My girl pug (confirmed Cushings & confirmed calcinosis cutis) / Tobey has passed

ACTH Results:

Pre 2.7 ug/dL, range 0.0-10
Post 24 ug/dL, range 8.0-22

LDDS test is today. I should have results tomorrow.

I spent some time last night trying to understand these test results. My vet was disappointed in them as well.

The range for this lab seems to be quite broad, and using their ranges indicates that Tobey's cushings results are borderline (potentially not cushings). However, based on her pre number to the post number, the cortisol increased nearly 10 fold - which seems very high to me!

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

I am very glad we are getting the LDDS test results today.

LDDS Results:

Pre 3.5 ug/dL, range 0-10
4 hr 2.9 ug/dL, no range provided
8 hr 3.3 ug/dL, range 0-1.4

Cushings is confirmed. :(

She starts vetoryl tomorrow morning.

I feel like I am replying to myself a lot... lol .. but, this is a good way to document as well. :)

At the last minute, we decided to follow the Dechra protocol on the vetoryl, so we are doing 10mg x2 daily. She had her first last pill night, and then one this morning. So far, everything is going good. No upset belly, which I am very grateful for. I have the next 10 days off from work, so I will be home with her the entire time.

I would guess all should go well, especially with you right there able to keep a close eye on her.

Hi Renee, you are NOT replying to yourself. Believe me, we read all the posts. Sometimes we might miss one here and there as we are going through, but we catch it on the next one usually. LOL You are Never alone on this forum. :) :) My problem is answering on the cell phone, man that keyboard is small and I've had some doozy autocorrected replies show up on the forum. LOL I try to wait till I'm either at my desktop or laptop computer. safer for all of us believe me!!

Yes, the ACTH was close, but it was over and in addition to the LDDS test and the cc that Tobey is displaying I think you are right about cushings being the culprit.

Now, you know, we all say every dog is different, but in general, give it a bit, I tend to say that you should start noticing a difference in symptoms in 10 days (approximate, give or take a day or two). Depends on, one how much they need to come down in cortisol, and how they react to the vetroyl. 10x2 is a fine place to start, you might go up or down depending on how Tobey reacts to the medicine, sensitivity wise.

You'll be fine and hopefully in a month (because I live on optimism and positivity) we'll start to see something in the cc too, just like Cosmo has. :) :)

Hang in there!!!
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly muffin

Thanks so much Sharlene! It feels so good to finally be doing something. And, I am sure I am reading into it too quickly... but, today for the first time in a very long time, she went down the stairs off our porch and sniffed around the yard. :) She hasn't done that in a long time. She usually pees right on the porch and comes quickly back inside.

LOL.. No you are never alone. We do our best to stay up with our cush family and although we may not always reply..... we are here ;)

BTW, our Roxee starting showing improvement by the 3rd day, her excessive thirst diminished :-) Took a few months for her hair to get healthy again and even started growing hair on her "Rat tail" .... every pup is different.

Nope, not reading too much into it. If it is something that she hasn't done in a long time, then it is likely that her cortisol is already starting to lower and she is feeling better.
Too high of cortisol can make them feel awful and so can too low of cortisol, so you want that balance. Optimally with the cc, if it were me, I'd be aiming for a control just under 5.0, that is my thought though, we'll see where she responds best at.
Just keep an eye out. :)

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Btw, very good progression pictures of the cc, which Was confirmed by testing. (I just want everyone to be aware that this is confirmed and not a guess).

Sharlene and Molly Muffin