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

And, update #1,582, right?!

The medication has not helped at all. She's still coughing. In fact, it seems worse. The nebulizer treatments do give her some relief though. Yesterday, when I got home, I took her outside and realized she had diarrhea. I stopped all medications last night. I am sure it's the theophylline, but without knowing, I think it safest to just withhold everything. Once she's feeling better, I'll start her vetoryl back up, but I'm not doing the theophylline anymore. What's the point, when it's not helping?!

I have rescheduled her to be scoped on 10/14. I feel like we've done everything conservative that we could do. Of course, like every major decision, I am kicking myself for putting this off and making her suffer for the last two months coughing. I always tell myself I'll be more aggressive when one of my pugs gets sick, but then when it comes down to it, I hesitate.

Are there ever decisions where one does not second guess every step along the way!? :confused:

Aww Renee, I stop by and follow what is going on. I'm not familiar with asthma drugs and dogs, I just know how they affect me. It takes awhile for the drugs to kick in for me and if I have a bad cough it can sometimes get worse before it gets better.

I'm not advocating starting up the drugs again just wanted to share how they sometimes affect me.

Second guessing, that becomes our middle name i think.

I cannot believe I am posting this again.. but, the procedure was CANCELLED. Yet again. This time, due to a failure on the part of the vet clinic that owns the scope. This vet examined Tobey and her file this morning, and said she was not comfortable doing the surgery without Dr Priddy (specialist) being there. Tobey is too inflamed and it's not safe putting her under without a specialist present that can fix any abnormalities. And, of course, even though I told them to coordinate with him when scheduling, they failed to do so, and he's out of town.

:mad:
:mad:
:mad:
All the mad faces!

I am trying to be gracious and keep in mind that no matter what bad communication has taken place, all these vets are just trying to be cautious and safe with Tobey, but this is ridiculous. I had myself all worked up, all night, worried about her dying under anesthesia, and now it's postponed. She's been coughing for a solid 2 months. I feel terrible guilt about it and I don't want her to keep suffering. I should have never cancelled that last appointment.

Hey girl, there is absolutely no room and especially no reason for any guilt...my goodness you are doing everything humanly possible for dear Tobey. Dam them vets for not scheduling things correctly :mad::mad:

Huge loving hugs are coming your way ;)

Renee, Please don't feel guilty. You have no reason to. You always do what you feel is the best thing for Tobey. I'm so sorry things did not go as planned.

Hugs

Update again - a lot has happened over the past 2 weeks.

Firstly, I took a break from her vetoryl again, for about 5 days, then started back up at 10mg am only. This is where she's been since 10/26. It seems to be working well, with a moderate amount of rebounding cushings symptoms. I will be having a stim test run in 2 weeks, at this dose and make a decision about increasing or staying.

The good news is that over the past week (since 10/22), her cough has improved dramatically. To the point that I am no longer afraid she's going to die! She still coughs daily, but it's not disrupting her quality of life anymore, and she is just as likely to pant or breathe heavily as she is to cough. YAY!!! I have NO idea what caused the sudden onset of her cough, nor what has caused the remarkable improvement. She is ONLY on vetoryl.

Now for the update from the surgeon we saw (yesterday): basically, after all is said and done, no vet here, even a specialist/surgeon, is willing to risk putting her under, and with the improvement in her cough, I am not convinced it's worth pushing at the moment. The surgeon was quite frank and honest, and said he was not willing, at all, to put her under and that my only option, if I must, was to fly her out (assuming a flight doesn't kill her) to a vet university. When he listened to her breathing and coughing, he said she seems to have a 'snap' in her lungs upon exhalation. This is contrary to most conditions, which are related to inhalation (collapsed trachea, laryngeal paralysis, etc). He had no answer, but suggested that I pursue a consult with a cardiologist, as it often crosses over to pulmonary too. He also gently reminded me that whatever triggered her may happen again, and there is likely not a surgical 'fix' to be had.

I checked in with my regular vet (bless her), and she suggested, as long as the cough is improved, that we wait and run her stim test, then consider the consult with a cardiologist.

So, that's where we are! Thank you for bearing with me. Anyone have any idea if this could be a cushings complication or symptom? One of the rare ones?

I haven't heard of this associated with cushings, but heart issues Can be associated with cushings. So I wouldn't rule it out as being one of the rare issues.

I am glad to hear that the cough has improved though. It just all seems so strange doesn't it.

interesting blog; http://www.instituteofcaninebiology....he-pretty-face

Hey everyone - time for an update.

As suddenly as the cough came about, it has also dramatically decreased. For no apparent reason. We still have occasional coughing, especially during periods of excitement, but it no longer wakes her up or dominates her every move.

Who the heck knows what happened or why it went away when it did. What a horrible 2 months that was though!

I had briefly stopped her vetoryl in the hopes of helping control the cough. We started back up at 10 mg in the morning only on 10/26. I just had her stimmed last Friday. Results were:

baseline 4.2
post 5.3

Now, this is not what I was expecting and I'm actually not very happy with these numbers. I feel the post cortisol is too low to increase her dose, but I also do not feel it's controlling her symptoms enough, as her water consumption and hunger have both increased quite a bit. I was honestly expecting her post cortisol to be some where around 8-10 and had planned on bumping her up to 10mg am 10mg pm. Given that her post is only 5.3, I think that's too risky and I fear it could make her crash. At numbers this low, I really would think her symptoms would be controlled, but they are only mildly controlled. She has had much better control in the past, even with similar numbers.

I have a trip coming up next month. I'll be gone from Dec 21-30. Tobey will be boarding during that time. I'm not too keen on messing with her dose right before I leave the country, so I agreed with the vet to leave things as they are and revisit an increased dose when I return. I think it is safer to ask the boarding facility to deal with increased cushings symptoms rather than risk an addison's crash.

I swear, this disease!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by flynnandian

interesting blog; http://www.instituteofcaninebiology....he-pretty-face

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Thanks for posting this. It is very interesting! I do love the breed, but yes, it has been distorted over the years.