Molly, 13 yr, shih tzu - lhasa aspo - Molly has passed

not sure that trilo causes wasteing......but it that was also a symptom of cushings......BUT i am not as knowledgeable as the angels here......they will be more certain of that. always trust the flight of them angels. :)
my little one had the tumor on adrenal gland, so that area i have some experience on and some of the other pet parents here have seen their little ones through that. One of the angels is all over the labs, and others have helpful experience and compounded knowledge that is endless. Truly amazing place. Life long friends for certain!
Reading over your thread......so much of what you express and how you express it reminds me of myself. Especially when you type out "grrrrrr" LOL made me smile and chuckle......ohhhhhh how i understand grrrrrrr. lol

Molly had a horrible night with the thunderstorms we had here. Panting in fear, wanting on the bed, off the bed, under the bed, me on the floor with her, just on and on all night long. I wonder if the elevated cortisol anyway, if any sort of fear is even more exaggerated than before. Has anyone else noticed that their cushings dogs, without treatment, seem to react more to the things that scared them before?
I ended up working from home today I was so exhausted I couldn't even think of driving to work and Molly has slept most of the day.

Zoe was afraid of thunderstorms and funny thing, when I first started to treat her I only used melatonin and lignans. The melatonin calmed that fear away.

Poor Molly, thunderstorms can be hard, I know.

Hi Sharlene,

Our camper got struck by lightening last summer while Squirt was inside alone. No one was hurt, thankfully, but it has had a negative effect on her. She was never nervous in storms unless they were really bad and loud, then we were both nervous. :p But since that incident, she doesn't like them and is getting worse since we moved into the trailer. Her hearing is going so I'm not real sure what she actually hears but she picks up on something and has a hard time relaxing now. We had a very mild thunderstorm last nite - the thunder was distant and just gently rumbling. But she wanted on the bed and right next to me, something she no longer does for the most part.

She was really anxious last nite and she had already had her melatonin dose. I could have given her another dose with no problem but decided to try something else. Several friends have pups who don't handle noises well at all and they have bought Thundershirts for their babies with varying degrees of effectiveness for their babies. Not having a Thundershirt, I took a corner of the sheet and wrapped it around her belly and chest fairly snug then tucked the corner in so it would stay. She looked like a huge cotton sausage! :p But she calmed down, settled next to me and started dozing. After a bit, when it was just raining, she started wiggling to get free; I unwrapped her and she made her nest and went to sleep. Seeing how the snug wrap seems to calm her, I may well invest in a Thundershirt. ;)

http://www.thundershirt.com/

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

Sharlene
HOpe Molly is feeling better.
thank you for your posts.
There are natural remedies you can give Molly for fear and they also have a calming vest you can buy if it gets real bad. Andy would be able to tell you more, since Zoe is afraid of thunder also. Heck so am I.
Hugs Sonja and Apollo

Hi Sharlene,

Izzy, my non-Cush dog, is terrified of storms and loud noises, and has been since we got her. We have the Thundershirt, which helps a little, but doesn't totally stop her. Many people have complete success with that, however.

After she destroyed a door frame by chewing/scratching one day when my husband and I were at work, my vet finally suggested Xanax. It is much better. It works best if you know it's going to storm (I know, not the easiest, right? :)), but even if I give it when it starts or when she is already shaking, panting, standing on my body, etc., it kicks in between 30 and 60 min. and she is MUCH calmer.

There is another drug...ace something that some people use, but my vet said all it does is drug them, but the anxiety is still there. A woman I work with used it on her dog and the dog acted drunk. With Xanax they actually feel calmer. Izzy is only 7 lbs. and takes .25 mg at a time, but the vet said she could take more if needed, and it seems to do the trick--usually. My mom uses it on her Shi Tzu and it really helps her too. I highly recommend it.

They say dogs sense the pressure change, so Izzy usually is acting weird before it even starts thundering. My parents have a blind, one-eyed dog, and he senses storms too, so they definitely know. The lightning terrifies Izzy too.

We spent lots of nights with the t.v. on or a radio and a light, and without getting much sleep. We're both teachers and I can only imagine our teaching the next day! :) My students love hearing stories about my girls though, so they always knew when I was sleep deprived. :D The Xanax makes it so I have to deal with no more than an hour of a totally anxious dog. It's wonderful!

Whether it's the Thundershirt, Xanax, both, or something else, I hope you figure something out soon!

Julie & Hannah

Hey gang! Thanks for all the awesome suggestions. It just breaks my heart to see her so scared and not be able to sooth her. Hopefully we can figure out something that will work with Molly. I'll try a tightish blanket first, if that works, get the Thundershirt. If that doesn't work, then go to meds, but everyone probably by now knows that giving molly any medicine is ridiculously difficult.

Thanks so much. LDDS test this friday!

hugs,
Sharlene

ugh, the double post gremlins! Wasn't sure how to delete so just edit.

Quick question. LDDS test, fasting right? They told me to not give molly her breakfast and then they'd feed her after the last blood draw.

She gets the LDDS tomorrow, when she is also going to be boarding at the vets till Monday, as we are going to be out of town for the weekend.
She'll get her yearly vaccinations on Saturday.

Depending on what the LDDS shows (I am thinking it's going to show that she needs to start the meds) we'll decide when to start her, or wait and have another ACTH in 3 months to check her and see how it's progressing.

Yes - here's a link from Dr. Bruyette, a world renowned specialists where he mentions it.

http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com.../detail/580093