene, although my Ginger had gone to the other end her electrolytes were not compromised so she only needed prednisone therapy. I know Jasper's were and hope Tina will chime in.

I've mentioned this a couple of times before but the only thing she never spits out has been plain cheese cakes so I've been giving all her pills in it. She seemed to like the sweetness of it even during the time when she refused everything and anything.I still coat all her pills with it and has been pretty successful. Our freezer door is filled with mini cheese cakes. A life saver for her.

Hello everyone! I have missed our chats! My computer got a virus or something so I had to take it in and it lost all of my information. I have been looking everywhere for my log in information and finally found it!
Just wanted to touch base and let you know that Ginger is doing pretty well! She has had a bout with ear infections, but other than that has been doing well with her medication. She is currently on 4 pills a day of .5 mg fludrocortisone and her electrolytes have been holding steady.
She does have some issues of seeming to be a little more easily startled and stressed with things that never used to bother her as bad, but we try to maintain a very relaxed atmosphere as often as we can for her. She still loves to go for a walk and run through the leaves, get out in the woods and smell where all the little critters have been and go and visit Grandma and Grandpa. I think she is doing wonderful for turning 13 Sept. 1st of 2015. I hope this finds you all doing well!

Awww, what a good update. Glad to hear that Ginger is doing well. A bit more anxiety is probably not a surprise, but she does seem to enjoy the things that matter. Sniffing around, exploring so that is great.

Argh, those computer problems. I am regularly forgetting passwords and log ins and looking for them. What a nightmare to lose all that kind of stuff and have to re find it! Glad you found ours!

Hi! So good to read such a good update on Ginger. I can definitely empathize about those ear infections. Abbie has had some rough ones. I got into a routine of flushing her ears and putting in drops once a week for a long while and, although I probably shouldn't jinx anything, they have been kept at bay. I have found that Abbie's stress levels increase when her cortisol goes up. I know Ginger has Addison's but am wondering if the fludrocortisone levels fluctuate during the day.

Take care and Abbie sends Ginger a big "a-roo-oo"!

What do you flush her ears with and what type of drops do you use. I might try that with Ginger once she is over this round of prescription drops. Also, it could be the level fluctuate during the day. I may have to keep a log for a while and see if I see a pattern. Thank you all so very much.

I use Vetoquinol's "Ear Cleansing Solution". It is the one my vet sells. After rinsing (followed by the vigorous head shaking) and wiping out, I put 4 drops of prescription Mometamax in each ear. I have been very fortunate in that Abbie has always been great about having ear drops put in. Hopefully, Ginger is cooperative as well--it makes the whole process go so much easier.

Okay thank you! I need to make a correction on her medication. Ginger is on .1 of the Fludrocortisone, not .5 as I had stated.The past week and a half I noticed she was acting a little off so I gave her 1/4 of a 20 mg. Prednisone and upped her Fludrocortisone by 1 pill a day. This has seemed to help her. When she was having some problems a few months back the vet did an electrolyte draw and her numbers were very, very low so she wanted me to go from 4 pills a day to 6. She also gave her 2 injections at that time as a boost to get her numbers up. So I started the 6 pills the next day. She did not seem any better the next couple of days so I called to tell them and they said perhaps she was not absorbing the medicine and suggested a ultra sound to see if she had a tumor. I told them to let me think about it. Well after I hung up the phone I thought on this for some time. I realized she was doing fine with the 3 pills a day. That told me she was absorbing the medication fine. Then I thought perhaps we had just over done it with her walks for the 2 days prior to her not feeling well. I also suspected that the 6 pills were too much for her. So I dropped her to 4 pills a day to see how she seemed with them. In a few days she was much better and eating, drinking and ready to walk. So I called the vet to let them know this and she said that was fine, she would make a note in her chart and let her know if there were any changes. So She had been doing well with this does up till this past week or so. We have shortened her walks, especially if it is warm outside and instead of carrying one bottle of water with me when we walk, I carry 2. We take more breaks, even if she does not want to. This all has helped. I am not sure why the change this past week - week and a half, but I do know from what I have read, it is not unusual to have to increase the Fludrocortisone through time. So she is currently on 5 pills a day. I do 3 in the morning and 2 at night. So right now she is doing well. March she will be be due for her shots so I will get her electrolytes checked at that time unless I feel she needs it sooner. She just gets way to stressed going to the vet so I would like to get everything done in one visit. I am adding a few pictures to her album and I will keep you all updated. Hope you are all having a wonderful night! Blessings to you all. Colleen(Ginger's Mom)

I'm glad you figured out the pill situation going back down for a bit. It does seem to be an adjustment though back and forth and that might just be what you have to do to keep her where she needs to be.

I hope the next tests show she is doing well.

I usually just let molly tell me how far she wants to go on her walks without letting her over do it if she is feeling particularly ambitious. I know that if we go too far, I'll end up carrying her back and she'll just get too tired.

Good evening. Hope this everyone doing well. Just wanted to let you know that Gingers last tests were very good. Her electrolytes were right in the middle of the chart which is where they want them to be. I have noticed that even though her number are good she does seem to be drinking an awful lot of water. Not to where she needs out every few hours, or even through the night, which I am thankful for. She does get up and drink through the night, but comes back to bed. Perhaps this is common with her medication. I did not think to ask the vet about it when we were there last. I will maybe make a call and just see what she says, but wanted to run it past all of you as well. It is hard to get her to eat in the mornings. But the vet did say that it is probably because her night time meds are wearing off. So she was not concerned about that. Once she gets her pills in her and I take her for a walk usually she eats, but sometimes she does not until almost noon. She does not seem to feel bad most of the time, but she does have some off days which is to be expected. All in all I feel like she is doing well. I am adding some new pictures tonight of one of her favorite places here in Indiana. Blessing to you all.

Could you get a copy of her last ACTH stim and post those results here...thanks!

I don't know if you are aware of this but Vetoryl has to be given with a meal to be properly absorbed, so If she is getting her Vetoryl dose on an empty stomach those ACTH stimulation results will be skewed.