Re: New to site - questions on holistic vs traditional treatments
Thank you yes I found the link to this thread in my email. I got so confused when I first came on the site and saw that moderators wanted updates for July from everyone but I was the only one who answered, LOL. So I thought the site was in active and then all of a sudden I clicked on some thing and found a bunch of posts from today. Then I got really confused LOL. Anyway here I am!! And I’ve taken screenshots of all the labs from a couple weeks ago and the ultrasound of the abdomen. Basically she was peeing frequently so I took her to the ER vet because my vet was too busy, they did lab work and urine and alkaline phosphatase was too high which bought her an ultrasound of the abdomen. She spent the night on IV fluid and IV baytril for the UTI. I told him I felt she might have Cushing’s and to please zero in on the adrenal glands and liver during the ultrasound which they said they would do anyway. Long story short after the ultrasound an internal medicine specialist at the same Emergency And Referral hospital saw her and called me and wants to test her with the dexamethasone challenge test which I put off till the middle of August because my pitbull Little Mouse needed to have TPLO for ACL rupture on Tuesday. So she is five days postop now and I’m trying to keep my other pitbull and her calm and let Betsey out to P every 30 to 45 minutes etc. and also trying to figure out what to do about Betsey. She is 10 years old and happy and no skin issues but had her first urinary tract infection which may or may not be due to the Cushing’s. I noticed the hair on the back of her shoulders and neck has turned curly from straight over the last year. The drinking problem started last summer at the end of the summer. At that time I treated her myself with HMR lignins and melatonin as I knew it wouldn’t hurt her to see if it would help. It didn’t so I took her to the vet in December where she had a normal alkaline phosphatase of 85 and pretty normal other lab work but urine was spilling 1+ protein. Anyway she was still having her drinking problem but I was limiting water a little bit otherwise she would be peeing all over the floor every second which was a huge management problem with two other dogs. So now I’m wondering since she is happy and 10 years old and this excessive drinking and peeing which is more the more she drinks, and a little hind and wasting, and the abnormal ultrasound and lab work, should I test her or should I just try more holistic treatments? From what I read treating with traditional medicine does and does not lengthen their lifespan depending on what you read! So far she does not have diabetes. Thyroid was borderline in December but he felt not worth treating if she could lose a few pounds by dieting. So she did and then at the ER vets they told me she was too thin and I should have her gain weight which made no sense at all because I felt she needed to lose another pound or two to get back to what she was in 2019.
Thanks,
Betsy’s Mom, Cathy