Me too! Also hope you aren't one of those in Omaha stuck without power after the storm. Stay warm!
Let us know how our little guy is doing. Kim
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Me too! Also hope you aren't one of those in Omaha stuck without power after the storm. Stay warm!
Let us know how our little guy is doing. Kim
Hello Dear Friends,
Thank you all for checking in on us. There have been some Internet problems in my area due to the blizzard, so my connection has been intermittent at best for the past couple of days. All fixed now I think. And no Kim, I am not in the areas of town that had been without power, thank God. And I mean that literally, I thanked Him out loud because I don't know what I would do with Jasper in that situation if I couldn't find a motel available that allowed pets. There is not much flexibility there due to the inability of his body to handle stress. No way could he go to the pet shelter, he would not be able to handle that. So I am blessed we did not have to deal with that. And my street was finally plowed last night, yay!!! :D
We did make it to the vet for Jasper's injection and electrolytes on Wed 12/19. It was a 3 1/2 hour round trip of driving due to the roads :eek: , but we were careful and made it home by about 9:30 pm. Even though it was pretty dicey, I am glad I decided to chance it, because the roads were worse on Thursday after snowing and blowing all night, so that would have been even more difficult to get him there. His Percorten dose was decreased by another 0.1 ml, so he got 0.7 ml. My vet called late on Friday and his electrolytes were all normal. I don't have the numbers, but she said they were all in the middle of the normal range. So that is good news! :D :D I think she is hoping that we may be able to stop the Pecorten at some point if things stay in the normal range. The IMS mentioned this to her a while back when they consulted.
She will check in next either next Wed or Fri. I am supposed to decrease the Dex to 0.25 mg every other day any time. I made an executive decision to continue him on daily dose through 12/25 and then skip a day 12/26 to start the every other day dosing. I just don't feel comfortable trying that when the vets office will be closed for the Holiday or have decreased hours. I am very nervous to make this change since he seems to be feeling pretty good. But I am hopeful he will be able to tolerate it and that we will get some normalization of the excessive drinking and peeing.
And yes Addy and Amy, I am putting any possibility that there are kidney issues out of my mind. :o
Love and hugs,
Tina and Jasper
Merry Christmas Tina to you and Jasper and Shelby!
Have a safe and wonderful Holiday,
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Merry Christmas to all the dear friends I have met on this forum over the past 5 months. To say I don't know what I would have done without you all is an understatement. It was a blessing the day I found this site, and I don't know how to thank you all for the knowledge, kindness, love, and support you have given me and Jasper (and continue to give) throughout our journey with this complex illness. I truly feel like we are family and I love you all.
Merry Christmas to you and your pups. I wish you all a blessed day with your families. Much health and happiness, and many many Blessings in the New Year.
Love and hugs,
Tina and Jasper (and Shelby) xx
Merry Christmas Tina, Jasper and Shelby!
Have a great day and hope your not still in that blizzard, that sounds most not fun! Wishing you the best Christmas ever!
Trish and Flynn xx
HI Tina and Jasper
Hope the reduced Dex dose is going OK! Happy New Year, have a great night and year!
xx
Happy New Year, Tina, Jasper and Shelby!
Hope this is going to be a really good year for all of you.
Cheers,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Thanks everyone for checking in on us. Jasper seems to be feeling well, and we have had good holidays! He is now getting Dex 0.25 mg every other day since 12/26, and seems to be tolerating it well. Dexamethasone is much longer acting than prednisone, so that helps him stay stable on every other day dosing.
There has been no change in the drinking or urinating, even on the days he doesn't get the Dex, but my vet said she is not surprised by that since it is longer acting. I will say that on most nights, I can work it out to where he only has to go out once during the night, but that involves going to bed later. My vet wants to cut the dose in half again, and hopes that will make a differences with the drinking and peeing. She said the dose he is getting now is still higher than the physiologic dose needed for his body, so the plan is to decrease. She plans to check in again next Monday 1/7 and I imagine we will decrease it again then, as long as he continues to do well in the meantime.
I am just so happy that he is feeling better now, and I pray it will continue. It is such a joy to see him eating, and playing with his toys, and having enough energy to rough house with his sister, and sleeping peacefully, and just being a dog. Everything. I get teary eyed just watching him, he has been through so much. And I love that little guy so so much. He is my heart.
Happy New Year to all my dear friends here. Wishing good health for all our pups, and many blessings to you in the coming year.
Love and hugs,
Tina, Jasper and Shelby
Tina, that is such fabulous news about Jasper. It must be wonderful to feel like you have him back with you being normal acting and you are finally able to get some sort of life and schedule worked out again. Shelby is probably thrilled to have her play mate back too.
That would be really good if he can take a decrease of the Dex and that help the urinating frequency. If not, you seem to have it worked out pretty well now to only once a night.
So glad you have had good holidays! Lets have a fabulous year too!
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Tina,
Happy New Year to you & Jasper!! So glad things are going good for you & Jasper.
May the new year bring only good things. ;)
Yay so pleased to hear Jasper is feeling well, great news! Long may it continue :D
Trish xx
Hi Tina
I hope no news is good news and your having a great week!
Trish xx
Yep, Ditto what Trish said! Hope you and Jasper and Shelby are doing really well.
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Hoping everything is okay and you are not sick in bed with the flu.
We miss you:):):):) Maybe you all missed the cabin and decided to go back. It did sound lovely. What a wonderful escape.
((((((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))))))))
Hi Everyone!
Thanks so much for checking in on me and Jasper. I haven't meant to be absent, the past week has been so tough for many reasons. Wicked busy, stressful, and long hours at my job, and then so much sadness on the site. I have been reading and keeping up for the most part and have been crying every night for our members and their pups. I can't seem to shake it. I was absolutely heartbroken at the losses of Maximus and Baxter, and couldn't stop crying. Still crying actually. You would think they were my own dogs. And poor Scoop, and Tipper, and Casey, worrying so much about them. And others too. I have been so upset that I haven't even been able to post on their threads. Every time I started, I just couldn't find the words and was just bawling. I am hoping to do some posting a bit later.
There has been a bit of a setback with Jasper also. I feel guilty even posting about it with everything that others are going through. Last Friday he started hesitating and walking away from his food at times again. This had not happened for a while. On Monday 1/7 when I talked to my vet, she thought it was probably related to the decreased Dex dose - he has been on 1/2 tab (0.25) mg every other day since 12/26. She felt this was a sign that he was not tolerating the decreased dose so said to increase back up to 1/2 tab daily for 4 days to see if it would boost his appetite and then decrease to 1/4 tab but give daily rather than every other day. Today is the first day of 1/4 tab. I don't think I noticed a big difference over the past 4 days. Some meals he will eat like normal, others he will do the walking away business. So far he has always returned to the bowl fairly quickly and finished. In the past, this behavior seemed to be the first sign that his body wasn't feeling so good with the steroid dose and that the dose was too low for his body.
I was so upset about this, because even at the every other day dose, it is still higher than the physiologic dose recommended for his weight. It seems like very time we get close to trying to decrease the Dex to the dose my vet recommends (1/4 tab every other day), he starts not feeling well again. We have never been able to get it down to the recommended lower dose, so have not been able to evaluate whether the increased drinking and peeing are side effects from the Dex, or something else.
I know my vet is thinking more and more that it might be early kidney disease because the drinking and peeing have not decreased at all. We have an appt on Mon evening 1/14 for his Percorten injection, and my vet said she wants to see him then. Usually this is a tech appt so I am glad she will be checking him. I told her his tummy seems bigger, I imagine this is from the steroids. I worry so much about the long term effects of the steroid dose being higher than it should be, specifically the effects on his liver.
Also, for about the past couple of months or so, his nose has been kind of crusty. He has always had kind a of dry rough nose, but this is worse, and a couple of times there has even been a crack that looks sore. I have been putting pure vitamin e oil on it daily and that healed the cracks. It helps with the crustiness also, but it is still a problem. It also seems like he has some gunky stuff in his nostrils. I have been cleaning that carefully with moist q-tips, and started with saline drops in each nostril about a week ago. Unbelievable that he lets me do all of this, but so far so good. So I will have the vet check that too. I hope that isn't something else going on.
Any feedback or thoughts would be appreciated. Again, I feel guilty even talking about all of this with all that others are dealing with. And I need to somehow get perspective on things. I just care so much about everyone's babes, I can't help the sadness.
Thanks for listening, and as always, for the support.
Hugs,
Tina and Jasper
My boy, Harley had a dry, crusty nose. I believe his high blood pressure attributed to his nose appearance. When we were able to get his high blood pressure under control, his nose cleared up.
Has Jasper's BP been checked?
Oh Tina {{HUGS}}.
It is hard sometimes to read things that are sad. This past week or so has had too many on here and we have all spent so much time in tears.
However, that being said, never feel bad about posting anything going on. We worry about you guys if we don't hear you know. :) Even in the midst of other things, you and Jasper are important to all of us.
Jasper, jasper, jasper. He really doesn't like those lowered doses does he.
My golden was on prednisone for years and I could never get her decreased to where she should have been.
I'm glad the vet is seeing him though and maybe can make some determination about how he is doing. You just never know with Jasper, he seems to react differently to every medicine than expected.
Do let us know what the vet says and I'm sure others will jump in with their comments too.
And don't be scarce! Sometimes when you feel down the best thing in the world is share it and get through it with friends. That is what we are all here for, to support each other. That means supporting you too!
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
My Haley got a very crusty scabby nose to the point I had the vet check it out and I can't forget what he said it was but he gave her an ointment that I believe was an antibiotic but it has been years so I'm not sure.
Hang in there and know that we have all been thinking about you and worrying so when you don't feel like posting just write HI we are ok and we'll get the message. :D
Sending love and hugs,
Kim
Oh Tina,
((((((((((((((((BIG HUGS))))))))))))))))))))))))
Sometimes a break is exactly what is needed so no worries, we dont want you to be in tears.
I hate the fact that I have to continue Zoe's metronidazole, I worry about her liver and the side effects but I cant seem to get her off that last little bit so sometimes we have to weigh the good with the bad.
I am really glad your vet is seeing him and hope there is some insight for his poor nose.
Just know we are always here for you and we understand. I know it is hard to read about all the pups and wonder if yours is next. You end up feeling all kinds of emotions.
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((MORE HUGS)))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Hi Tina,
I know what you mean.. It has been hard to see all the suffering. :(
I wish you didn't feel guilty. But, I do know what you are saying. I hate to post things about Boriss when I see so much sadness going on. But, everyone is here to help no matter how big or small you feel your problems are. We are all here to support each other in good times & bad.
I wish I could give you some feed back on what is happening with Jasper. But, since I have no experience with those things I can't give any advice.
I just wanted to pop in to let you know we care about you & Jasper & your worries big or small.
hugs
Oh Amy, that is so true and think of the people who are afraid to post, not sure if they should, everyone needs to know yes, post, it is okay to give us good news, we need to honor those we have lost but also support those still in need and give them courage and support and hope. It is a fine balance to be found but we must try to find that balance.Quote:
We are all here to support each other in good times & bad.
I always worry about that. I know how I felt in the beginning. I worry that you all are afraid to share a good thing or ask a question, no matter what it may be. We need to hear good things too. Never forget that.:):):):)
We Love good thing! We worry when we don't hear. We support no matter what. I think that pretty much sums it up. :)
Sharlene and Molly Muffin (unofficial K9cushing cheerleader member)
Thank you all for the encouragement and support, and HUGE HUGS to you. Love you all so much, I don't know what I would do without all your kind words. To know that you all totally understand is such a relief. You guys get it more than my own family or friends.
Lori - Jasper has not had his blood pressure checked recently, I think the last time was maybe in October or November, and it was normal at that time. It was normal the only other time he had it checked also, that was around the time he was first diagnosed with Cushings, last summer. We have a vet appt tomorrow for his Percorten injection, do you think I should ask to have it checked?
As far as his nose, I have told my vet over the phone about it , so she is aware, however, I don't think she has seen it since I noticed the gunky stuff in his nostrils. I have told her about it, she recommended the saline drops. She also said a while back that I could put a little neosporin ointment on it if the vitamin e oil did not help the cracks. I have used it a couple of times, and he didn't seem to really lick it much, so that was good, but I prefer the vit e oil.
Amy, so are so right, we are all here to support each other no matter what is going on. I love it when I read that Boriss is doing well, and when anyone's pup is doing well for that matter. It gives a sense of hope.
I have always been an emotional girl, and the losses and other difficulties that others are facing recently have hit me hard. Also, the anniversary of the loss of my Angel lab Dakota is approaching, and I know that is weighing on me and makes me even more sensitive. I wrote a bit about her in Jill's thread about preparing to say goodbye to Casey. I still miss her so much and this time of year is always hard. So many times I have wished that I had a support group like this forum when she got sick. Losing her was the most horrible thing I have gone through in my life, and the feelings come rushing back so easily it seems.
Jasper doesn't have a stim test tomorrow, but he does have a vet appt and is getting an injection in a show of solidarity for Zoe, Boriss and Coco's stim tests! :D :D We are hoping for good results for all.
Love and hugs from me and Jasper
Thats my girl:D:D:D:D:D You are doing just fine and hey we love emotional, wear your heart on your sleeves kind of girls:D:D:DQuote:
Jasper doesn't have a stim test tomorrow, but he does have a vet appt and is getting an injection in a show of solidarity for Zoe, Boriss and Coco's stim tests! We are hoping for good results for all.
I believe I would ask to have it checked especially if your vet feels that Jasper might have early kidney disease. Elevated blood pressure is hard on a dog's kidneys.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tina
Thanks Lori, I will ask to have his BP checked. The reason my vet is suspecting that he may have very early kidney disease is because his excessive drinking and peeing has continued throughout everything that he has been through. I think she is still on the fence that it may be side effects from the steroids - he is on Dexamethasone now - because we have never been able to get the dose low enough to see if that would resolve. The IMS that she consulted with mentioned that he could be showing very early kidney disease, before it shows up in any of the blood tests.
Tina,
I completely agree. I am here to help support & help carry the burden of those suffering. But, we need to hear the good stuff to for HOPE! ;)
Specially for the new comers. I was so terrified the first time I found this forum. It really made me feel good when I could read post from people who's dogs were responding to treatment & doing great.
Good luck tomorrow at the vets office. :)
Good luck with your vet appointment today!!!
Tina, I wish you good luck, too!!!!
Also, I have been very touched reading about your sweet Dakota, and if you should ever wish to do so, please know that we would welcome a thread of her very own on our "In Loving Memory" forum. Our family embraces many beloved "honorary" Cushpups, and Dakota surely falls within that category! I know you are coming up on the anniversary of her passing, and it would be our privilege to read anything that you might care to write in these coming days.
Sending many hugs,
Marianne
Hey Tina,
How did it go with Jasper today? What did the vet have to say?
Hope it wasn't a bad day at work for you.
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Me too, saying hi. Mondays at work YUCK;)
Hi Tina and Jasper
How did the jab go?? I can't help it but I get worried with our doggies vet visits and no report so I will be checking tomorrow for the good news. I am a glass half full kinda girl, but I read something that made me laugh.. whether your glass if half full, or half empty they both still need wine.. so that will help stop the worrying anyway :D:D:D (or something like that :) )
Trish and Flynn xx
Up to let Jasper out in this bitter cold and just wanted to do a quick post to say that the vet appt went pretty well. Don't want anyone worrying here. ;) We had a 7 pm appt and things were running late. By the time we got home and everyone was fed, I crashed out on the couch. I am so tired all the time with this wacky sleep schedule. And here I am up in the middle of the night posting. Lol. I will fill you all in tomorrow after I get home from work, mostly good news from the vet.
Sounds like everyone's stim tests were done and we are waiting on results. Keeping my fingers crossed for all. Trish, just read your post and I love the glass half full comment, so true! Thanks everyone for thinking about us and checking in. Back to bed we go. :)
Hugs,
Tina and Jasper
Oh no, sounds chilly, freezing in fact... I would be happy with a permanent spring or even autumn would be nice! Glad to hear all went pretty good today, will be checking in for the finer details tomorrow :) I am so bad the next day if I do not get a good sleep, so I will be going there soon too. Sweet dreams Tina and Jasper xxxxx
ohhh, good news from the vet! Can't wait to hear all about it!
Get some rest! Smiley, snuggling, good rest!
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
yay for good news!
Good news? Did I miss good news? Dang, I hate it when that happens
Haven't missed it yet, we're still waiting for Tina to tell us!!!
Anticipation builds! LOL
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Lol you guys. Had to work late and then wanted to check real quick on everyone's stim results. It sounds like it was a good day for all! So happy to read everyone's numbers, I was thinking about it all day. :) Will read more in a bit.
Here's our update. Jasper got his Percorten injection, my vet decreased the dose by another 0.1 ml, so he got 0.6 ml. She is thinking we may be able to stop the injections, but doesn't want to do that yet until we are sure he is stable on the Dex. (Yes, I still have hope that it will happen :rolleyes: ). She feels he has atypical Addison's which is where only glucocorticoid (prednisone, dexamethasone, etc) support is needed due to lack of cortisol, and the mineralocorticoids are still produced by his adrenals, so his electrolytes are not affected for the most part. This is not a common type of Addison's, but it wouldn't surprise me - nothing about Jasper's journey so far has been common! We are going to keep the Dex dose at 1/4 tab daily for another week, and if he is doing well on all fronts, will try to go to 1/4 tab every other day. This is the dose that she wants him at for long term, we just have never been able to get it down there. So fingers crossed for that. She hopes that at this dose we would be most likely to see some decrease in the drinking and peeing.
She looked at his nose real good and took some swabs of the junk in his nostrils. She was not real concerned with any of it. She said his nose is extremely dry, not sure why, and the gunky stuff is apparently the usual stuff that gets in dog noses, but when the nose is normal and moist, it gets flushed away. She said to continue with the saline drops, vitamin e oil on the outside, and she recommends I run a humidifier during the day where he stays and in the bedroom at night. So that was good news. I asked about checking his BP, she looked at his last two, they were 148 and 150. She said that she was not concerned about high BP since he has Addison's now rather than Cushings.
Ok, now for the not so good part. His tummy is big because his liver is enlarged from the steroids. She said that was all she could feel when she checked his tummy, she didn't think anything else was abnormal. I know that steroids cause the liver to enlarge, and I am trying to not worry about that. She kind of acted like it wasn't a big deal, but that might be because she didn't want me to worry. I thought about it later and should have asked if it will continue to get bigger, and also if this will affect the functioning and cause damage, and if his enzymes will continue to go up now. Does anyone know about these things? I can't believe I didn't ask, I think I was on information overload by that time.
I asked about checking his urine again since it has been about 3 months or so since he had a bit of protein. We did get urine for a protein:creatinine ratio test like he had last time. Those results will be in tomorrow. I am praying my little heart out that it doesn't show more protein than last time. We talked a little about early kidney disease, I told her I am terrified of that. She said she was scared too. That makes me nervous. So that is another not so good thing. Trying to not worry about that too until we get the results tomorrow.
I will make a list of questions for her for tomorrow also. So - a couple of worries, but she said overall she thought he was doing well and looked good. She said we have come a long way, but still have a ways to go. Please keep him in your prayers that the urine test isn't worse than last time. Well, I've written another book, I suppose none of you are surprised. :rolleyes::rolleyes:
Hugs,
Tina and Jasper
Hi Tina
Good to hear his nose is OK and the Dex ok, be so good to get that down again!
I most certainly will have fingers crossed for good urine, stay away protein!! I am not sure about the liver, I am wondering if an ultrasound would give any further info? Maybe could add that to your list of questions!
Being a novel writer myself, it is good to read your post, it is not too long at all. Us enquiring minds like to hear all the in's and out's of it all :D:D
Hope i don't catch you two up in the middle of the night again!!
Trish xx