14 year-old Shih Tzu With Recent Cushing's Diagnosis

Oh Julie,

Did the Benadryl help Izzie? What a stressful weekend, two sick dogs to emergency is really hard. (((((((hugs))))))))))))))))
Sometimes no matter how hard we try to stay positive, we just need a quiet night to vegetate and go into that denial state, watch mindless TV or a movie.

I am dearly hoping that things have calmed down today and the three of you are feeling better.

I can always tell when Zoe eats bunny poo, her poos smell weird the next day.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: They sure do love it, dont they and if your house is like mine the bunnies are everywhere this winter.

I hope you did not have to cope with this frigid weather as well.

Feel better and let us know how you are all doing, okay?

love ya

Thanks for the support, everyone. Tues. night everything was normal, and last night too....until 3:00 a.m. this morning when we had another episode.

Hannah woke me up walking around the room, which isn't totally out of the norm. I got up and put her back in her bed, which usually leads to her falling asleep again. She got up again and continued to wander. I tried to give her the Denamarin pill (she thinks of it as a treat and I thought she might go back to sleep) and she wouldn't eat it. She spit it out twice. I knew something was wrong.

I took Hannah out into the living room and the weird stretching began again. I went to get my camera to video it so I could show a vet. Of course after about a min. it said the memory card was full. She did actually sit in the "prayer position" for about 5 seconds, which really made me think this was abdominal pain. She wanted to go outside and she peed and pooped (and she had already pooped about 7:00 p.m.). The poop was normal.

We went back in and she sat under the dining room table and shook a little. I picked her up when she came out and just held her. She had a couple of episodes where she would tense up, stretch her neck out, then relax. After about 10 min. total she was acting normal again. This was just like Mon. night.

She did take her pill about 6:00 this morning and I fed her rice and canned ID, which is what Izzy is eating. She did want to eat. The only thing I can think of is that I tried a new flavor (chicken) of the regular brand of canned food they eat (Natural Balance) last week. I don't remember if Izzy ever ate it though, and Hannah has had it a few times. I don't give her much, since she eats the Royal Canin SO Rx diet. I don't know if that is causing these issues???

Izzy no longer needs the Benadryl, so whatever that was also passed, and it makes me think it was related to her diarrhea. She pooped this morning for the first time since Sun. night before her trip to the emergency vet, and it was solid.

I don't know if Hannah is experiencing gas pains or how it passes so quickly. I have been up since 3:00 and wrote sub plans in case I couldn't come to work. Since she was acting fairly normal, I went to work. I asked my parents to pick up both of them and take them to their house to watch them. I left a message for my vet to call me to see if they have any ideas.

This is truly bizarre. Regardless, we are done with that food. I assume their issues are related, but I have no idea. I worry that Hannah's could be related to her liver or whatever else is going on in her abdomen, but I don't know why it would pass so quickly.

I'd love to hear any thoughts you have...

Thanks,

Julie & Hannah

Well, I dont have an answer either, I guess we will wait to see if it happens again without Hannah eating the other food. So her stool was normal, not greasy looking, not green or yellow or blackish, no funny smell, no mucus?

Let us know what the vet says. In the mean time I am sending

(((((((((((((((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))))))))))) )))))

That must have been scary Julie. Poor little Hannah. :( Could it be her pancreas? Did they check for that at all? Sounds like pain. If you change the food and this stops then I wouldn't go with the chicken any longer. This never happened with the other flavor right?

Hope all is well and this stops.

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly muffin

Hey Julie,

I was thinking about you and Hannah and wondered how she is doing. I was thinking about the possibilty of a side effect from the Atopia. Did you ever start it? It lists muscle cramps as a possible side effect and has quite a few drug interations as well. It also says to give it one hour before or two hours after food.

Just was wondering if that may have something to do with whatever is bothering poor little Hannah.

Stay warm!!!!!

aww julie i hope your hannah is feeling better today.will be watching you guys...patty(milo)meka xoxox..... my milo would do that stretching thing a few times a day also,not surew what that was either,he didn't appear to be in pain,but hard to say...

I hope it is food related and not neurological. It's promising that Izzy is over it.

On FB someone was warning that Nutro had changed their formula and that some dogs were having serious issues. So don't switch to that! hugs, Judi

Hi Julie,

I am sorry to read of Izzy's issues and I hope the little one feels better soon. Do they think it is a food allergy? Poor Izzy and when they act like Kujo it just makes it harder to help them sometimes. I have been taking my thumb and fingers and placing it on the top of Zoe's neck when she acts up, I lightly apply a tiny bit of pressure as if it was a mom dog mouth and she stops. :confused: Sounds weird but it works and it does not hurt so what they hey:D:D:D:D I need my fingers for my job:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Two sick pups at one time keeps a girl busy, for sure. Did you ever start Hannah on the Atopia? I just wondered if you had and if it was helping her. I hope she is out of her cone, I am looking for a new soft cone for Zoe for her surgery. It is the one thing I am unhappy about as she has no hair on her neck from her last surgery and her skin is thin, I really dont want her wearing one.:(:(:(

We are getting snow and then below zero again. I think last winter and the beginning of this winter had us all spoiled because we cant handle it:rolleyes: Hubby, the pups and I just want to hide in the house. I was going to write Sharlene and asklher cant she keep Alberta and her clipper in Canada please:D:D:D:D:D:D

hi Julie,
How are Hannah and Izzy doing now? How are You doing?! I hope you are getting plenty of sleep at night. Hard to face a class full of energy kids with no rest I imagine.

Addy, I wish they'd keep them in Alberta all together. I live in dread of the weatherman saying "we have an Alberta clipper heading our way, should be here XXX day". You know it's time to stock up the food supplies and tell the office you'll be working from home for a few days. :)

Check in when you get the chance Julie! Spring break has to be coming soon right!?!

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hi Guys,

Thanks for checking on us. I think we're finally back on track here. We're not sure if Izzy had a food allergy, or a reaction to treats, or what. It seems like that is probably the case since she had the soft stools and intense itching together twice. It's hard because the girls often sneak a few bites from the other one's dish, plus there are treats, so I was doing my best to isolate things to try to pinpoint the issue, but it's tough to know for sure. I didn't want to try to go back to the food again right now because I didn't want to potentially cause another episode. We have parent/teacher conferences this week and next, so I need sleep and calm. :p

For now she Izzy on ID food, both canned and dry. My vet said I could try that even for a month, then try introducing another food and see how she does. Izzy is a pretty picky eater, but she likes it so far. I have a feeling that will wear off in a few days, but we'll see. I want to be really careful with keeping her off of other foods right now, so I told my hubby we have to be diligent about giving her the kibble for treats too. So far she's into it, so that's good! :D

I did start Hannah on the Atopica on 1/3. She's on week 4, but I did take her off of it for a few days after consulting with the derm vet during the stomach issues. (Addy, I was right there with you wondering about the Atopica, even though she had been on it with no issues for a few weeks). The vet felt it was unlikely because they usually have issues early on if they are going to have them, but she wanted to check into it anyway, and give Hannah's little tummy a rest. There was a definite increase in itching during those few days.

Unfortunately Hannah is still in the cone. :( I am really bummed about that, but I know it is usually around week 4 that there is marked improvement. It's hard to know when exactly that will be for us since she had to take a break. The itching on her sides and armpits and backs of her front legs has definitely decreased significantly. She still wants to bite/lick her feet and scratch her chin and neck though.

The thing is, if I were Hannah and had been wearing a cone for months, I'm sure I would bite/lick/scratch everything I could when the darn thing was off too!!! So, I've been trying to think about the fact that maybe she is just trained to think, "I've got about 2 min. to itch everything." Today I am trying to keep her out of the cone to see how she does. So far she has tried to bite her feet a few times, but I've gotten her to stop. She is sleeping peacefully right now.

We go back to the derm vet on 2/16 to reevaluate. I sure hope we will see more improvement. Hannah is on the cat formula of Atopica, which is a liquid, and it is cheaper than the quote I got from our primary vet, so that is nice. The derm vet is wonderful and wanted Hannah on the cat formula so she could adjust the dose easily because she didn't want to give Hannah too much. I think it is about $60 per month on an every day dose , which isn't cheap, but my vet quoted me about $100. Of course if it works, we get to reduce the dose to every other day or less....but I don't have my hopes up yet.

I did notice one interesting thing when Hannah was on the rice and canned ID for about 3-4 days. She hardly drank any water. It was just one more thing that made me question Cushing's. It made wonder if she was drinking less because she wasn't eating the Royal Canin Urinary SO food. She has been on it for at least 7 years, and I do know that her water consumption has increased in the last couple of years for sure, but it was weird to see that dramatic decrease. I was actually worried she wasn't getting ENOUGH water. :confused:

I think I'm going to take Hannah in to have her blood work done in the next week or two, just for my own knowledge. It sure is a mystery trying to figure out what is actually wrong with her. I'll be curious to see what the liver values look like.

On another note, I'm so glad to see Trish and Naomi have been added as forum hosts, as well as the "promotion" from forum host to moderator for Addy and Sharlene. Congratulations to all of you! You guys are doing an amazing job taking care of everyone, along with all of the moderators and people who run the site. You are all wonderful!

Thanks again for checking on us. Keep your fingers crossed that our tummy troubles are over, and that Hannah continues to improve on the Atopica. I'll definitely let you know how her blood work looks when I have it checked.

Sharlene, PLEASE keep the cold weather up in Canada! We've had enough! :D

Take care,

Julie & Hannah