Down the Cushings Road Again -- Abbie, 15 year old beagle is now at peace

Yes I think at the 30 day mark and then if that is good, you get a nice break of a few months, like 3 and then recheck again.

Wonderful news!

hugs

I wouldn't recheck her liver enzymes levels until her chemistry blood panel is due to be done. For some reason there are dogs whose liver levels never do normalize, so don't be alarmed if this happens with Abbie. Also, I wouldn't bother measuring her water consumption, I feel certain that you would be able to pick up on any signs that Abbie's cortisol is dropping too low.

The ACTH recheck on 12/12 sounds perfect to me, however, if Abbie would show any adverse signs of her cortisol dropping too low than an ACTH stim test would be needed ASAP, I'm sure you already know this but thought it was worth repeating . ;)

GREAT JOB JUDY!!!!!

Hugs, Lori

Thanks for guidance! I was thinking I would be keeping an eye out for an increase in cortisol, i.e., increase in water/food, and had not considered symptoms indicating a drop in cortisol. With low normal numbers on ACTH, a drop in cortisol does seem more of a risk.

Abbie's post-ACTH wildness was significantly less by this morning. We had a good 30 minute walk; I take her to an area nearby where lots of folks walk their dogs so Abbie is more interested in smells than eating worms. Interestingly, she has always been very wary of large dogs and tries to act aggessively when seeing them. This reaction had dramatically increased over the last few months and then diminished when we started the Lysodren. I am thinking that the changes in cortisol level influenced her behaviorally. Curious if others have seen similar types of changes ...

Great News! I had faith that you could do this and you did it perfectly! Go Abbie! Sounds like it will be significantly easier from here on out.

Cosmo's mom - oh yes. Underwear is a staple for the hoarder's cave. hahaha!

I think the aggression thing can certainly be part of the cortisol package deal, as we have heard that before.

hugs

Good job Judy and Abbie!:)

Hi Judy :) Abbie is sooo pretty! I hope her illness is easily controlled, I do not know much about Cushings my beagles have pheos :( so I am not knowledgeable on advice for Cushings but will keep Abbie in my thoughts and prayers for all to go smoothly with her treatment.
arooooooooooooo! from my beagle boys Snuggles(turned15 years old in August) and Brando (will be 15 in March God willing)

Thanks, Vicki! It boggles my mind that no one came looking for Abbie in the kill shelter but I definitely ended up with a wonderful girl. So far, she is handling the Lysodren maintenance dose without any issues -- probably better than I do. I still watch her like a hawk on the days she gets a dose!

Amazing isn't it that someone wouldn't come looking for her. She's such a sweetie and so pretty.
Course our Molly came from a high kill shelter in Quebec, and that still boggles my mind all these years later.
I figure they just don't any of them know what they missed and in the end it is us that wins, as we have them in our lives each and every day.

Huggers,

Hi, all! I gave Abbie her Lysodren maintenance dose this morning. She was coughing a bit after swallowing it and I am wondering if the canned food wrap didn't stay on long enough to prevent irritation. I wrap all of Abbie's pills in her canned food and, since she was used to that, decided to do the same with the Lysodren. She has became adept at eating the food and spitting the pill out--at least she didn't do that with the Lysodren. Also, Abbie's first poop was normal but then had a small soft one and a third one with just liquid (all after Lysodren). I will definitely be keeping track of that. This was Abbie's 4th maintenance dose and she has been fine with other doses.

I know that some of you wrap pills in peanut butter or cream cheese but I think Abbie could easily unwrap those. Has anyone used pill pockets for Lysodren or Vetoryl? I am thinking that the pill would stay enclosed all the way down.