My girl pug (confirmed Cushings & confirmed calcinosis cutis) / Tobey has passed

[Renee]

Met with my vet yesterday to make a plan for next week.

Tuesday is the ACTH and Wednesday is the LDDS. Assuming the results confirm cushings, we will start vetoryl on Friday. This will be my vet's first time using vetoryl for a patient.

Two more lesions of the CC busted open last night, so it's spreading.

[frijole]

OK so if its the first time - did he/she share what dosage and frequency? Please let us know that as well as weight of your girl so we can make sure it is ok prior to you ordering pills.

There are many schools of thought on dosing and trust me - from reading on this board since the drug was released you want to start LOW and tweak upwards slowly over time.

Kim

[Renee]

OK so if its the first time - did he/she share what dosage and frequency? Please let us know that as well as weight of your girl so we can make sure it is ok prior to you ordering pills.

There are many schools of thought on dosing and trust me - from reading on this board since the drug was released you want to start LOW and tweak upwards slowly over time.

Kim

My pug is 18.4 pounds. We ordered one bottle of the 10mg vetoryl to start. We have not committed to one or two pills a day, as we are still comparing the UC Davis to Dechra protocols. I wish the two weren't so different. It makes it much more confusing to try and decide what is the right amount to start with.

That said, my vet is so awesome about listening and making a plan WITH me, not FOR me. I know we will do what is right and not jump right into something bad. The minimum we talked about was 10mg once per day (following UC Davis) or 10mg x2 per day (Dechra).

I will say, I was expecting the medicine to be a lot more expensive, based on what other people have expressed, but the one bottle of 30 10mg is only $66 through my vet. Not bad at all!

[Freckles#3/Louise]

From my experience starting Freckles on vetoryl, please do the minimum dose once a day and observe. Freckles weighed 29 pounds and was started on 10 mg once a day. After 3 weeks, her ACTH came down from 19 to 8.6.

The dosage was doubled and trouble started. There were other factors, such as other medications for other issues, but my IMS agrees that we keep her off for a month and then restart at the 10 mg per day.

It can cause tummy upset so be prepared.

Getting the dose right is a trial and error process that can be challenging. Read up on the symptoms of too much and too little medicine so you can catch it when it happens.

Good luck with the tests and keep us posted.

Louise

[goldengirl88]

Renee:
I can tell you that low is the way to go. You may have to have more testing and more dose changes but the chances of something happening are really minimized by this approach. I have inched Tipper up every step of the way to ensure her safety. You dogs safety has to be the paramount concern here. The lower you start the least amount of trouble you will encounter from my experience. I know you will get it right, and everything will be ok. Blessings
Patti

[Renee]

Just updating.

The ACTH stim test was today (delayed a day). Results should be in tomorrow, hopefully, and the LDDS test is tomorrow too, with results from that coming in Friday.

I was planning to go with the UC Davis protocol, but after talking with my vet and my husband, we are leaning towards the Dechra protocol.

Of course, once I was all ready with my decision, I started reading other threads and came across the commentary in regards to the use of vetoryl and CC. Tobey's CC is fairly bad, and getting worse. Some spots look like they are clearing up / drying out, but new spots are popping up and busting open. I am usually pretty stoic about stuff (years in rescue will do that), but I am starting to get very discouraged on the CC and how to treat it. I definitely do not want it to get worse.

It's hard to decide what is right. I am not the type to question myself very much, but my head is getting so full from so much reading, that I am having trouble making decisions. I just want my poor girl to be happy again, and not have these painful lesions all over her back.

[molly muffin]

hmmm, I do understand your concern about the trilostane and the cc. Yes, Cosmo is getting better it looks like while on trilostane and Zoe got better too while on trilostane. I think that again, we are at the same point of every dog is different, and while some do better, in some it doesn't work as well.

I think though that since cc is one of the last symptoms to clear up and can get worse before it gets better, that you don't know until you try it. I've heard of it taking up to 6 months to clear up some cc, it can be real tough to get through that time.

I've sent messages to a couple of our other members who haven't updated in awhile to see how their cc is doing on the trilostane, so cross fingers that they'll get the message and reply.

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

[Renee]

Thanks Sharlene. I had myself pretty upset last night, but today is a new day, and I am trying to stay positive. I am still going to try the vetoryl first. I went and visited Cosmo's thread and took a look at his pictures. It is encouraging to see his CC getting better.

[molly muffin]

Now remember, it's a long haul recovery with cc! So, set the expectation meter lower and don't get discouraged. Okay, we're right here with you and great at pep talks. We're also realistic so we'll call it as we see it, okay?
Just hang in there and remember our motto, baby steps.

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

[thecoz]

I think that once we got Cosmo on the vetoryl (even his small dose) the cc stopped progressing. It didn't take too long to notice it was starting to help. Hang in there!