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Thread: Reese, 8 y/o Chihuahua — starting trilostane (Reese has passed)

  1. #1
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    Default Reese, 8 y/o Chihuahua — starting trilostane (Reese has passed)

    I'll use this post to introduce myself and see if I can get used to this format. My 8 year old Chihuahua, Reese, was just diagnosed last Friday. He is on day three on his medicine, Trilostane .25ml per morning. I first would like to know if anyone has had success with this medicine. I started him off with .125ml in the morning and a dose at night. I read that this helps to keep down any possible side effects. So far, no side effects from the med.. However, this morning he had a Neurological event that the vet couldn't determine the cause of exactly what it was. He said it seemed similar to Bell's Palsy in humans. Has this happened to anyone else's dog? Thank you for the forum and to be able to discuss this terrible disease. I pray that I can keep my baby with me a few more years.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Reese, 8 y/o Chihuahua — starting trilostane

    Hello and welcome to you and little Reese — we’re so glad you’ve joined us! You’ll see I’ve taken the liberty of moving your post so as to create a thread that is your very own. This way, it’ll be much easier for our members to reply to you directly.

    I will apologize for first asking you a bunch of questions before being able to answer your own. But the additional info you give us will be a big help in resolving the path forward. Can you tell us more about Reese’s overall health history, as well as the symptoms and testing that led to the Cushing’s diagnosis?

    Also, how much does Reese weigh, and can you please look at the label on your bottle of trilostane and tell us how many mgs. of trilostane are in each ml.? That will allow us to figure out his exact dosage.

    Last but not least, can you describe exactly what you observed happening during this neurological event?

    Thanks in advance for all this additional info, and once again, welcome!
    Marianne

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Reese, 8 y/o Chihuahua — starting trilostane

    Hi!

    I'm glad you and Reese made it here! Marianne has gotten you off to a good start so I just wanted to pop in and say "Howdy!"

    Hugs
    Leslie
    "May you know that absence is full of tender presence and that nothing is ever lost or forgotten." John O'Donahue, "Eternal Echoes"

    Death is not a changing of worlds as most imagine, as much as the walls of this world infinitely expanding.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Reese, 8 y/o Chihuahua — starting trilostane

    Howdy back. Still trying to figure out the page.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Reese, 8 y/o Chihuahua — starting trilostane

    Has anyone else had a dog have a Neurological event. The Vet couldn't determine what exactly is going on, but it seems that the nerve endings in Reese left side are preventing his eye from closing, but he can trigger a blinking motion. His left ear is motionless, and there is a plaque growing right outside both ears. Now his whiskers have been quivering, without him moving them. He also has some of the plaques on the bottom side of his tongue. Has this happened to anyone else's dog?

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Reese, 8 y/o Chihuahua — starting trilostane

    Those plaques you are seeing could be calcinosis cutis which are calcium deposits, some cushdogs do get these but they are normally seen on the skin but can also be formed inside their mouths. The only true way to diagnose calcinosis cutis is with a biopsy.

    Also, could you answer these questions that Marianne asked:
    Can you tell us more about Reese’s overall health history, as well as the symptoms and testing that led to the Cushing’s diagnosis?

    Also, how much does Reese weigh, and can you please look at the label on your bottle of trilostane and tell us how many mgs. of trilostane are in each ml.?
    Thanks, Lori

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Reese, 8 y/o Chihuahua — starting trilostane

    Trilostane 48mg/ml; .25ml liquid each morning with food. Reese was 12lbs, and now he's around 11.8lbs. He has had a history of "Allergies", but was never officially tested. I started to see postings by Dr. Karen Becker about diet changes, on YouTube. Then I found her on Facebook, via Rodney Habib's Facebook page. I started to change Reese's diet, again, from Fromm Gold to canned Zignature. Reese's vet recommended Science Hill canned food single protein. I don't like Science Hill's bad reputation, so I asked the vet if Zignature was okay. She agreed, and he gets Zignature Turkey canned food. I have started to slowly introduce foods, Elimination Diet, and kept tolerated foods on his menu. I had gone through the Elimination Diet with my son (20 years ago) because of food allergies, so I was familiar with how to approach this. He gets scrambled eggs, with 2 tbsp of canned food, one veggie, one starch, and unsweetened applesauce for breakfast. He also gets a choice of one additional protein when available. His favorite starch is Sweet Potato. He gets something similar for dinner, minus eggs. Overall, besides allergies, he has been a healthy dog. He started getting eye ulcers a year and a half ago, and this started us on a downhill spiral of health. I hope this answers any questions, but feel free to ask more. Thank you, Reese, and his mom.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Reese, 8 y/o Chihuahua — starting trilostane

    What signs did you see that led you, or the vet, to start testing for Cushing's? Can you get the test results and post them here from the LDDS, ACTH, CBC, and/or wellness screening that shows things like BUN and CHOL? We need to see all the normal ranges for each value plus the little letters that follow, lik mnol/L or ug/dl, etc. We only need to see the abnormal values, too high or too low, on the CBC and wellness screen. Thanks!

    EDITED TO ADD - did you show your vet any of the links I posted on the FB page? Did any of them seem to fit Reese's situation?
    Last edited by Squirt's Mom; 12-05-2017 at 03:10 PM.
    "May you know that absence is full of tender presence and that nothing is ever lost or forgotten." John O'Donahue, "Eternal Echoes"

    Death is not a changing of worlds as most imagine, as much as the walls of this world infinitely expanding.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Reese, 8 y/o Chihuahua — starting trilostane

    Reese has been seeing a vet for eye ulcers, and when he kept getting new symptoms I would check online to see what possibilities it could be. I suggested the Cushing's diagnosis to the vet months ago, but she just recently decided to test him. But, because another vet (ER)overreacted to what I thought was a bee sting, he had to wait for the Cushing's test until all of the Allergy Shot and Anti-Inflammatory shot were out of his system. Now, I searched the partial paralysis and had him tested for worms. Sure enough, before I even got back from the vet, I got a call that he is positive for worms. Now I have to call and find out if he needs to stop the Trilostane or take both meds. He had been eating poop, and I told the primary vet. She said not to worry, dog's with Cushing's might do this because they are hungry 24/7. Well, by the this past weekend, he had a Neurological event. The vet couldn't figure out why. So away to google I went. The second search came up with Roundworms, from eating poop. Bingo. Now, I have some answers.

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Reese, 8 y/o Chihuahua — starting trilostane

    Quote Originally Posted by bspeters3 View Post
    Reese has been seeing a vet for eye ulcers, and when he kept getting new symptoms I would check online to see what possibilities it could be. I suggested the Cushing's diagnosis to the vet months ago, but she just recently decided to test him.
    It will help us so much if you can tell us specifically what these new symptoms have been. The thing is, nothing you’ve mentioned thus far is really consistent with Cushing’s aside from perhaps a vulnerability to infection. But many different health issues aside from Cushing’s can affect the immune system. What are the exact symptoms that made you consider Cushing’s to even be a possibility? This information is very important, because both of the two “diagnostic” blood tests for Cushing’s can return “false positives” in dogs that don’t have the disease at all. That’s why consideration of actual symptoms is such an important part of the diagnostic process.

    Marianne

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