Dawn, good luck today.
I would try the accupuncture. Never hurts to try.
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Dawn, good luck today.
I would try the accupuncture. Never hurts to try.
checking in to see what the word is :) Hoping it's all good news!!!
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
i'm curious too. hope all went well!
Dawn:
I have not seen you post and I am praying you have good news for Butters. Thinking of you both. Blessings
Patti
Waiting for test results, she saw derma , did skin test only found normal amounts of bacteria on hind end, other wise no major infections, she's back on a mild AB to help prevent any skin infection, upped her pain meds to better control the head aches and ease discomfort from the CC. 2 new topicals for the CC, trizchlor spray conditioner(smells nice) and mupirocin ointment for spots that crack open.
Once the atch is back we will move forward with trilostane.
She is sleeping on the couch like a good girl, the spray is helping with the smell coming from her skin. Otherwise just waiting again as usual.
Dawn and Butters
So did they think the cc is looking better? What do you think?
It will be interesting to see where the trilostane is at and do they think the tumor will reduce any further on it's own?
Glad you are back and Butter is resting comfortably and smelling good. :)
hugs
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
i'm glad she smells like a rose again, hope the painmeds will do their job and reduce the headaches.
Just got off the phone with Butters IMS as Davis, acht stem test back, is above the normal range also still waiting for final results from the UT test, at this time there are 2 different bacterias being cultured and will know for sure tomorrow just what they are and then she will have her IMS student call me and report the findings and supply me with the results. She stated that we will need to change her AB due to the uti and we will also be starting her on the trilostane, The IMS wants to go low and slow and I agree low and slow is best. We discussed the warning signs of levels going to low to fast, I already have emergency pred on hand. I will post the high and low results when I get them from Davis tomorrow.
Once we start the trilo will have another stem test done in 14 days. Keeping fingers crossed that we get a break and that dosing will go smoothly with minimal stress for her & I. The last 9 weeks have been stressful enough on us all
Dawn & Butters
Dawn,
This sounds like you and Butters are on the right tract finally.
What a relief!
Dawn:
So glad to hear that you and Butters are moving in the right direction. I know it had been a long, hard, journey for both of you. God Bless you Both
Patti
Thanks for the update Dawn! Sounds like things are moving right along. I am praying that the dosing for trilostane is a breeze for you and Butters.
I am going to ask my vet about those two medications you got for the CC. Tobey's is still bad, and getting worse unfortunately. I wish there was a way to stop it in its tracks when it first starts. She has multiple areas where the CC is in the beginning stage.
Hi Dawn, well drat I'd kind of hoped she wouldn't end up needing any trilostane at all, but at least starting low and going slow is on the agenda, so that is good.
Poor thing, 2 bacterias in her UT! Goodness! They really do get UTI's and infections so easily. :(
Sounds like Davis is going a good job with you and staying the course.
Still waiting for a call back from Davis. While i was giving her some one on one attention today and petting her, I could feel that some of the older areas of the CC is softening up , feels.more like the skin on her belly then like a gators hide. That was a good find. Still has areas that are heavily crusted and are slowing breaking off layer by layer. Will post up dated pics tomorrow.
She really does not like the spray, but oh well she is going to get sprayed whether she likes it or not , its for her own good.
Oh on a lighter note, I deside that I was going to sleep in bed last night with daddy for the first time since Nov , so before I went to bed I gave him instructions as to where he needed to place her wee pads. When I woke up this morning and went to check on her I noticed that like a good girl she used her pads, BUT daddy laid them out upside down, we all know that plastic side up.is a bad thing the pee just rolls off it. She did hit the center of the pad but must have had a pretty full bladder because some of it ran off the pad, the pads are 30x30 which are the largest I can find at the pet supply store. So there I was at 5 am cleaning up a mess because daddy was to dinggy to tell a cotton side from a plastic side of a pad, could you imagine if he had to change a diaper . Anyways slept well and will do again tonight, but this time I'll put the pads down before I got to bed.
Was hoping that Davis would have called while I was typing this but they have not. Once again still waiting .
Dawn and Butters
Dawn:
That's a man for you, puts the good side down! I am hoping that Davis calls you soon and that there is good news. Blessings
Patti
The story of our lives, wait, wait, wait :)
I bet your hubby felt pretty bad about putting the wrong side down, LOL. And you were pretty nice to clean it up too :)
Nice to know Butter has good aim. hehehee
hope Davis calls you soon
Hahahhahah Dawn!
How funny :)
Thank you for the much needed laugh!
I'm glad that Butter's CC is improving!
i hope they have called with the results yet? waiting is so nerve wrecking......hope for the 2 of you the results are possitive.......
Dawn:
Thinking of you and hoping for good results. Blessings
Patti
Spoke with the IMS last night, her ATCH test is border line( will get a copy of.the numbers later) however the bacteria in her UT is a.strain that is highly resistant and that is why it took so long to hear back from her. She said that a normal healthy dogs system could fight off this type of bacteria, but since she is a cush dog she can't fight it off, she is sending a very heavy duty AB that she wants me to wear gloves when handling the pills, apparently is can cause adema in humans.
She needs to run 1 more test before we start the trilostane, but she will still send it with the AB today, once she gets the results we will see if she really needs trilostane or NOT since the radiation is doing its job. If she does need them we are going to start real low, 20mg in am and 20mg in p.m. they will be in 10mg tabs so that upping or downing the dose will be easier.
She has informed me that they have found that several compounding versions being made do not contain the amounts of active drug that they state are in them, apparently some very unethical pharmisits out there taking advantage of pet owners , when ever she has it compounded she provides the active drug and then tests the compound to make sure they did it right. Some people see our babies as cash cows and since they are only considered property by the courts they feel they can do as they will.
Still seeing improvement in the older areas of the CC and with her nuros. The rest of her CC is running its course just like everyone has said, will get worse before it gets better. The spray is really helping with the her skin and odor , so I have not had to put her through the stress of getting a shower and having the CC break open in the process, which of course we all know is very stressful for our babies. STRESS IS BAD VERY BAD. STRESS=CORTISOL , CORTISOL BAD VERY BAD:D
Dawn and Buttercup
Yikes, that is some heavy duty antibiotic from the sounds of it! holy moly. I hope it takes care of that UTI and then that's it, no more scary drugs!
Oh that would be fabulous if she doesn't actually need trilostane at all. The tumor shrinking is obviously helping too if the older cc is clearing and up and the newer stuff running it's course. No new outbreaks?
Oh yea, there are definitely some out there who take advantage of pet owners love for their furbabies. Horrid people.
Hows the bed sleeping going?
Huggers,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Dawn,
wow! Having to wear gloves!
So happy that the CC continues to improve.
Butter's body is working overtime.
Dawn:
That must be one powerful antibiotic. Only one caution I have. When Tipper was a puppy she had ear problems. The vet kept giving her antibiotics, but it did not make the ears infection go away. She told me she was giving her a really potent antibiotic. Well it took the infection away, but permanently screwed up he stomach. To this day she has acid reflux because of it. I know you watch her like a hawk so just know this happened to my Tipper. Sounds as if things are finally going to come together and go uphill for you both. Blessings
Patti
HI Dawn,
I am so sorry to have been absent from this wonderful forum (no excuse--I suck). I've read your thread regarding Butters and I wanted to just let you know how Doc is doing. I will be updating my thread as well. I think I should be more active so that people who are pursuing the radiation can see how he is doing. He did 5 treatments of stereotactic radiation We know we shrunk the tumor 20%. That MRI was done 3 months after the treatment. They (University of FL) is thinking it may shrink another 40% but don't want to do another MRI unless he starts having symptoms again. As of Feb 4th, we will be one year post radiation. He has had skin issues over the year, mostly dandruff that I treat with a conditioner. Otherwise, he is back to his normal self. We would seem to "cycle" with cushing's symptoms but otherwise his symptoms were so mild, they did not want to treat for them. They are mild enough that they don't want to do the ACTH test either. We had a blood test 3 weeks ago and all of his numbers are in the healthy normal range. All his high liver numbers are now normal. It is as if he never had a tumor or had cushing's. All of the Cushing's symptoms are completely gone and he is normal self. He is 13 and we are dealing with arthritis, but other than that, he is fine. I know this doesn't help you now, but I wanted it to give you hope that the treatment did work for us and we are so grateful that we did it. I wish you and Buttercup all the best and I promise to do better at staying on the forum. If you have any specific questions, please let me know. I WILL do better. It is a wonderful forum full of wonderful, supportive people!!
Butters is doing better each day. Today when she saw a squirle on the phone line , she got excited and and charged toward the fence, she hadn't done that in a couple of months. Left her at home for the day, I was gone for 8 hours and she held her water the whole time, wee pads were dry and there was water left in her bowl, YEAH! One more blood test on sat. Should have the results back by the end of next week and that's the 1 that will tell us how her pituitary gland is doing and whether or not she needs the trilo.
CC is still showing minor improvement around her neck, she has been so good about not scratching herself.
Started her on the new AB chloramphenicol 1250mg ever 8 hours for the next 14 days, I hide it in ice cream like I do her pain pills and she swallows it all back in one gulp, cant afford to have her spitting those out . Other wise things are getting better her head aches are fewer and farther between , which is an awesome sign.
Best always
Dawn and Butters
This is such fabulous news Dawn! Considering what you are reporting, I would be surprised if she needed trilostane at this point in time. All the "symptoms" including the cc seem to be clearing up and the tumor shrinking still. It could be that it will even continue to shrink and I think I'd really want to give her every opportunity to not need the medicine. So make sure you tell Davis how she is doing, the head aches, the holding her pee during the day, drinking less and showing excitement at the good doggy things in life. (squirrels) LOL
Just great news and I'm thrilled to hear it.
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
this is really good news for buttercup and you!
The adventures never end, Butters miss judged her steps and hyper extended her 2 toe on her right rear paw. Ran her to the vet, xrayed the paw, no breaks or dislocation of joint, just pulled soft tissue, she's doped up and will not lay down and to top it all off ,I am now sick with a bug. Life just keeps pushing to the edge, just when I think I'm gonna get a little break, something comes along. Have to put off her blood draw till Monday, hoping we both feel a.little better by then. At this point the only good thing is the warm dry weather, know we need the rain but with Butters skin condition, dry and warm is best for her. So hopefully April showers will bring May flowers.
Dawn & hopalong Butters
Dawn, Hoping you are both feeling better.
I was reading (in your message for Tobey ) that you were happy with the spray… is that the Trizchlor? I've been doing the shampoos 3 x a week, but would like something to quick touch up on the days I have to work.
Shelly
Dawn:
Butter's avatar is absolutely gorgeous, what a beautiful face. Sorry she hurt herself and you are not feeling well. You sound like me, can't ever catch a break! Blessings
Patti
Both of you on the not feeling well list then. Glad that Butter didn't do any more serious damage to her paw. That has to hurt. You get better too, rest up, this is a rough flu/cold season this year.
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly muffin
Shelly, get the spray it is a god send. You will be able to cut back on the baths. I have learned that the dryer you can keep the skin the better, when I was bathing her , her thick scally scabby areas we crack open and bleed all the time, and would take a long time to stop bleeding and scab over again. Now that I use the spray her skin condition and odor is improving. Hope the spray works as well for you as it does for us.
Dawn &Butters
Sounds like a good product. I just ordered it on Amazon ($15 with shipping). Lucy will be quite pleased if we can skip some of those baths.
Thanks Dawn…I'll let you know how it works. Should get it by next weekend.
Shelly
Butters has now injured her other rear paw. Something inside is telling me that her cushings is causing problems with her suspension ligaments in her rear paws. On her rt rear paw she now has 2 toes that lay flat they look like the toes of a raptor dinasore she had only injured 1 but a couple of days later the one next to it also collapsed, then last night when she was coming up the steps (3) she stretched out a toe on the left rear paw. Has anyone seen this happen before. I ckd out the internet for hours last night because I remembered seeing a cush pup that had a similar issue but could not find the page again. This morning when coming back in the house she hopped up the steps like a bunny.
Any info would helpful and will also talk to vets office about it this morning
Thanks Dawn & Butters
Hi Dawn,
While I don't recall any other member discussing this particular issue, I think your reasoning is quite sound. I did a bit of research and it sounds like a superficial digital flexor tendon injury, also known as drop toe. It could be that cushing's has put Butters at higher risk of this type of injury, much like the cruciate ligament injuries we do see here. However, it is also an injury seen in larger breeds, otherwise healthy older dogs and certain breeds of all ages.
Glynda
Just got home from the vet. She will research this dropped toe condition also. Otherwise Butters is doing well. She is starting to regrow some fur on her chest and leggs the fur coming back in on the chest it very soft and wavy reminds me of angora fur. With her dropped toes and hopping up steeps like a bunny I think the radiation is slowly mutating her into a hybrid canine rabbit, LOL:D
Improving everyday Butters and mom:p
Dawn:
Did you find out anything about the cold laser therapy for the CC? Hope Butters has no more problems the poor baby has had one thing after another. That would really hurt on your toes too! Blessings
Patti
I did ask the vet about the laser therapy and they do have the equipement there at the office, once we get her ACTH results back we will look into getting her treated with it. It is wonderful to see the fur growing back on her chest area and a really good sign that all that she has gone through is really starting to pay off. She is much more alter, head aches are virtually gone now, if she dose have 1 she's not showing any signs of being uncomfortable, but then again she is a very stoic dog and her threshhold for pain is extremly HIGH.
She is my world and all I think about from the moment I awake to the time I go to sleep, only had 1 nightmare about her in the beging of all this and none since, and that nightmare was scary. I am trying to give back to her all the unconditional love and compainionship that she has given to me, she has taught me so much through all this and I thank her everyday for that. Shes my best friend, the best that I have ever had and am going to the ends of the earth for her. I am honored to have been able to have saved her when I adopted her from the pound and to be able to rescue her again and give her every chance in the world to recover from this and have a happy life. She is my hero.
Dawn & Butters
Dawn:
That is much like how I feel about my Tipper, I go to extreme measure to make sure she is getting everything she needs. I am so happy Butters is growing her hair back and getting stronger every day. You are a good mom. Blessings
Patti
Butters ACTH results ( pasted from vets e-mail)
Endogenous
ACTH
a 44.6 pg/mL
a
In dogs diagnosed with hyperadrenocorticism, measurement of endogenous
ACTH can be used to differentiate between pituitary dependent (PDH)
and adrenal dependent (AD) disease.
< 10 pg/mL Result consistent with AD
10-15 pg/mL Equivocal result
> 15 pg/mL Result consistent with PDH
Dawn, I don't understand why they performed an endogenous ACTH test rather than an ACTH stimulation test...:confused:
As the lab interpretation states, the endogenous ACTH is used only diagnostically to distinguish between pituitary and adrenal Cushing's for dogs when other testing isn't clearcut as to the location of the tumor. In Butters' case, we already *know* she has a pituitary tumor. I was thinking they were going to perform an ACTH stimulation test in order to make a decision as to whether or not to start trilostane treatment?
Marianne