Jett, 11 year old Shih Tzu (Trilostane); Now lymphoma

[shevan]

Moderator's Note: Sheila, I noticed you had posted in the visitor's message section on your user profile. I have copied that post to start your own thread for your baby, so other members can respond to you directly. If you would like a different title, please feel free to PM me or any of the other administrative staff, & we will be happy to make that change for you. Debbie (StarDeb55)

My name is Sheila and my 11 year old Shih Tzu Jett got diagnosed with Cushings about a month ago! So far I have spent about $1500 on him (I had to raid my annuity, too - I'm disabled and retired). Jett is on Trilostane and is doing well on it! He isn't losing weight though, and he is really fat! My vet isn't real confident that Jett can live to be 14 or 15 even though I told him about this website and what I learned here! I take a med every 12 hours like Jett does! Mine is to walk better (I have MS), so Jett and I take our main meds together every morning and evening! I look forward to meeting all of you and learning about your dogs and your experience with Cushings! It's nice to be here! I found this website by accident...!

[StarDeb55]

I would like to welcome both of you to our group! It's good to hear that the initial stage of treatment have been going well. I will warn you that we tend to ask a lot of questions of new members, but that simply helps us to give you the most appropriate feedback from the group's collective experience, so here goes. Could you tell us the symptoms your baby was suffering from that led you to go to the vet? Was any general lab work done such as a senior wellness panel or super chemistry panel? There are common abnomalities on these labs, especially in the liver function tests that most of our pups will demonstrate. If you could post the actual results, we usually just want to see the abnormal values including normal ranges & reporting units. If you don't have copies of all the labs that have been done, your vet should be happy to provide them to you. Most members to keep files on their pups at home as you never know when that file might come in handy, especially if you end up at a strange vet. Could you tell us what tests were done to make the Cushing's diagnosis with the results? We are not trying to second guess your vet, but we have seen a misdiagnosis occur too often in this group due to a vet's lack of experience with Cushing's as this disease is probably the most difficult disease to diagnose. Was diabetes & thyroid ruled out? I ask about these 2 as their symptoms can overlap with Cushing's.

I can't comment a whole lot on Trilostane usage as I have never used it. I have used lysodren to treat 2 pups, now, including my 15 yr old Shih Tzu, Harley, who was diagnosed 2 years ago. I will leave the specific Trilo comments to the trilo parents. What they will want to know is what is your baby's current weight, & dosage of Trilo that he is on.

Your vet's comments about Jett surviving several more years are hogwash. Harley is proof of that. My first pup, Barkley, was successfully treated for nearly 8 years, crossing the bridge at 15.

Again, welcome to you & Jett. We are looking forward to hearing more.

Debbie

[shevan]

Thank you for your reply! I got bad news today - my Jett had another panel done - blood - several taken over a time period, and while he was 5.6 for Cortisol two weeks ago, after two weeks of treatment with Trilostane, I have been faithful with the every 12 hours and his level was 13 I found out today! My vet thinks the compounded Trilostane has "broken down" somehow, as I have been religious with his dosage every 12 hours (mine too, for my "walking pill). I don't have the energy to post his labs tonight, I am just learning this website, but I will try to do this this weekend. He will call me Monday or Tuesday. He has consulted an expert in the field, and she wonders if maybe Jett can go on Vetoryl, the brand name, and it should be compounded, and it will be more expensive. I am single, disabled, and rely on SSDI (MS) and a small income stream. Thanks for the reassurance that Jett could very well live out a longer lifespan than two years! You don't know how much that means to me to have hope like that! Then again, I'm sure you do! I will know more next week. Oh boy, I forgot his 10:00 Trilostane, I'm going now to give it (and take my Ampyra). Thanks - OMG - I forgot your name! I can't retrieve it right now! I will look it up, thanks so much for caring and putting me in a thread - I need this support, and am so grateful to all of you for this, thank you, thank you, thank you!

God bless you,

Sheila

[shevan]

Debbie - thank you so much! Please have patience, I'm just learning this - I will try to scan his labs this weekend - although I don't have the ones from Wednesday yet!

Blessings,
She

[shevan]

Oh, I forgot - he weighs about 25 pounds, way overweight, his littermate Puck weighs 16 pounds. Jett had a senior blood panel on '08, and then in May of this year (last month) and the vet saw elevated protein levels and gave him those tests - what are they called? I forget - Cortisol blood tests, 3 samples - T450 Low dose dex (am reading from the invoice on May 7), a Dexamethasone SP 4mg/ml injection - but no values! I will ask my vet what his beginning cortisol level was, and what the D SP4 value was. He had an ACTH stim chem panel: 4 hours post Trilostne does. BP is elevated, was on Benazepryl, didn't work, switched to Amlopodine (sp) and was still at 190 - vet wonders if it's being in the clinic that makes Jett anxious! I will find out the initial Cortisol level, on his first Cushings test. Thanks for being concerned - I have a lot to learn, I can tell!

Best,
She

[shevan]

I also forgot - Jett is on .33 mg. of Trilostane, but as I said earlier, the vet called yesterday and said his cortisol levels were way up again. He consulted with a Cushings expert, and she recommended the compound Vetoryl which would be more expensive. Jett pants a lot, is obese, drinks a lot of water, but surprisingly, he's the one who will run after a ball, while his brother Puck, who weighs 16 pounds, just watches! Jett can no longer jump up on the bed, and I bought Pet Stairs but neither dog uses them, and I've tried fresh crisp bacon to lure them up - but they're afraid of the steps. I am dismayed that after a good response, the Trilo stopped working. I am further dismayed that if I have to go to a more expensive medicine, that I couldn't afford it. You all probably know, those who treat their dogs with Trilo, how expensive it is! What lab do you get yours from? My vet uses "Roadrunner" - because he trusts them.

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi Shevan,

Welcome from me and my boy Harley! My boy is on Lysodren so I won't be able to give you the "expert" feedback that our Trilostane/Vetoryl members can, which I am sure they will soon be along.

Jett is on .33 mg. of Trilostane

But just for their clarification on Jett's dosage is he taking 33mg of Trilostane capsules?

Some members use these compounding pharmacies for their pups rx's: http://www.diamondbackdrugs.com/
http://www.pethealthpharmacy.com/
http://www.centerpetpharmacy.com/

Concerning the elevated blood pressure in Jett, my boy suffers from that too. He is also on Amlodipine and yes, there is a situation known as "the white coat syndrome" in dogs and people where their blood pressure is high in the doctor's office but normal anywhere else. I have found with Harley that taking his BP in the morning is best, also, taking it from his rear leg is less stressful on him. I think the rear leg is less stressful because the vet-tech is not in his face per-se...I am.

We are definitely here for you and Jett, so ask all the questions you want and we will try to answer them as best we can, ok?

Love and hugs,
Lori

[shevan]

Dear Lori;

Thanks for your response. I used the wrong term - Jett doesn't have capsules, he has a liquid I squirt into his mouth with a syringe, and it is .33 cc's I guess. .33 is the number I draw to on the syringe. I am so worried about why the Trilostane is not working, and how expensive compounded Vetoryl will be! Vet said even more expensive than Trilo!

[shevan]

Hi Lori!

I wish I could post an avatar of the dogs, but I don't know how to! My vet thinks Jett has "white coat" syndrome too, but it wouldn't surprise me if the real reason is that this Shih Tzu weighs 25 pounds!!

I don't even know how to make friends here (I'd like to be yours), or access the threads! Even my own! It's all hit and miss here! Is your dog on Benazepryl? I forgot - mine is on Amlopodine, because the Benaz didn't work. However the Amlo shows a high BP as well!

Love and hugs to you and your pooch,
Sheila

[Harley PoMMom]

I'm awful with liquid suspensions...could you look and see exactly what it is...usually they are in mg/ml but I could be wrong!

In this article that I will provide for you it states that silica degrades Trilostane. Scroll half-way down the page. http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/conted/docum...orOldDrugs.pdf