milo my doxie age 6 - milo is now at peace

[milosmom]

milo was diagnosed with cushings (pituatary gland) early this spring.started with vetoryl 20 mg,eventually upping the dose several times.he is now taking 40 2xday.it was helping for a little while and now my 2o lb baby boy is starting with excessive drinking,urinating often(no accidents) and now tremors have begun and his hindquarters are wasting away and back legs weak.he has the potbelly and hair is brittle and his skin dry and leathery.we are going to the vet wed to probably redo the atch testing (which i don't like) .also give him fish oil daily with his kibbles.... i am happy i found this site at 4 am this morning,while milo was shaking next to me.any advice or recommendations would surely be appreciated...look forward to comments..thank you !!!

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and Milo,

It would really help us to provide you with more meaningful feedback if you could round up copies of all tests that were done on Milo and post any abnormalities listed here, especially the tests for Cushing's such as the ACTH stimulation tests and/or LDDS test.

Regarding the excessive drinking/urinating, have non-adrenal illnesses been ruled out such as diabetes or an UTI?

I believe we have seen other cush-pups have tremors while taking Vetoryl/Trilostane and I think shaking/shivering are listed as a side effect.

So glad you found us and remember we will help in any way we can so do not hesitate to ask any and all questions.

Love and hugs,
Lori


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[Boriss McCall]

Hi Welcome to the group!
Hopefully we can help you figure out answers for Milo & give you some comfort. Glad you don't have to go it alone anymore.

hugs

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome to you and Milo.

It does help to have test results so as to know what might be off or not. Definitely would think an ACTH and maybe a full chem blood panel should be done to figure out what is going on with Milo. Could be something unrelated to the cushings, or could be that the cortisol is not controlled.

Tremors is something quite a few members using Vertroyl has mentioned, so don't think that is abnormal.
How about lethargic, eating and poop? How are those? No vomiting?

Just a bit more information. When are you going back to the doctors? Sounds like you both need a good nights sleep too.

Sharlene and Molly Muffin

[addy]

Hi and Welcome,

Good things can happen at 4am You found us!!!!!

I would be really interested in seeing Milo's stims (ACTH tests) since starting Trilostane. Most dogs are controlled between 1-3 mgs per pound but we have a few (my Zoe for one) who need to go much higher. You will get the best results in my opinion, with a stim under 5 ug/dl. Zoe has not been at that level for too long during the last year and one half; she has other health issues going on so I leave her higher sometimes. Her hair and coat and potty belly never improved because of that and some dogs just never get their hair back.

As for the continued drinking and peeing, how much did it improve and for how long?

The more you can tell us the better. Deep breaths, you are no longer alone. We all understand.

[milosmom]

good morning addy !!! thank you so much for you response to my post,still trying to figure how to go about on here (technically challenged)but i look forward to any assistance from this forum.milo is going tomorrow for that test,if i can hold out.milo was diagnosed in jan,started with 30 mg of vitoryl.in march he was up to 40 mg.july went up to 60 mg.in auguset we split the dose 30mg am and 30mg pm.by the end of sept he was taking 40 mg am and 40 mg pm.btw throughout he has been on weeks of cephalexin 250 mg 2xday for horrible skin irritations(collorets might be the term)...hasn't been on cephalexin in 6 weeks and just last friday we had to start again because that red round scaly stinky irritation came back under his right armpit spreading oto his chest...it seems the first few weeks when they upped the dosage he would appear to look a little better and the drinking and peeing would calm down.i watch him so closely and the minute i see this starting up again i immediately call my vet,who has been so wonderful.trying to keep this short and to the point addy.stay tuned....now inhaling...thank you !!!

[mytil]

Hi,

I just wanted to make a comment on the dosage and make sure. You are giving a total of 80 mgs daily, right? That is a high dose to give a dog the size of a doxie.

Is he still having tremors?

Here is a link on the recommended dosage (you will have to scroll down a bit to see the dosage chart) - http://www.dechra-us.com/files//dech...l_Brochure.pdf

Terry

[addy]

When you go to the vet can you ask for copies of all the ACTH tests that Milo has had? They are rightfully yours, so dont feel funny asking for them. What we need to know is where his cortisol has been since January and what happened to his cortisol after each dose change. We want to make sure his cortisol is not going too low since he is on a hefty dose.

The ACTH test will have a number listed for the pre with ug/dl following the number and then a post number.


Can you tell me if the dose changes were based on his cortisol still being high or because of symptoms?

Glad you are breathing now

[milosmom]

yes indeed the dosage is very high but according to his lab work it is his cortisol that keeps changing so far as i know.i will be seeing the vet and i will get all the info that you all are asking for.my vet is truly trying with the assistance of others to right this situation....thank you everyone.i am still trying to figure out how to use this forum....

[milosmom]

thank you harleymom for your imput.milo will be seeing the vet shortly and i will have those answers for you.i am not sure if you got my first post,i am having a hard time figuring out this site...stay tuned and thanks again