Tipper - adrenal tumor/breathing issues

Hi Everyone:
Tipper is laying around and sleeping, not like herself. I got a call from a vet tech saying the Dr. will get with me he is extremely busy in meetings . I told her to tell him I understand people are busy so why did he not call me after hours last nite??? She had no answer so I told her to tell him I am expecting to hear from him today, if not don't bother calling me at all. I have had enough. Just like a cush mom I know something is going on with Tipper she has been off all week now and I have been saying it. This is not like her to be so inactive and laying around. Someone best get on the phone with me if they know what is good for them, or he can kiss my business goodbye. Today is my Chance's 13 birthday. He is so sweet he and Grace would have been fabulous friends, too bad it did not work that way. Gave him a small amount of tuna for his birthday and I am going to take his pictures now. Blessings
Patti

Hallelujah:
I guess the vet thought over what I said, he just called and I balled him out. He agrees it is her thyroid but gave me some crap story about starting her on a lower dose that they do not do that. _____ is all I can say as I have thyroid problems and know that too much right away causes problems after going thru several specialists, they agreed with me that my problem was starting at too high of a dose. I told him how Tipper has reactions to things unlike other dogs and I want to go low. I told him she has not been well the last few days and I can tell she is off and something is wrong. I said if the results are not in by early next week I want to start her on a low dose, he seemed disinterested and ready to hang up and go home so I think he needs me to enter his private space to tell him what I am wanting to do. I stopped listening to these quacks quite a while ago and when I know different on something he is not going to change my mind. I will only start her low until we see how she reacts to the drug, and if he does not like it tuff beans for him. I cannot have her heart racing when she already has heart problems-where is the caution here??? At least he called back so he knows I mean business. Just let him try to mess with me about my Tipper and he'll be getting slapped up side his head by a cush mom that's had enough. The operative word here is Tipper and you don't mess with my dog, cause I won't put up with it ,I will come for you and your first and second born. He needs to go to continuing education for antiquated vets past their time. I wonder sometimes how many other dogs and peoples lives he has screwed up with his incompetency??? More than that how many people have put blind faith in him and believed in him??? Took some head shots of Grace and sent to the rescue. She was not co-operative and put her head down every time I was ready to snap a pic, it was too funny. She is adorable and does such cute things I cannot get over her. It is still coming down here, so we are getting bombarded with snow. Tipper wants to rub her ears in it!! Blessings
Patti

hi patti, did your vet give you a call already? maybe he can email you.
this is the way i communicate with my vet practice now. they can easily mail in between things i think. but i am a client since i was a kid with my first pet mouse, so no complaints about this small practice.
i received a flyer that they will be on call 24/7 now, so no more visits to a strange vet! my vet practice is only a 5-10 min drive.
maybe tipper is tired during the day because she does not sleep at night?
hopefully somebody will fall in love with graces picture and take her home.

oh, i see we posted almost at the same time. i got flynn's thyroid results back in 2 days. i think the vet wants to wait for the results before he decides which dosage tipper will need.
they are always afraid to make a mistake.
if she needs them, you can start on a lower dosage without mentioning it to your vet.
is there an other vet practice in your neighborhood?
my experience with animal/human doctors is that they do not want you to tell them what to do.
i always ask them politely if they also think it could be this or that. sometimes i am right, sometimes i [the internet] am wrong.
we need them for our pets, so i try not to out-class them. they really don't like that...............

Hi Everyone:
I just read an article from Long Beach Animal Hospital stating that dogs with Cushing's disease and or heart disease must have a conservative dose of thyroid meds. Proving again this vet does not know what he is talking about. This really burns me. I am contacting the Cardiologist tomorrow and having her send him a message concerning this. Also too much of this for the dog can cause diarrhea. I will go to his office armed with info. This makes me sick he just does whatever he wants to without researching anything. This might be standard operating procedure with dogs that don't have Cushing's, but he should have checked this out knowing about her heart and all. Just too much work for him. Blessings
Patti

Hi Everyone:
Another nite with Tipper up a lot. Every time she gets up I am up and nervous as to what is going on with her. She has had several honking episodes with the trachea the last week and she gets so frantic that she cannot breath and goes crazy while I grab her and rub her throat and talk real calm to her. I am so scared when she does this something will happen and her throat will not open back up. Also while reading about the thyroid it said this can cause the nerve in that area to become paralyzed and make her trachea not open back up. Please don't think I am harsh on my vet as this dog means the world to me and I am tired already of misinformation from him that could cost my Tipper her life. I am fed up with his cavalier attitude when I see her struggling to make it and I know sure as anything something is wrong. Mark my words this thyroid panel will come back with bad results and I am calling the cardiologist today to have her message him. I cannot email him because he is so behind the times he does not email, I must send him faxes, which I do and keep copies so I have proof of his neglect to perform his duties where Tipper is concerned. We have been at it since the day I had to get into a verbal fight with him about testing Tipper as I knew she had Cushings. He would not do it, and finally when I made him she did have it. I am not bragging, but I have been right about everything so far and he has been really wrong ,and if I would have listened to him Tipper would not be here. So I must do what I need to to protect her. If that means getting into it with him so be it. This dog means everything to me and I will not allow his sloppy practices to kill my dog. I have never been more disappointed in a vet in my life. If I could write RX's etc. I would not even need him. I am very worried that if the test results do not come back by next week I am calling the IMS to get meds for Tipper as there is something going on with her from this thyroid and it has me very nervous. I need to get her started on 1/2 a dosage and get her back to her current level of what normal has been. I am just scared that more and more issues keep coming on the pile and when will we get to one I cannot fix? This vet should be taking the time to research things he does not know or understand and he doesn't. I have paid all this money to him so that I can tell him what needs done? It doesn't even make sense. If he cared about Tipper and returned calls in a timely manner, researched things and gave me concrete answers, and did not care about money, money and more money maybe I would have some respect for him, but the way things stand I cannot help stating the truth about how I feel towards him. So now that that rant is over, I have not heard back form the rescue for Grace yet. We are to get more bad weather this weekend so it may be next week before Grace get to where she needs to be. Honestly I have never had a sweeter cat than her. I have taken some video of her and I to remember her when she is no longer with me. I am so sad for her and I. For now I need to concentrate on Tipper as she had to go to therapy this afternoon and I feel bad as I know she is not feeling well. Blessings
Patti

Hi Everyone:
We just got back from therapy. Tipper was really squirming when her back was done, but now in the lower back where before it was in the middle. Don't know what that is about. She is tired now and we are taking a rest. I put in a call to the cardiologist and I am waiting for her to call me back. I am going to have her fax my vet and tell him why Tipper needs to start with a low dose of thyroid meds.Then maybe he will believe me. It is very frigid outside, the roads were ok. The therapist said Tippers leg is doing well enough that she can come every 3 weeks from now on. She let her walk around so she could see her using the leg, and was pleased with her progress. She has been a life saver and always happy and glad to see Tipper. She let's you know how much she appreciates your business, and she did fix Tipper just like she said she would.Thank God for all her help. Tipper is tired and snoring as she slept very little last nite. Blessings
Patti

Hi Patti, that is great that Tippers leg is much improved.
I am sorry to hear that you are once again having problems with your vet. That seems to be the never ending story with him. Hopefully you can get Tipper on a low dose for the thyroid and get that done right away. How scary those episodes are when they can't breath. :(
Still no word from the cat rescue huh :( that is sad. You'd think they would be amongst the first to try and find her a good home. What about emailing them again as a follow up? I know you hate to have to do this, it is just going to get so much harder with each passing day and Grace Needs a home she can roam around in and just be herself in. I wish that she wasn't a risk to your other cats, but don't know of any way around that :( Too bad your neighbor guy wouldn't take her. My dad just adored his cat (mine from my youth that him and my mom took when I wouldn't ship the cat to Hawaii, due to quarantine - 6 months!!) and that cat lived to be 21 years old and my dad to 90. Pretty sure they adored each other till the end.

Hang in there Patti. Hope you get some responses today or tomorrow at the latest.

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hi Everyone:
Well the cardiologist just called me and could not believe my vet would not give Tipper 1/2 dosing on the thyroid meds. She is going to talk to the IMS and they will contact my vet to tell him that Tipper must have a lower dose than a normal dog. They will call me back on Monday to go over everything. These are specialists in a hospital and they call back the same day, what is my vet's problem then??? I am so glad they are telling me the same thing. I knew she could not have a full dose and make her heart race. Sometimes I wonder how he got licensed??? I emailed the rescue again this morning and have heard nothing. I am getting attached to Grace, you cannot help it she is so sweet. We just got a weather bulletin that we will be going to 20 below 0 and in the teens tomorrow. Great I have to take Tippers urine to the vets in the morning. Blessings
Patti

Yay for the cardiologist! Now on to getting your vet on board with this treatment plan.
Well, when it comes right down to it, this is what the specialist are there for, to keep the vets on the right path.
Too bad they haven't gotten in contact with you about Grace again. Did you send them the pictures you posted here too? Those are just adorable!
I love how big she is and so loving. Hard to imagine that a Resuce wouldn't be able to place her in a good home.

It's going to be cold here tonight too. :(

hugs,
Sharlene and molly muffin