Buddy - How long should it take for the Vetroryl to reduce the symptoms?

[Squirt's Mom]

Thank you so much for the update! And please let us know what you learn from the vet. We are by yours and Buddy's sides all the way.
Hugs,
Leslie

[MichelleBuddy]

It is just so odd. He will take water, but not food.
Just now we tried raw meet. He licked it, but then spit it out. It is like he wants to eat but can't.

[Squirt's Mom]

I would want the vet to check his aldosterone level while he is there today.

[MichelleBuddy]

Can you tell me why? What would that indicate?

Thank you for the information. We are also thinking about having him sedated and checking his mouth and down his throat.

[Squirt's Mom]

The prednisone will be replacing the cortisol if it had gone too low when the vet failed to do the ACTH when called for. However it will not raise the aldosterone or other electrolytes if they have fallen too low because his Vetoryl dose was too high. Both cortisol and eletrolytes are affected when the drug dose is too high. It would take a separate drug to raise the electrolytes. So while the ACTH would be useless on the pred the test on the aldosterone should still be valid. His behavior is in keeping with both low cortisol and low aldosterone to a strong enough degree to be worrisome...along with other concerns like something with his mouth or throat, the cancer you are worried about, and other things. But I would want to make sure that the aldosterone and other electrolytes were checked since his cortisol cannot be while the vet is looking.

[MichelleBuddy]

His Sodium level was normal - 159

[Squirt's Mom]

That is good news!

[Harley PoMMom]

Did the vet check his mouth and teeth thoroughly? If there is a tooth acting up it could cause him to not want to eat...just a thought.

[MichelleBuddy]

We have been syringe feeding Buddy. He would fight it and groan. It was so painful for all of us.

Two hours before the vet appointment Buddy took in a marble size piece of raw hamburger. We were stunned. Since then, he has had bacon and some peanut butter. But took no treats at the vets.

The vet did an exam of him and he had xrays. I also had him check his teeth and throat (no issues.) There is no blockage and the xrays showed no obvious sign of a tumor. The liver had clean lines, the spleen looked good. So that was good news. Still not sure if there is other cancer, but for now nothing obvious. He did have a lot of gas in his intestines which was colic for a dog.

Came home and gave him the meds for colic to get things moving, waited 30 minutes (as was needed) and he ate chicken. CHICKEN! LOL

This morning we did not have to force meds down his throat. He took them with the peanut butter. Waited the 30 minutes and he again ate the chicken. It has been less than 24 hours of eating, but I thought we would never get here. Honestly we thought we would be putting him down this week, but wanted to give him every chance possible (hence the syringe feeding.) I honestly think that saved his life (for now) and putting him on the prednisone.

I am thinking a nice bowl of scrambled eggs and cheese for lunch! Wish me luck.

[labblab]

That’s great that he’s doing better! One quick word of warning, though. You’ll want to be careful about giving him a lot of high fat foods. There is some belief that this can trigger acute pancreatitis, and that’s the last thing you want to add into the mix. I know you’re trying hard to tempt him, but try to limit the amount of fatty foods. So mainly the eggs and maybe only a dash of Parmesan would be better than a lot of cheese.