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Crossing fingers for good numbers for Tipper Patti.
We're expecting more snow tomorrow. The temps are ridiculously cold still. So, not impressed by the temperatures. I can handle winter, but these temps have been record setting in many ways.
brrrrr, hugs
Sharlene and Molly muffin
i hope tippers test will show good numbers too!
it is march 4 already overhere , so today is ian's 13th birthday.
sorry tipper, no cake. but dried chicken rolls with very small fish [2a3cm/1 inch] inside. it is a natural snack. ian loves them. and his sister too. even the cat eats them.
but pills first...grrrr!
and tipper, be a nice girl and let mom cut your hair......ian wants a picture...........
Hi Patti,
I hope Tipper has good numbers on her test.
Thinking of you and Tipper.
Hugs
Hoping Tipper's cortisol is at good place for her now.:)
Hi Everyone:
It is below zero today so no walking which is thoroughly disgusting Tipper. We have laser therapy today so we have to go out. Tipper really had a lot of her episodes last nite. They were really bad ones happening one after the other. She was really shaking and it still scares me. We are snipping the hair a few minutes at a time. Tipper used to stand still on a grooming table for an hour at a time and never move, since she got sick it has really in changed her. She has no patience whatsoever now. She is with me and that is all that matters. I cleaned up her toys and put them in an toy basket, and she was watching me pick them all up. After I was done she waited until I went in the kitchen, looked to see if I was busy, and proceeded to empty the basket all over the floor. She was so proud of herself, and Toby kept looking at me like is she going to get in trouble for that?
I just left them there until she went to bed and put them back. This morning she just looked at the basket and looked at me and left them alone. Besides the licking returning she now pulls the hair on her front legs out with her teeth. Does anyone's else's dog do this? It has to hurt, and she has never done this before. I can't wait until tomorrow it is to warm up and she can get this energy out. I have a feeling the ACTH tomorrow will show unacceptable cortisol numbers. Blessings
Patti
How did the laser therapy go? Hope the roads were okay for driving. We got more snow today, but not as much as previously. Molly had a good time in it again.
Friday above freezing who hooo!!! good times! okay, it's only one day and probably for just a couple hours, but I will take it!!
hugs,
Sharlene and molly muffin
Praying and thinking of Tipper and you for good results!
have a safe trip tomorrow, and hoping for good numbers too!
Hoping all goes well for Tippers test. I know you will be very anxious to see the numbers. I know you're sensing the cortisol is on the rise..just hope the numbers won't cause too much change in your dosing.
Barbara
Hope Tippers numbers come back good! Thinking of you!
Crossing my fingers for good results for Tipper!
Patti,
I sent you a visitors message.
Good luck to Tipper today.
Hi Everyone:
Tipper is really acting strange and scaring me this morning. She is crying all the time now when I am out of her sight. This is a very tuff dog that never cried, so I am bewildered over this. She is very smart and I am wondering if she is afraid something will happen to her when I am not right there with her to help her. She also seems to be scared of noise this morning, which usually means lower cortisol which is not fitting with the pattern she is presenting lately with the hunger, and drinking more. This has me stumped, and I hate that she has an ACTH today at 11am , and she is acting funny. That makes me not want to take her, but her 2 weeks is up and she has to get tested. She was also having a lot of shaking last note in the middle of the nite. I have to run to the hospital while she is being tested, which I never do, but have to get my blood tested as I am on Citrate of Potassium to dissolve this kidney stone and they need to see if I have too high of a level. I will be a nervous wreck leaving her, and try to hurry the hospital up. Blessings
Patti
Patti, Please take care on your travels today.
Wishing you and Tipper the best.
Hugs
Good luck today Patti. Sorry to hear Tipper is crying!! Any chance she's really hungry...crying for food. I know she's been wanting food and if her cortisol is running higher...perhaps this might be a reason??
Well...hoping whatever is bothering Tipper is resolved.
Barbara
Hi Everyone:
Thank you Vicki and Barbara we are now home. I ran and got my blood work done while Tipper had her ACTH. That is an first for me leaving her, as I always watch everything is done right. Tipper was really hyped up this time when she was done. She is usually really thirsty and she would not even drink. She was panting and breathing rapidly. She has since settled down. This is I think number 15 for the ACTH tests. Tipper has really persevered. She is a rock star when I think of all she has been through. She lost half a pound too, her and I celebrated that with a low fat doggie treat!!! When I think of how the vet tried to blame it on me for Tipper gaining weight, and I was counting her dog food nuggets, I could just scream. So her results should be back by Friday. Then next Wednesday is her thyroid testing. I made up my mind that if I have to adjust her current dosage, I will not subject her to yet another ACTH in two weeks again. I know that is the protocol, but she has about had it, and that needs to also be considered. I believe her cortisolnis too high right now so we are at a 15/10 split right now, so I will do a 17/10 split if needed which I am sure it is. The vet never came out to see me, but I should expect as much as I am basically the one driving this bus. Tipper is resting on my bed, and wants me with her so I am on the tablet which I am not fond of, but serves it's purpose. I will call the other vet that is in on Friday and get the numbers from the test. I am still not feeling too well somI am taking a break to be with the babies the rest of the day. Blessings
Patti
Thyroid levels can also change behavior, so that might play a part in her actions. It could be that she isn't really use to you being out of her sight since you've been dealing with all the many issues lately.
Take care of yourself too and I really hope that test give you both answers.
hugs,
Sharlene and molly muffin
hoping for good test results for the both of you! i agree with you that tipper deserves a break from the vet. all that stress!
hopefully you can reward her with a nice walk tomorrow.
sleep well.
Patti,
I am glad that you're resting. We know our dogs the best, so you're probably right about Tipper's cortisol. Could be a combination of that and thyroid.
I guess that it's our turn to be under the weather here. I have little energy today and can hear wheezing in my lungs. Hoping to feel better tomorrow!
Hi Everyone:
I woke up last nite and could not sleep. Tipper was having quite a few tremors going on last nite. She is acting better today, and I am resting as I am still not feeling well so we are resting. I am inclined to think that the crying Tipper is doing is because I take her wherever I am in the house, and she is never away from me. This has been going on for months. I need to keep an eye on her and feel more comfortable when she is with me. This probably created the situation. That is OK as I feel better with her near me all the time any way.She is going to be out of Vetoryl so I will go and get it and take her, so she sees she does not have to go into the vets every time. She kept getting up last nite doing that swallowing a lot like she had something in her throat, I can hear her mouth is sticky when she does this. I know that the protocol for Vetroyl is to test after two weeks of dose changing, but I am not wanting to put her thru 3 ACTH tests in 6 weeks that is just too much to expect and to pay for. I am curious what others on here think they would do??? Well the IPhone just notified me it is time for Miss Tipper's thyroid meds so that is all for now. I forgot one thing though, I found out instead of treating dogs yeast infections in their ears with meds, they are now using cold lasers!! Blessings
Patti
I think Tipper now has separation anxiety late in life. I know Keesh is somewhat the same, however with no real voice anymore he can't cry, but I still get the odd bark out of him..
Please take care of yourself. Your babies need you.
Hi Patti,
Like you, I was up quite a bit last night. I'm also sitting here like a couch potato, waiting for my call from the vet and watching Trixie so she doesn't keep messing with her paw.
I think if you end up changing Tippers vetoryl dose that you would be okay waiting a bit for the acth. First of all I doubt you are going to change the dose drastically, and secondly you are more than attuned to Tippers behavior and the Cushings symptoms.
You are talking that you might have to go up 2mg or so? We did make changes up like that with Trixie along the way without a test 2 weeks later. We only did that with increments of 1 or 2 mgs when her symptoms were still very obviously prevalent.
I hope Tipper is feeling nice and secure today...no more crying. I'm sorry for you that she can't get out to walk when it's this cold.
Trixie and I did another hour this morning. It was not too windy and we stayed mostly in the sun..it was cold but it felt great. Hoping for warmer temps soon so Tipper can get outside again.
Barbara
Hi Patti, I feel so bad you dealing with so much! I am praying for good results tomorrow for Tipper. You need to rest and glad you are. Glad to hear Tipper is acting more like herself today too, you are both in my thoughts.
Hi. My IMS said to come back in 3 to 4 weeks after dose changing. So I have going closer to 4 weeks if there isn't any problems. Those stim tests cost so much. Over here in NY they charge me $356 including the visit.
Patti,
I hope that you all get some rest today. Do you think that Tipper's anxiety will throw off her test results? I hope not.
Hi Everyone:
Tipper had a real walk outside!!!! She was so happy she came in the house and started running 90 miles an hour all thru the house. I could not stop her. She then ran and got the balls and started throwing them in the air. She was so energized it was wonderful to see her act like herself. She is having a great day, and that is all I want, is for to enjoy her life. Valerie Tipper is so stressed from all the tests that it is no different than the other ones, so I don't know if it would skew the results. Let's face it every dog that gets an ACTH is stressed, so I don't know the answer to that one. I called today, but no results yet. The eye Dr.sent me a reminder that Tipper needs her check up, and I had to make her next Ultra Sound appointment with the IMS so I got them on the same day one after the other. It seems like we just went to do this, and It is so stressful I hate it. This time really flies between these tests unfortunately. So we go April 23 for both. It makes me such a wreck to sit and wait to hear her fate, I would rather have my finger nails ripped off. I am happy my girl had a good day, even Toby was acting crazy, must be the fresh air! Blessings
Patti
The fresh air definitely energizes them.
Daisy perks up considerably when we go to the park etc,
We're expecting 40+ degrees this weekend and I can't wait!
It was 10 this morning.
a walk, fresh air and a tennisball, what more does a dog want.
to make you people jealous; we expect temp. up to 17 degree celcius this weekend. this is not normal anymore.
extreme cold weather in your area, extreme warm overhere.
so glad tipper is feeling fine.
holy cow!!! 17C!! I'd be in heaven if we were even close to that. We're celebrating Hoping to hit 3C.
Definitely not a normal year. :(
Sharlene and molly muffin
I heard something about El Nino affecting us next year so the winter shouldn't be as bad.
Hi Everyone:
Tipper has a decent nite. She has already walked this morning and is happy. I just got off the phone with the vets office. As I thought Tipper's cortisol is up. She had a pre number of 2.4 which was .9 before, and post of 9.3 which was 5 previously. I called Dechra and we hashed over the numbers she has been having. We know Tipper feels better with less clinical at 5 or under on her post. We also know that every time we get her post there that eventually the pre drops under 1.45. They feel Tipper's cortisol is really fluxuating during the day . She is sensitive to any hike in her post above 5. There is no happy medium here so they feel we have to look at the dosage she was best controlled on, which was 30 mg once daily, then down to 28 mg once daily which produced the low pre at .9 and the post of 5. They want me to discuss this with the vet, and see what he says!! I said good luck with that, as he never called you back the last time. I told them I cannot keep making this dog go thru testing every 2 weeks, and who can afford that? I am on my own again so I need some opinions. Tipper has done better in the past on once a day dosing. I have 7 and 8 mg trilostane on hand. Should I go to a 17 or 18 mg in the morning and 10 at nite or 27 mg once a day??? I need to get this 9.3 knocked down, but don't want the same situation where the pre goes low. I don't know if 1 mg is enough difference to make her not go low??
She just does better with lower cortisol. A normal dogs pre is OK at .5 to 5.5. They said she may have to run a low pre number in order to feel OK and not have clinicals. I am really burned out from trying to get these numbers to work.So that's it what would you do? If I give her one dose of 27 mg she will feel better, but I run the risk of her dropping low and never knowing if It is coming unless I test more which is not unacceptable as it would make her crazy. If I give her the split 17/10 she will still probably be symptomatic, and drinking a lot and hungry, but she would be safer with her numbers. This is like a catch 22. Please help if you have an opinion or idea I would be grateful. Blessings
Patti
Patti,
Just my thoughts when looking at all the different things you have tried. I am just wondering about the once a day dose. You said she does better on it, but you have had trouble with her at night, hunger and restlessness, so that's not good. When you do a split dose you never do an even split, do you? I think it's worth a try to do an even split dose. You could do a 14 twice a day. Won't an even dose regulate her better? She would be getting 14 in the morning and when it begins to wear off or her cortisol spikes another 14 to get her thru the rest of the night.
She's not very low right now..in fact she came up quite a bit, so I'm not sure why you are worried about the low pre. You will see the differences if she is starting to show signs of going low. She would never be getting a bigger dose all at once. I think a consistent dose may help her be more even over the 24 hours.
Did starting the thyroid medication have anything to do with these numbers? I don't know if it has any bearing but just wondering.
Hope you can figure something out to get these numbers to drop some.
Barbara
Barbara:
The reason I am worried about the pre number is it has a history of going low when she is getting enough Vetoryl to control her post. For some reason Dechra has not wanted her on an even split. This is just like a chess game! I will just have to give something a try here as my vet is clueless and depends on Dechra for guidance. Since he never takes the time to call them I am virtually alone in this as the vets usually don't get on the phone unless it is another vet calling. What a predicament! Blessings
Patti
Hi Everyone:
Tipper is having a fit. She watched the weather forecast and they said snow tomorrow!! Can you believe it? I have to go out to get her Vetoryl too. She is very tired from her 2 walks as she is not used to that now. She is on my bed relaxing, and Toby is tired too, he is passed out already. I did some more on Tipper's hair cut. We are making real progress this time. Tipper did not get blood pressure done yesterday as there was a yapping dog in the kennel and she would have a false high reading. She must get one next week as her last two were high and that worries me. There were things going on though when they were taken. I am sending this snow up your way Sharlene, cause I know how much you like it!! Blessings
Patti
errrhmmm, gee thanks Patti. :) We now have no water on our street due to a broken water main on the other side of the street from me.
I'm ready for spring. oh don't forget clocks change this weekend!
I don't know what the best call is for Tipper's vetroyl. Maybe just going up one or 2 mg will be enough to make a difference.
Strange they don't want her on an even split, since that makes sense to me too, but who knows what is in their minds.
hugs,
Sharlene and molly muffin
i am glad that you were able to walk the dogs twice.
i would try an even split of 14/14 too. ian gets his whole dose [30 mg] before he goes to bed at night. it works best this way for him.
it must cost you a fortune all these tests and tipper a heart attack i quess
my ian would have died from stress by now!.
more snow again? hope the forecast is wrong!
i am watching crufts right now. do you know this brittish dogshow?
it has a livestream all day on the internet.
i think sharlene prefers the dutch weather right now.....18C!!
Hi Everyone:
Quick post this morning. I started Tipper on one morning dose of 27mg. One mg lower than the dose that caused her pre to go low. I woke up at 2am with the room spinning. I am having awful dizziness, barely got the critters fed and Tipper her meds. Feeling really bad, took an antivert and will see if that helps.
Blessings
Patti
Oh No! Patti, vertigo is horrible. I live with it for 48 years. I hope the antivert helps, it never really helps me though, but some people it does. You need to rest. Feel better quickly!
Patti. This is not good. What did the doc say the last time? Is the meds breaking up that stone? You have not been feeling well for way over a week or more now. I don't like the sounds of this
Hugs
Sharlene and Molly muffin
I'm with Sharlene. Please take care of yourself at least half as well as you do Tipper. ;)