Re: Newbie Helicopter Pet Mom needs help/support - 12 yr old American Bulldog Part 1
I'm sorry for my delayed respond. Too much going on. First I want to extend my most gracious thank you to both Marianne and Leslie for all your incites and welcoming me! It feels comfortable in knowing I'm not crazy, at least not at the present and it confirms just what I felt, 180mg daily is off the charts and LLDS might be best next step before doing anything. I asked the IMS about it and he stated that with the (2) ACTH's neg. it isn't cortico's but hormones and an LLDS would not be beneficial. Of course I'd like to have a positive diagnosis one way or the other. In any event I will send him off an email today with the provided links you posted (I printed and saved them on my desktop for my reference as I usually do). I doubt his reaction will be any more pleasing than the last reply. Thank you soooo much for that info BTW. I only scan read them, but found they drive home the point to a "T". I also intend to inquire in my email what IMS's intended treatment plan is for Patch. He may or may not give me an outline (or quit because I ask questions). At this point, all is too vague. All I know is recheck UCP, BP and the Trilostane.
I will pull up my email outline from UN of AL on exactly what they wanted done as I forgot to print that out for reference. They did mention the possibility of pheochromocytoma, but were doubtful and they wanted hormone and LLDS testing. (Hey Patch seems to be the oddball in everything else, so it would be no surprise if he did have pheo) I'll add the UN of AL info in my next post for you later today hopefully. Un of AL is a 3 hour one way drive for me. I know they charge $300 to send out to TN. So cost effective, if I can get the LLDS taken care of locally and sent off to TN for less or free, I'll do that.
I dealt with a top Professor at UN of TN in the endocrine dept. for Patch's original ACTH and have kept in contact over time. He actually did the lab report. I'm going to reach out to him today to see what he can help me with. It is a 5 hour one way drive for me, and he saved me that trip the first time around.
Right now, Patch doesn't seem to have excessive thirst or urinating. He drinks about 2-3 qts of water a day. He hardly ever drank much water prior to tooth extraction in Nov, in which I always forced him to with homemade broth as I was concerned. This struck me as odd his not wanting to drink much and I always made mention of it to any Vet. Most of his drinking seems to be because of "dry mouth/tongue/throat" due to his panting and then I give him a little drink with ice and he's good to go. Drinks after a meal or mild activity and doesn't gulp. Goes out to potty about 4-5x daily with the last evening outing about 10- 12. BM's seem ok, I always look, although on rare occasion a little watery (could be from the benezapril/plavix) Seems more restful during the day, but starts getting panting anxious after about 6 pm. Has rarely gotten me up late at night to go out. He's just up and down all night trying to find a comfortable sleeping place. I feel he is having issues regulating his body temperature like he's in male menopause or something. IMS at least agreed with me on this one.
My original idea was to just order the 30mg and 60mg and only give Patch the 30mg daily regardless, but you both have raised some valid, commonsense, weighty concerns, so that is off the table. Just figured I already had the prescript and wanted something on hand in case IMS kicked me to the curb mindset. Just getting anxious to help Patch, but realize I have to be sure if he even truly has Cushing's before I give him anything in any mg dosage.
I will add another post later with more info. Thanks once again for your help!
Donna
Didn't see any mention in the Aug recent rad report about pheo, but I will re check to be positive.
"It is important to remember that you are your pet’s advocate, your pet’s voice, so no one can tell you what you will and will not do when it comes to making health based decisions for your loved ones."