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Dear Sharlene
Enjoy your baby grandchild, and as Addy would say put the Cushings in the drawer and shut it closed for know.
Hugs Sonja, Angel Apollo and Arion, his little brother
Maybe this might help. Apollo was on allergy medicines for years unfortunately, which often times have steroids in them and so do other medications which can cause the cortisol to go up,also stress.
http://www.vetinfo.com/elevated-cort...s-in-dogs.html
Sent from my iPad
I'm baaaccckk!
Wow, you guys were busy on here! I've been typing my fingers off since getting home. :) Lots of snow, grandson was a hoot! Gosh they grow so much, he's got the cutest smile. I started calling him sunshine since his smile just lights up a room. :)
I can't pick Molly up till tomorrow. :( Our plane got in too late tonight. I Hate the silence in the house when she's not in it. So, not thrilled about that, but I'll live.
So, I get to the vets to drop her off and went over what I wanted to done. Lord have mercy, as they say, in for a penny, in a pound. I must have gone nuts and went for several pounds.
So, Molly is having complete blood work done, and a T4 panel . (might as well eliminate things)
A urinalysis. She's prone to crystals and I check for infections any chance I get.
Also she has had some small stones before (no need for surgery thank god) so she gets an xray thingee, to check for any stones, which they said, also shows organs. So, I'm like, yes, check it all. She gets these about once a year or year and a half I guess.
Now for the extra pound part. I went ahead and said they should do the LDDS now after all. I know I said I was gong to wait but with boarding, grooming, all the other tests, I figured, what the heck, lets go for the whole kit n' kabodle.
I don't know if I've left off anything else that I had done or not. The list seemed to be a mile long, or it could have just been price shock at the time. LOL Anything is possible. I'm pretty sure I left in a daze.
Anyway, not sure what results I'll have when but you can be they will be posted when I get them. Cross fingers that we are good on the test results!
Hugs all. Thanks for the well wishes. You guys are all just awesome! I'd be three sheets to the wind and bat crazy if not for everyone here. :)
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Yay welcome back Sharlene and a welcome home for Molly tomorrow, she will be so pleased to get back to her Mum and home!! xx
Hey Sharlene: So glad you are back. I know Molly will be so glad to get home. Hope all her testing is normal and you don't have a bill shock. Your baby grandson sounds so precious, human babies and dog babies just make us smile, not comparing the two, just loving the good feeling we get with all babies. Love, JoAnne
Welcome back!!!
Welcome back!
I think Molly is going to be giving you the ole stink eye after all those tests. lol:p
I am keeping my fingers crossed that everything comes back good & you can enjoy your holidays.
We missed seeing your happy post while you were away. Glad you got to have fun with your family.
Hoping for good test results!!!! I bet Molly was so happy to see you and go home!!
Well, test results are back and guess what, we are still baffled. LDDS, continues to suppress wonderfully. ALP continues to go up, ALT has gone down. Urine Gravity is good, concentrated.
So, I'll do the run down, because even I hate going through pages of this thread looking for past results.
Ready? Set. Go!
Ultrasound July 2012:
Liver: mildly enlarged, diffusely hyperechoic and margins rounded
gall bladder: moderate amount of echogenic debris present
stomach: moderate gas
left kidney: hyperechoic speckling in the cortex and mild derease in corticomedullary definition
left adrenal gland: mildly enlarged with caudal pole larger than the cranial pole
Urinary bladder wall: mildly thickened at the apex, although lumen is not fully distended.
Mucosa: mildly hyperchoic and irregular and two small calculi present
right kidney: similar in apperearance to the left kidney - small non obstructive calculi present
right adrenal gland: upper reference of size to mildly enlarged
lymph nodes: mildly enlarged
Test Histories:
ALT - 54 (10 - 118) May 2010
ALP - 518 (20 - 150) May 2010
Albumin 46.7 (26 - 44) April 2011
Protein 78 (51 - 72) April 2011
ALT - 110 (6 - 118) April 2011
ALP - 764 (5 - 141) April 2011
DEXA (LDDS) May 2011
Cortisol (Base) 82.2 (20 - 300)nmol 2.97ug
Cortisol (DEXA) - 4 hours 28.7nmol 1.04ug
Cortisol (DEXA) - 8 hours 35.1 nmol 1.27ug
Albumin 44.1 (26 - 44) (barely out of range) March 2012
Protein 76 (51 - 72) March 2012
ALT - 139 (6 - 118) March 2012
ALP - 1121 (5 - 141) March 2012
ALT - 152 (6 - 118) June 2012
ALP - 1003 (5 - 141) June 2012
ACTH (2 draws - this is due to the agent used by the vet) June 2012
Cortisol (base) 172 (30 - 300) 6.23 ug
Cortisol - 1 hour 924 33.49 ug
Cortisol - 2 hour 1014 36.75 ug
Lab states, that in a normal animal Cortisol will increase above 250 but not above 600.
The results are consistent with Cushings Disease; Pituitary-Dependent Hyperadrenocorticism
Albumin 46.8 (26 - 44) August 2012
Protein 74 (51 - 72) August 2012
ALT - 144 (6 - 118) August 2012
ALP - 1054 (5 - 141) August 2012
LDDS - August 2012
Cor1 - Cortisol (base) 30 - 300 nmol/L 2.86 ug
Cor34 - Cortisol - 4hrs < 27.59 nmol < 1 ug
Cor38 - Cortisol - 8hrs <27.59 nmol < 1ug
and finally Urine gravity 1.038 August 2012
LDDS - December 2012
Cortisol Base 87.2 nmol (30 - 300) 3.16 ug
Cortisol 4 hr <27.59 < 1 ug
Cortisol 8 hr <27.59 < 1 ug
Thyroid Mini Profile - all within normal ranges December 2012
Albumin 47.3 (26 - 44) - December 2012
Protein 73 (51 - 72) - December 2012
ALT 125 (6 - 118) - December 2012
ALP 1229 (5 - 141) - December 2012
Cholesterol 10.39 (2.50 - 9.90) - December 2012 (I was told to ignore this due to possible sm amount food in the AM)
Urinalysis all normal, no crystals
gravity - 1.035 (clear, dark yellow, concentrated) - December 2012
I notice I didn't receive a copy of any report on the xray for stones, etc that they did, but I was told, no stones (i only notice there wasn't a written report in my papers when I got home)
Vet is to call me later this week, she wasn't in today and she'll have a hard time reaching me
until maybe Thursday or Friday by my schedule. I was told, nothing was urgent, so don't worry, but
that we should go over where we are at with the blood work.
Basically the ALP continues to rise. We think the ALT might be going down in reaction to the
Heppato Support supplement.
I asked about doing a bile acid test, but was told that none of her other liver values have gone
out of range, as would normally be seen in a dog with liver cancer.
I asked about Kidneys, and they said they are fine.
Next stop? I don't know. Didn't show an adrenal tumor on the ultrasound. Something made her ACTH have
high results though and is keeping her liver and adrenal glands working. It just isn't a pituitary
tumor from the sounds of it. I don't think anyway.
I'll see what the vet has to say when we finally get together via phone. I already told the front desk that I'll be asking for all test results to be sent over to the IMS so that we can brain storm
and see if we can figure this out.
It is frustrating, that I can research and know the things I should know about cushings, the basics anyhow, but then when it comes to Molly I find myself clueless.
Thanks for listening and reading all. Yes, molly was very glad to come home and be with her pack. :) She is clipped down poor thing. Going to be a chilly month or so till that coat grows back in. Bit of miscommunication there.
Yep, there was definitely some sticker shock when I went to pick her up. But it's molly and we all know I work for her. :) ROFL!
hugs,
Sharlene
Just spoke to vet. As long as molly isn't showing any cushing symptoms we aren't going to do anything else. Just monitor her. At some point we might go with a full liver panel (bile acid, etc) to see how that is functioning, but right now the ALT is coming down on the Heppato Support. She said that it could be a very small, almost nonactive pituitary tumor, or not very active and that could cause the high ACTH and still suppress on the LDDS. So, again, monitor. She said that would also cause the liver to react as we are seeing with the higher ALT's, but they aren't alarming highs yet and she has always had a bit of a pot belly too, so we are just in further wait and see mode I guess. She said nothing showed abnormal on the xrays too.
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Yay Molly.. I hope she never ends up with "full blown" cushings. I know you feel the same way. You are such a good mommy. I know it is probably frustrating not knowing the exact reason why things are off. :confused: