Buddy, The Mighty Lizard Hunter - Suspected Pituitary Macro Tumor

Kathy;
Just wanted to tell you how absolutely adorable Budster is in his picture. He reminds me of my last dog a wheaton terrier. Hope all is well, and God Bless you and Budster.
Patti

FRUSTRATED:eek::(
I took off work to get Buddy's first ACTH test done since starting Trilo.
I called ahead to make sure that the vet that I needed to talk to was going to be there. By the time I got there, she had left on an emergency. The doctor that I did get treats his Cush pups with Lysodren and knew nothing about Trilostane. I went ahead and had the ACTH Test done, but I stayed and supervised every step of it. :D
It's too hard for me to take off another day. His pre-draw was done 4 hours and 20 minutes after his Trilo with a light breakfast. I have divided his food into three smaller meals today. He was then given the drug and brought out to sit with me. A timer was set for one hour. Then he was taken back for the second draw. Results are expected tomorrow. The doctor came out and said that there was fat in his blood so he didn't know how accurate the test would be, but what matters most is the consistency of the follow-up tests. OF COURSE THERE WAS FAT IN HIS BLOOD. HE HAD EATEN BREAKFAST!!!! FAT SOLUBLE, YA THINK!! I am so frustrated!!!!!!
I might have to end up taking Buddy to an IMS. I am having a really hard time paying for the bills as it is, but that might be my only recourse. I got copies of all of Buddy's test today. I did not have the test numbers for his low-dose eight hour test before. I have them now and will post them later when I'm less frustrated!;) I can't promise when that will be :eek::mad: Thanks for listening.

We just got home and buddy is barking at something out the front door, so he seems to be feeling okay.:)

Kathy and Buddy:)

Kathy, honestly - I wish that I had started with the IMS in the first place. Wasted too much money on two previous vets, one HIGHLY recommended, before going to an IMS where our experience was the complete opposite.

It's worth the money, it really is instead of the trial and error that the GPs will put you through.

Deep breaths Kathy. Hang in there. Of course they aren't use to seeing anything in the blood, their patients have not been giving the vetoryl with food. (head bang) The main thing is to see what the numbers actually come back as, with the most important one being the post draw number.
Just see what the number is and go from there. :) It'll be okay. Post the test results when you are ready. Anything abnormal in the blood work too, high low with normal range. This was the testing from before treatment started correct?

You did good!!! Hang in there!
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hi Kathy,

You did good today and the test was done according to proper protocol, thanks to you. High lipids (fat) in the blood doesn't have any effect on the acth stimulation test so the results should be accurate. You would not be the first member to be forced to educate their vet. The problem with that is what happens if there is something we can't figure out? Sometimes paying for a specialist is value added as opposed to paying lots to our gp vets and getting little to nothing in return. I would have been ahead by at least the cost of one oxalate bladder stone surgery if I had gone to a specialist from the get to.

Glynda

Dear Busters Mom or Dad
Welcome
I am Angel Apollo's mom. I live in San Diego. Not sure were you live.
If you live close to me, I could give you some referrals. My concern is that Buster should not be having all these stomach upsets and being put on Trilostane so fast. Maybe the dosage is to high for him, and was an ultrasound done to check his organs. Also it does not cost as much as you said for testing for Cushings. You can send me a message if you like and I can give you my email and phone number if you like.
Sonja and Angel Apollo
P.s Apollo was almost 14 when he died. Each patient is different.
Hugs.

Hello Sonya,
I tried to send you a private message but I'm not sure if it went through. I would like to talk with you or email with you directly. I probably don't live more than 30 miles from you. I'm not sure how to enable private messaging. It says that I can only get messages from contacts, so I'll have to work on that. Please let me know if you got my message. It had both my email address and my home phone number. I have been very stressed by this whole thing And have become very discouraged. Any help would be appreciated.
THANK YOU!!!
Kathy

Hi Kathy,

Remember that option you did earlier to allow you to see avatars? :D:D
We're going to visit there again. :)

So, left hand side, Edit Options
Scroll down to where you see Enable Private Messaging, make sure that is checked
and right underneath it says Receive Private Messages only from Contacts and Moderators make sure that one is NOT checked. :)

You can also get email notifications of when you receive a private message.

Cheers!
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

I'm so sorry you had such a frustrating experience at the vet Kathy. This is all scary and stressful enough!! :mad: Hopefully Buddy's test results will be good though. Happy to hear Buddy is barking though...that's a good sign of spunk! Will be waiting to hear the outcome of Buddy's test.
Barbara

Still waiting for ACTH TEST RESULTS! They were supposed to be back yesterday! Ug!:confused::(

Kathy and Buddy