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Oh yay for snow. Ugh. I heard there was quite a storm there but hoped you were still away...unable to come home. Not that we don't want you back but a few extra forced days on a hot island! No brainer. Lol. Molly sounds like my Molly. My girl won't poop outside unless her boots go on first. Diva or what? More like spoiled by her daddy. Don't even get me started on how he feeds her. He's away now and ate like a champ for me ;). Welcome back. I hope you feel better soon
Glad you are safely home but sorry the bug found hubby. Hope you don't get down with it as well!
Your description of Molly running down the hall at the vet... so cute! No one loves us like our babies, do they? Guaranteed to always bring a smile to my face.
Welcome Home Sharlene! We missed you!
And it sounds like Molly missed you too. The picture in my mind of her running towards you is so sweet. What would we do without these sweet babies to fill our heart with Joy?
I'm sorry you picked up the hubby's bug. ugh. Hopefully it won't get ahold of you really bad and get you down. Hugs and drink lots of OJ!
Hope you are feeling better and hubby too.
I know little miss is a bundle of joy because her mama is home:)
Think Spring:D
Welcome Home! Sharlene, I hope your husband is feeling better and you too! I am jsut getting over 5 weeks of the flu UGH
lots of hugs and kisses for your princess Molly ((((hugs))))
Hope you both are feeling better and Molly is keeping you happy.
Sonja and Angel Apollo
Hiya Sharlene hoping all is ok with you and Molly. I hope you and your hubby are feeling all better by now.
Happy critter greatings are the best!!!!!
Getting sick on vacation is not allowed. :-(
I got heat stroke the 2nd day in while visiting Mexico. After clearly telling the travel agent to plan for the least humid time. She did NOT.
Hope you both feel better soon!!!!!!
This is one nasty bug and the antibiotics they have me on seem to cause other issues, like bad tummy. Plus with the ear canal being affected by the sinus pressure, I'm dizzy half the time it seems. Some worse than others. But we are hanging in there and I am hoping that now it's been a week and a half with it, that I am on the upswing of the other side. We'll see, but this is why I have been missing in action on the forum since returning from vacation.
Molly is doing great, such a crazy personality.
We upped her dose of trilostane to 11mg as of this past Saturday, so will be doing another ACTH test in the coming week to see how that is working for her.
You know we have these wooden gates that block the stairs down to the basement so she can't get down there. With the eyesight bad, how steep they are and most everyone remembers she would get stuck down there, I just didn't want her to go down them. So little miss has taken to using her nose to push it out of the way, so she can do what?! Yep, go down the stairs to the basement and then look at you like, what? I didn't do anything. Last night I stopped her on the second step down and said, you best get yourself right back up here Now! and she turned right around and came back up the steps and then pranced and jumped around. I spread the gate wider so hopefully she can't get her nose in there and push it again. We'll see, but I swear, she just goes looking for trouble some days.
What has done my heart good though is to see her bouncing around with one of her stuffed toys in her mouth, just like she use to do. She had stopped that for a long time, but now has done it a couple times. I just laugh at her antics!
Hubby is recovering pretty well from this bug, better than me, but then he had it while on vacation too, and I didn't get it till the day we were coming home, so guess I have some make up time there.
Now we're getting ready to go into wedding mode real soon. Family coming in for that and of course our house will be the staging area for the bride (she's using her old bedroom to get dressed on the day of and it will be filmed by the video people) We'll be hosting the day after the wedding brunch for the combined families too. Not sure yet about the rehearsal dinner, rather hoping the grooms side will do something with that, but I don't know. If not I'll probably suggest a restaurant.
Thanks for thinking of us. We're still hanging in!
hugs
Don't you love when they play with toys that they had been ignoring?
Sounds like our miss is a happy girl:)
I rather hope the wedding will be like Father of the Bride:D:D
OMG, I had visions of Steve Martin and disaster for a moment there! (I LOVE that movie)Quote:
Originally Posted by addy
I know that the feeling is there, exactly like the movie, always his little girl, but so proud and not wanting to let go of that time in their lives.
Hubby bought about 30 umbrellas for the oldest girls wedding, and figure if he did that, it wouldn't rain (outdoor wedding) and if he didn't do it, it would pour and ruin everything. Well, he was right, we had a umbrellas Everywhere and no rain! thank goodness, it worked!
I wonder if it will snow..... We just booked the flights for the oldest daughter and her family to come for the wedding.
I think I'll have molly home for that week but take her to the kennel for the day of the wedding and the day after. Just would be way too stressful for her to have people she doesn't know here and others in and out of the house. She does love the kids to all be home though. She is pack happy when the girls and their guys are home.
She is definitely very happy girl right now.
Not that one, the original movie with Spencer Tracy and they had the wedding at home and the house looked beautiful!:) I was picturing that.
So happy Molly is feeling so happy. I always want dogs to be happy, they are so joyful.
Full house may cause some stress. Molly seems not to be bothered much about her kennel stays, they probably pamper her.
What a sweet story about the umbrellas!
Hope you feel better soon.
Whew that is a relief!!Quote:
Originally Posted by addy
Hi Sharlene, Glad you had a nice vacation...sorry you husband is sick and now your'e under the weather..ugh...this time if year it's hard to shake things.
So nice to here Molly is being cute and bouncy...she must have been so happy to see you guys when you got back.
Have you noticed improvement with the Trilo? I guess playing with toys and feeling chipper is a great sign...
Just thought I'd say hi...don't get on here as much as I should..I seem to never catch up with everyone's posts..especially all the new people! Hope you have a nice weekend! :D When is the wedding??
Barbara
ACTH scheduled for this friday. This is 2 weeks after increase her trilostane by 3mg to 11mg.
boy I'd like to not have to do acth tests so often.
She is acting fine, being her bossy little self.
Not please with the cold out there and can't say I blame her. Did you know Paws also makes coats? I got molly one and it is now her (or by her maybe I mean me) favorite coat. Easy to put on and wear with the halter over it. Not so bulky that it weighs her down but still is warm.
hugs all
We wouldn't want her any other way.;):D
Quote:
Originally Posted by molly muffin
Have you seen changes with the new dose? Is it normal to go up so much...or what seems a lot? Just curious what we have in store for us! Is it generally a slow process with the trilostane? Kaibo has been doing well so far, no changes yet, but it's only been 4 days. Good luck with the ACTH.
Ok...I went back a bit. I see you went from 8mg to 11mg. I need Coles notes on everyone since I've been gone for so long!
Yes Nikki, I went back and checked too.;) Molly went from 8 mg to 11 mg. Trilostane. The 3 mg. below are a typo.;)
I meant we had increased 3 mg. actually that isn't much if an increase. We started low at 8 mg. My vet started with a 1 mg/1kg ratio.
No changes noted and doubt the cortisol will have changed much.
It is a much lengthier process to get the vetroyl dosage where it needs to be it seems.
Good luck tomorrow and I hope the stim goes well, at least I think it is tomorrow, geez I must need a nap:o
Good luck from me as well!!
Hmmmm.... I wonder if our little muffin will be wound up like the energizer bunny this time after her Stim test. With your kind of support for team Molly, it can't help but go well. xxxxoooo
Ok...so that is what Kaibo's vet used to base Kaibo's dosage on I guess. He is 5.3kg and she started him on 2.5 mg twice a day, so 5mg total. This slow process is going to remind me of treating the diabetes I think! Hoping for good results tomorrow. Well, today...I'm typing this at 1am...yikes! Time totally got away from me. Night!
Yep, we are into the ACTH Buzz alright. She'll drive me nuts for the next 48 hours at least.
I picked up some veggie treats on the way home.
I also picked up the orange Paws, as the red ones I'd start to lose one or two booties each walk. They stretch out I guess and then slip off. So, I'm trying to next size smaller down. We shall see how that goes.
So, toay, her electrolytes are good, her renal panel is good, her calcium is in normal range still, so that is all good. Hopefully the UPC and Urinalysis will come back good too. ACTH results should be back tomorrow.
We (the IMS and myself) both think Molly's hair is getting thinner. :( So, that may be due to the cortisol. We're trying to bring it down slowly, so hopefully this increase will knock us down some more. She is looking for molly's post to be right under 5 ug.
Molly has lost about 1/2 kg though in weight. So, not sure if that is a scale abnormality or what. We'll see if she is the same weight at the next appt. If not, then we'll have to look into running a CBC to see if there is something going on. She doesn't Feel any lighter and she isn't in a bad weight zone for her, just one of those things that you go, hmmm, about. She has been known to fluctuate, so I'm not going to worry yet.
So, tomorrow we see how she is doing on cortisol. Today, I try deal with a bouncing, demanding diva.
OHHHH I almost forgot, repeated BP monitoring today showed her consistently in the 130 - 160 range, with One spike over 200. They aren't sure what caused that or if it was the machine. They used two different ones and both she was fairly consistent on except for that one time. So this is VERY good.
hugs all
Sharlene--I know you're disappointed about Molly's thinning hair but, overall, it sounds like a pretty good visit. Great news about her blood pressure!
If you can catch the bouncing Molly, give her big hug from us!
I bet she has more hair than Kaibo ;). Sounds like a good report overall. Hmmmm. I wonder what's in store for me after Kaibo's ACTH!?
Wonderful news on the BP! :cool::cool::cool: Looks like ya'll have a good plan in place that is bringing positive results. What we all want for our Molly and Mom!
Yea I'm really pleased with the BP results. Hoping that the UPC results are good too. Last time via one of the vets it was 1.0 so cross fingers that this one as good or lower even.
I'm not totally worried about the thinning hair as I know it is part of the disease and that the cortisol has to come down and that even then, the hair has to go through it's cycles and it could take many many months till it comes back, if it does. We'll see. That's why we have coats for the winter right. :)
She isn't bothered by it so that is good. It is the undercoat that is showing the most change. Her outside coat, is still growing long and she'll be a ragamuffin in no time I'm sure. What doesn't grow as fast now is the length of her ear hair. It does grow but at a shorter rate. I wish I could say the same of her feet. They are thick and grow long in no time, making it pretty hard to get those booties on sometimes and getting them to stay on. LOL
hugs all
So the cortisol is coming down a bit, not there yet though.
ACTH 20 Feb 2015
Base 166 nmol
1 hr 339 nmol
2 hr 389 nmol
So we'll retest in a month on the 11mg trilostane
That was the good part. Now for the not so good.
The UPC came up to 2.4 :( We are increasing her Benazipril to 7.5mg am and pm. That is the max for her weight that we can go to. Doing this means we have to watch her BP that it doesn't drop too low. (so test that in a week) and keep an eye on kidney and potassium. (retest that in about a week too) different vets for those two items. Her potassium is currently 4.7 which is within the normal range. If it goes to 6.0 we have to be concerned, if it goes to over 6.5 we have to intervene.
If none of this works on the next UPC, which will be at the time of the next ACTH test, then we'll have to add in yet another medication. Gads!!!
That is where we are. She is concentrating at 1022. but we really want her to be less concentrated, actually below 1020. due to the stones.
hugs
I'm so pleased to see those BP numbers and the other positives, and I'm keeping my fingers & toes crossed that the increased Benazipril will help.
I just wanted to mention that one of the groomers we used for Hamish said that most dogs' hair thins as they get older - a bit like humans (well, me anyway :p ).
Sharlene, hard as it is to watch, that thinning hair is just a cycle. I actually think using vetoryl contributes to it's initial loss. Tobey went through two cycles of complete baldness, after starting treatment. It came back in super thick, like a puppy coat!
I'm sorry to hear about the UPC, but those stim results are heading in the right direction!
Sharlene, little Molly is getting there is baby steps. I'm thankful her BP is better so hopefully the rest will follow suite soon.
It sounds like she has new booties to add to her winter wardrobe. I think a pair of every color would do nicely. haha! (I do realize that they are sized by color but a nice seamstress could fix that for a little diva, right?)
I don't envy you this cold weather. We have had record breaking temps here this week and it has NOT been fun. The girls enjoyed the snow until the sleet fell and it wasn't so fun anymore. I hope ya'all are staying warm.
Hugs and belly rubs...
Hi Sharlene, yes we are very grateful for those positives!!!
But I am sorry to hear about the UPC, and although it is improved it will indeed be a relief when the cortisol is down to a therapeutic level. Does your vet have a range that she is specifically shooting for in that regard? With Molly's lack of traditional overt symptoms, I know it must make it somewhat difficult to judge progress on the basis of outward symptom resolution. But hopefully once the cortisol does come down, that will help limit additional UPC elevation, too. Do you know what other med they are thinking of adding in if you don't see improvement?
Marianne
Darn that UPC, they seem to fluctuate so much in a few of our dogs. Can you see any trend in the separate numbers... I mean the total protein and creatinine that make up the ratio? I know that is meant to be taken into account but personally have noticed them swing somewhat. Hopefully this dose does the trick, remembering that sometimes ace inhibitors can increase the blood renal levels but Molly's are fine from what you have posted. Great on the cortisol though! x
Dear Sharlene
Pray Molly improves. She is a fighter. Hugs
Sonja and Angel Apollo
Sharlene-Hugs to you and Molly
I'm taking molly to get her blood drawn for a renal panel on Friday. Since it's to my GP vet, it will take some time to get results back. (I'm guessing). Just an in and out.
Last week after starting molly on her increased dose of benazepril, I had a hard time waking her up to go outside in the morning, then I went to work, came home and she didn't want to wake up. So, I immediately panicked, called the BP vet, said I was bringing her in around 6pm to have BP checked. By the time 6pm rolled around, molly was wide awake, playing, had a grand ole time at the vets office, played with them too, had treats, BP fine.
Molly just wasn't interested in waking up and going out in the cold that day it seems. *sigh*
I doubt I have anything to worry about, so far her BP has not responded to the medication for the protein loss anyhow. Which is why she is on BP meds too
We're having another winter day here. Snow all day, now freezing drizzle, temps below freezing now, so it's a mess out there with another arctic blast pushing in tomorrow night.
Dang I miss spring and summer.
hugs all, stay warm and safe.
AWWWW Sharlene, we do worry so.:o She's one smart little muffin. Do you really blame her?;)
Big hugs,
Quote:
Originally Posted by molly muffin
LOL Kathy. No, I admit I wasn't really interested in going out in the cold either. Normally she is the one waking me up! But there has always been that odd time when she decides to sleep in. Can't do that after we do a med adjustment though, it freaks us moms out!!!!!! Pffft
hugs