Pre pill cortisol test

[Squirt's Mom]

At one time Dechra had a very good video of Dr. Ramsey discussing his findings but the link to that is broken indicating Dechra has removed it. Several are now searching for it and I will share it here if it's found again. Thanks for posting that from the paper on the study of the PVC, Marianne!

[labblab]

I’ve been looking unsuccessfully for that video link, too! I’m fearing that Dechra may have removed a lot of their Vetoryl treatment and monitoring info from public view. If so, that’s *really* maddening! I guess I shouldn’t make premature accusations, but I’m suddenly finding a lot of broken links to stuff that was previously available to us :-((((...

I’ll keep looking, too!

Edited to add: OK, I’m back from searching Dechra’s website, and it looks as though Dr. Ramsey’s video — as well as other in-depth info — is now only available to “Veterinary Professionals” who register and log in. Only a limited number of brochures are still publicly available to “Owners.” How annoying!!!!! I believe I’ll be giving Dechra a call to convey my surprise and displeasure. Good grief.

https://www.dechra.co.uk/therapy-are...shings-disease

[Hannah1108]

Thank you so much for all of your replies and sorry for the delay in responding. I did read them at the time but just didn’t have the time to properly reply. We had another diagnosis of a mast cell tumour and possible lymphoma, investigations are still ongoing.

Our other dog, shyla, who had the diagnosis back a few years ago is still with us. She is still monitored regularly to make sure she’s doing ok but in herself she is generally well. She remains on cerenia and phenoxybenzamine. Recently she has been having some weakness in her back leg and she had protein and blood in her urine a few days ago which she’s been put on antibiotics for. Waiting to see now if the antibiotics clear it up or not though. I wonder whether anyone has had any experience of this being related to the Cushings?

[Squirt's Mom]

Urinary infections, and hind leg weakness, are common in cush pups so I hope the ABs solve the issue. How is she doing?

[Hannah1108]

She is doing ok thank you. She’s just had some test results back which show that the mast cell tumour she was diagnosed with hasn’t spread and that the lymphoma is indolent which is all relatively good news. They have mentioned the possibility of starting chemo though which is worrying me a little bit with her Cushings meds. They are possibly going to start her on prednisone but I’m not sure how this will impact the vetoryl? Or the best way to juggle it if it’s a case of needing to choose just one. At the moment the Cushings is quite well controlled with the vetoryl. I have read that vetoryl can actually make the cancer grow quicker. They have been monitoring the growth of the abdominal nodes and until her most recent scan, growth had been slow but the most recent scan shows more significant changes in size.

Thank you for anyone who reads this, your comments are always so helpful on this group

[labblab]

Welcome back to us! We’re glad to hear about the relatively good news, but sorry to hear that you’re still facing some challenges. Am I correct that the prednisone is being considered for treatment of the lymphoma (and is that what you mean in terms of the abdominal nodes)? In the past, we’ve had a few dogs who were diagnosed with both Cushing’s and lymphoma, and I need to go back and try to track down the treatment decisions that were made. I *believe* that sometimes both prednisone and Vetoryl were given. On the face of it, that sounds paradoxical since prednisone increases circulating steroids and Vetoryl lowers them. However, I think there may be a rationale for keeping the natural cortisol production under control so that the supplemental prednisone can be given in a predictable and consistent dose. Take those comments with a grain of salt, though, until I can track down those threads and add some links here.

Also, if I’m confusing things and the abdominal nodes are related to something other than the lymphoma, then it’ll help us if you can tell us more about those nodes. So we’ll await some further info from you, and I’ll start looking for those threads about Cushing’s/Lymphoma treatment. In the meantime, once again, we’re so glad to have you back.

Marianne

[labblab]

OK, I’m quickly back with one link to add. The thread dates clear back to 2014, but it involved conversation with two of our members who had dealt with both lymphoma and Cushing’s. Unfortunately, neither of those members have been active here for many years, but perhaps the info they discuss may be helpful to you. Of course, this is assuming that lymphoma is indeed the cause for the talk about chemo for your dog. On the face of it, I don’t see them talking about a Vetoryl/prednisone combo, so I may be dreaming that up in relation to lymphoma. You’ll see that one of the members does discuss discontinuing Lysodren (an alternative Cushing’s med) in lieu of prednisone in order to allow the natural cortisol production to increase. However, as I say, this is now dated info, and perhaps the treatment protocols have changed,

If you’re a Facebooker, one of the most helpful bits in this thread may be a link to a Facebook group that is dedicated to canine lymphoma. They may actually be able to help you more than we can in terms of current treatment goals. Anyway, here’s a link to our forum thread here:

https://www.k9cushings.com/forum/sho...s-and-lymphoma

And here’s a link to that Facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/LymphomaHeartDogs/

Hope this may help.

[Hannah1108]

Thank you that is all really helpful. That’s correct re the nodes and chemo being related to The lymphoma diagnosis. I’m going to have a look on the Facebook groups. I appreciate the time taken to find that thread from
2014 though! That was our thoughts with regards to one mrs lowering and one med increasing the cortisol. It’s very confusing!

[labblab]

Yes, the Cushing’s/Lymphoma combo surely does seem to make things more of a jumble. Perhaps just lowering the Vetoryl dose a bit to allow the natural cortisol to rise might be an alternative to prednisone, at least as a trial. That would duplicate Bettina’s lowering of the Lysodren for her dog. But her Nico was also taking some other chemo drug as well. Anyway, I do hope the Facebook group will be a good resource for you. Over the years, we’ve heard very good things about that group, so I hope folks are still actively posting there.

And I’ll keep nosing around in our archives over the next few days, and I’ll post additional links here if I come across any more that seem helpful.

Marianne

[Hannah1108]

Thanks again marianne