Shadow my 10 year old husky has Cushings (treatment with Lysodren)

[muskyhusky]

Shadow pooped this morning and it looked pretty good, I think what I am gonna do is mix the rice and the baby food in with her regular food, gave a 1/2 prednisone early this morning, no Imodium, no lysodren. The only thing I'm bummed out about is, she started leaking again...

[frijole]

I would STOP the prednisone. Prednisone was given because of the diarrhea and fear that cortisol was too low. Prednisone acts like cortisol and makes the dog perky... and it also can bring back the symptoms. (leaks) So cease that drug. Besides you want it out of your dog's system when you do the test on Monday.

Congrats on the poop! Shadow has to feel better. Hang in there. Kim

[haf549]

Glad to hear that everything is almost normal again. Definitely stop the pred, specially since she's going for her test tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to hearing the results.

Heidi

[gpgscott]

If the leaking you are referring to is age related loss of muscle tone (which is common) there are good medical treatments.

Proin is one med and DES the other. I prefer the DES as it is a synthetic form of the natural hormone which is lacking in those dogs for which the treatment is indicated.

Best wishes. Scott

[muskyhusky]

She has leaked all her life, it sure would be nice if that would slow down, I've asked him to put her on hormones, but he thinks she's leaking because of the cushings, where it's probably 5% cushings and 95% her, so she's on PPA, 1 and a half twice a day and it still doesn't work, so now maybe he'll listen to me and put her on hormones. Vets are like human Drs. only I have a good Dr. that's actually listens to me when I suggest something. Anyways we won't get the results of the ACTH test until Tuesday.

[ventilate]

Nike was fixed at 6 months and began leaking at 9. she has been on DES all her life. IMHO it has nothing to do with the cushings and everything to do with the lack of hormones. I agree that with all the water uptake she would leak more, so it would make it worse but thats it.
When I started Nike on the DES i had to kind of load her I cant remember exactly but had to give her a dose every day or every other day for a week then once a week every once in a while throughout her 13 years she would leak and I would give her an extra dose and she would be great again. She has been on 1 DES for the past 4 years or so and has not leaked at all.
Good luck, I have not used the other med so cant comment on how it works but Scott used both.
Sharon

[muskyhusky]

Ok here are the results of her LDD test:

5.15.2008:
4 HR. 1.2 ug/dL
8 HR .8.0 ug/dL
Cortisol Baseline 2.3 ug/dL [1.0-5.0]

8.3.2009
4 HR. 1.2 ug/dL
8 HR. 8.2 ug/dL
Cortisol Baseline 12.2 ug/dL [1.0-5.0]

Why is the cortisol baseline so much higher this time.

Her bladder inf. is gone, she still has a low specific gravity of 1.010, on 8/7/09 it was 1.014...

Her results will be back tomorrow for ACTH -

[muskyhusky]

Shadow's results from the ACTH test is she's at 5.2 and he's putting her on a dose of 1 and 1/2 tables twice a day one day a week and then retest in 6 weeks. So...that's good news.

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi Lynne,

That post # is pretty close to perfect! Are Shadow's signs controlled? Does she seem to be back to a closer version of her old self? Getting the post # within range (1-5 ug/dl) is the goal but treating the dog is more important and if Shadow is doing good at this level, then so be it! However, the maintenance schedule you have been given is a bit unusual. Dr. Feldman, a canine Cushing's guru, says that a dog can get one maintenance dose per week but most often that is not the case and maintenance is given 2-4 times a week. Here is the link to our Resource section that talks about Lyso loading and maintenance:

http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=181

Dr. Feldman's explanation of the maintenance phase is in the second post on the thread.

The goal of maintenance is to keep the level of erosion of the adrenals at the same place the loading phase took them. If the maintenance dose isn't enough, the adrenals will regenerate faster than the dose can keep them eroded, and the signs reappear - resulting in a mini-load or a full reload.

I'm not saying this dose and schedule won't work for Shadow; it may very well be just what she needs. But I did want you to be aware of the maintenance protocols so you can keep an eye on her for signs just in case.

You are doing a great job so keep up the good work!
Hugs,
Leslie and the girls

[gpgscott]

Hi Lynne,

It is easy to fixate on a number. I think the main thing for you to be concerned with right now is symptoms and if you see heightening of Cushing's symptoms before the 6 week mark is met you might want to do the stim earlier. No need to let Shadow's cortisol get completely out of control.

Scott