Hello everyone..newbie here..about 5 years ago i noticed her hunger and thirst and then panting becoming prominent. I started researching online and found possible cushing's. So I made an appointment with vet and they did a ldds test on her and that came back inconclusive. I suggested UCCR test and that did come back abnormal. Put her on lignans and melatonin..did great.. Last May she developed a weird cough followed by gagging..talked it over with vet..said maybe copd but because she was acting ok activity wise etc So the coughing actually got a little less this past spring time..forgot to mention since last year she did have these weird breathing things..like her exhales was longer and more forced and prominent..during the night she did do these puffs of air with exhaling and she would change positions frequently..she was getting around worse and worse limping bad etc..so we went with adequan and it did help for a bit but then I felt the results weren't as good as I wanted. Nonetheless we kept her on it up until her death. A few weeks ago we put her in gabapentin for about two weeks..was 100mg twice a day..seemed ok..didn't really get lethargic from it but did get ataxia which is hind end weakness and she already had that. So we weaned her off per vet and discussed trying amantadine with meloxicam. ..I gave her her first dose last Sunday the 30th..she seemed ok..and by later on was actually getting around better..slight improvement. Next day the 31st gave her a second dose...was ok during the day..we have a camera set up in our family room and she was on the stairs landing..her favorite place..barking and howling..poor girl I think she had anxiety with us gone..but again seemed ok..by the time my mother got home at 3:15 ..she picked her head up as she was laying in other room our dining room and looked at her and looked at her going in the kitchen etc. All still seemed ok other than she was sleepy and a little blah feeling. My mother started making her burger for the week and she never reacted to it or got up like she would have or nothing..so she went and checked on her and she was out like a light snoring etc.. weird..then all of a sudden she heard a whimper and she had gotten up and moved into family room and pooped and peed then collapsed.. apparently had some drool coming out..poop was like cow slop..no blood..no vomit at all..I rushed home as I knew something was not right..when I got in she was just not with it.. looked at me and you could tell was uncomfortable..I picked her up..meanwhile she seemed like her limbs were rigid like and stiff..so now I'm thinking oh no..allergic reaction to meds..but then I say how..she had 2 doses..wouldn't it have been after first dose? And her dosage was low..she got 50mg of amantadine and a quarter of a tab of meloxicam which was a 7.5 mg one... Called her vet..they said stop the amantadine and it could be a reaction..although they were perplexed..they were closing soon and we're further away.
So I called to her old vet who was open later etc but they couldn't get her in so we opted for ER clinic which was still about 50 minutes away..now keep in mind she seemed to be getting worse...now laying on side as I put her that way as she couldn't really keep herself upright..def labored breathing..not deep but more like shallow..and was basically going in a coma..she did recognize you were there if you went up to her and touched her face she flinched..but when I would rub her belly and or.neck area she would not react like she used to. So we took her to the clinic and they rushed her in saying she looked critical. On the way up she did lift her head several times and again she didn't seem to be struggling with breathing..wasn't panting..mouth not open gasping etc..we got the call that she was in respiratory distress and was in oxygen tent and they took imagining and her heart was larger than it should be..and based on age it wouldn't be wrong to say goodbye as they weren't confident she would come out of this or I could give 24 hours to see if the oxygen may stabilize her and they could run more tests and blood work etc..I said please do..and they were going to get an estimate how much it would be and call back. Well they called back very shortly and the ER doctor said she went into cardiac arrest and was gone. Just seemed to happen so quickly and I'm devastated. I did ask her about the meds maybe to blame and she said she didn't really think so and maybe slight chance of the amantadine triggering something but again doubtful. I got her xray and summary sent to my via email..it did say her heart walls looked really thick and not contracting well. Her regular vet said her heart didn't look that large to him and he has seen worse. And that it could have been a valve issue or her lungs.giving out which lead to cardiac arrest etc but it's speculation. Without an autopsy we don't know. But he too said he didn't think the meds played their part at all and he uses meloxicam all the time but didn't say much about the amantadine..which made me wonder .I did send her records to a chief of cardiology and he got back to me saying her heart was enlarged and it appears she may have been going through mitral valve disease but it's difficult based on one image..and with the ultrasound it suggests she may have had a PTE pulmonary thromboembolism as with cushing's they are prone to having clots etc and it appeared her right side of her heart wasn't pumping blood to the left side to lungs.he too said he doesn't think the meds did it..am I a wacko to keep wondering if maybe they did? I mean she had been sleeping a lot too and lethargic etc and would move around the house and collapse and lay there panting..so maybe it is more pulmonary like hypertension or heart related..the last couple months have been rough..with the limping..she didn't want to go outside much anymore so we had pee pads all over the one room so she could go on those.. and as all of you know..with cushing's they can become heat intolerant..and she def had that..she couldn't wait for bedtime and lay in front of the air conditioner..lol our summer here in upstate NY has been humid alot..so I was just hoping with the meds I was going to get her in a better place and with the cooler air coming we would walk more etc..ugh so torn over this. She did go on a walk two months ago and did great..would sit down from time to time but overall not that limpy and was good..but that was unfortunately her last one 😭☹️ although again I had high hopes of getting her back on track. She just kept losing muscle mass too..and the last couple months she was really losing her hair too in clumps but funny thing is she never had bald spots..maybe the melatonin helped with that. So I was curious what you guys thought and wondered if any of your dogs had an embolism or have or had pulmonary hypertension and also had the weird breathing like exhales that were prominent etc.. just trying to come to terms with this. I know I will never now a definitive answer as to what could have led up to her demise but maybe by talking to you guys I can learn about your experiences and what you are going or have gone through. God I miss her alot.. Thanks!