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Julie's 4th Pancreatitis Attack..just two wks after her 3rd Attack
Sep 14, 2009 02:01AM
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Julie had another Pancreatitis attack...she had diarreah & vomiting. I was prepared this time...I was scared but it was either me treating her or the ER Vet for 4 days again. I came to terms with my decision to treat her at home.
I called my Vet & he said to give her the Flagyl that he gave me 2 wks. ago...just in case this attack happened again.
I did & It worked after 1 day but I kept her on it all week. Thank you God for giving me & Julie the stregnth to get through this awful time.
Today is 9/13/09 & Julie is much much better & I am sticking to the Hills I/d can food & the K/d dry food. I must give her mashed Yams...a teaspoon full with her pills in the AM. She is back on Trilostane 22.5 mg. 1 X daily.
She has to go off of it for a week each time she gets pancreatitis.
Julie is not great by any means. She still has excessive thirst, ravenous appetite, a pot belly yet much smaller, excellive urination...outside, thank God. She breathes hard at times...not always. She gets lethargic at times & I call her to get her back to earth. She has a heart murmur but I am leaving that be for now. She is also quite happy every day...than gets very tired at night. (There are lots of people in & out of here all day & she has to greet them all lol) Isn't that called nosey? lol
Because of Cushings, Julie's liver is extremely large. She doesn't seem to be suffering, the vet told me that the liver is pushing against her gall bladder but it is not painful. (the Vet tested her for pain..none at all) And because the liver is crowding everything, she sometimes has a hard time trying to have a bowel movement.
All I can do is hope & pray for my baby doll.
I called my Vet & he said to give her the Flagyl that he gave me 2 wks. ago...just in case this attack happened again.
I did & It worked after 1 day but I kept her on it all week. Thank you God for giving me & Julie the stregnth to get through this awful time.
Today is 9/13/09 & Julie is much much better & I am sticking to the Hills I/d can food & the K/d dry food. I must give her mashed Yams...a teaspoon full with her pills in the AM. She is back on Trilostane 22.5 mg. 1 X daily.
She has to go off of it for a week each time she gets pancreatitis.
Julie is not great by any means. She still has excessive thirst, ravenous appetite, a pot belly yet much smaller, excellive urination...outside, thank God. She breathes hard at times...not always. She gets lethargic at times & I call her to get her back to earth. She has a heart murmur but I am leaving that be for now. She is also quite happy every day...than gets very tired at night. (There are lots of people in & out of here all day & she has to greet them all lol) Isn't that called nosey? lol
Because of Cushings, Julie's liver is extremely large. She doesn't seem to be suffering, the vet told me that the liver is pushing against her gall bladder but it is not painful. (the Vet tested her for pain..none at all) And because the liver is crowding everything, she sometimes has a hard time trying to have a bowel movement.
All I can do is hope & pray for my baby doll.
Prayers from me too sweetheart, for you -(an excellent dog-mom) and little Julie.
I am sooo sorry to hear about the illness of your pet. I think you did the right thing by treating her at home because she is more comfortable there and it kept her nerves from getting wound up. That alone would trigger her heavy breathing, and urination. I know about having a dog that is ill because my Dog SHEBA MEBA ...lol died when she was 18 years old. We knew she was dying and there was nothing that we could do. Some people don't understand the love of an animal like a child, but I do. I applaud you in caring so much for her. She needs you and was sent to you for this reason. If someone else had her, they could be neglecting her and well.... no more negative thoughts. You know in your heart whats going on because I truly believe that we are connected to our animals like soul-mates. I don't know how old she is.. but it sounds like she isn't a puppy anymore. I hope you have someone near you that you can talk to besides this site. Someone to be there to hug you in those moments when you feel like the world is crashing down on you.
How are you health wise? With Julie being so ill it has to be stressful. I am sure you are always making sure she is breathing (I check both my kids at night all the time and they are healthy!) I would have anxiety every morning I woke up, scared of what I was going to wake up to. I will pray for her and you, but Hunny just remember if something ever does happen and the Lord takes her home, she will be waiting on you to get there, and also she couldn't have had a better dog-mom. I am sure that you pray to make her well, but I pray for God's will, whatever that might be, to happen smoothly and painlessly... just to be on the safe side. I do have hope for her because you do, and like I said, you would know through the soul!
Jessica AKA BrooklynnStarr
How are you health wise? With Julie being so ill it has to be stressful. I am sure you are always making sure she is breathing (I check both my kids at night all the time and they are healthy!) I would have anxiety every morning I woke up, scared of what I was going to wake up to. I will pray for her and you, but Hunny just remember if something ever does happen and the Lord takes her home, she will be waiting on you to get there, and also she couldn't have had a better dog-mom. I am sure that you pray to make her well, but I pray for God's will, whatever that might be, to happen smoothly and painlessly... just to be on the safe side. I do have hope for her because you do, and like I said, you would know through the soul!
Jessica AKA BrooklynnStarr
Hi Sandra & Julie,
I have been reading all your posts. I think your last was 10/1/09. I have appreciated each and every post.
My baby Baxter (seven years old) was diagnosed with Pituitary Cushing’s after the Low-Dose Dexamethasone Suppression Test was done on 10/19/09. The vet gave me the name of the medications that are used for Cushing’s and told me to do research and make a decision. I am supposed to meet with the vet in the morning to pick up the Mitotane. Knowing nothing at the point the vet called with the diagnoses I asked what he would do if it were his dog. He told me one of his Boston Terriers actually has Cushing’s and that he gives him Mitotane. He told me that he actually had some of the Mitotane on hand because a lady with another dog who had Cushing’s donated some of the drug back to them when her dog’s dosage changed.
What brought us to this diagnosis was Baxter was lying around lethargic and began to breathe funny snoring, funny noises and sounding like he would stop breathing (apnea) at night. He is still sleeping on the bed most of the time with us. He has always eaten like he was starving from the table. He likes can food (Mighty Dog Bistro & Beneful). He has never cared for dry food. He also had a bald (no hair) black spot of his hip. The vet still thinks this was a reaction to his vaccine but the vaccine had been given a good month before this bald spot appeared? Another reason for the vet visit was he had a place on each of his ears (almost the same spot of both ears) that was obviously infected and not getting any better with antibiotic ointment that the vet had given us. Then, we cared him back for the snoring and noises. Yes, he has the potbelly but I measured his water intake for the past 24 hours at the vet’s request. His water intake was only 400 milliliters. The vet had told me that 600 milliliters was a normal amount. He sleeps on the bed a lot of nights and doesn’t ask to get down to go out (he has a dog door). I guess I may also be in denial about the Cushing’s or he has been diagnosed very early.
I am just torn as to if I should start Baxter on any drugs at this point since the breathing, potbelly, and being a little lethargic are the only signs of Cushing’s that he has right now.
As for the medication, after reading and researching I feel that if he needs medication, Trilostane I think would be my choice. If I am not mistaken, Trilostane will stop the cortisol production and put the Cushing’s in remission? I guess the numbers will tell us if the Trilostane is enough when he is tested. We can always consider the Mitotane/Lysodren if the Trilostane doesn’t work. The vet has not indicated that he has any other problems at this point (i.e. diabetes, pancreatitis, kidney, liver, etc.). The vet also told me that if he did have a pituitary tumor that it was a small tumor. How he would know that I do not know. I asked if we needed to do a sonogram and the vet said no.
What I do not understand, if treated with Lysodren/Mitotane and he were to go into Addison’s, they would treat Addison’s with prednisone. One of the causes of Cushing’s is over use of steroids. Is prednisone not a steroid? I guess I am just really confused and need to ask the vet more questions.
I am scheduled to have surgery this Thursday and do not think that I need to start Baxter on any of this medication until I am able to be up and watch him closely.
Baxter is my last baby. I lost my Sheltie (Blue Merle) and my Keeshouden (Mi Princess Teia) within seven months of each other in 2007. The sheltie being 11 years old when she passed and the Keeshouden was 16. After reading so much about the Cushing’s I believe that I probably lost my sheltie due to complications from Cushing’s but she had been sick almost all her life (Thyroid, seizures, allergies (even to humans), etc.). I actually spent about $400.00 a month on her medication for several years before I lost her. She (Nicki Blue Harmony) just stopped breathing one night. I know she must have been very tired of fighting.
Sandra, I do hope Julie is doing better at this point. I would love to have a copy of the eBooks that you referred to that would help with knowing what I should feed Baxter. I am afraid that I haven’t figured out how to maneuver this site very well in order to get the posts. If you could send those to my email address at ***@**** I would really appreciate it.
Thank you so much!
Charlotte
I have been reading all your posts. I think your last was 10/1/09. I have appreciated each and every post.
My baby Baxter (seven years old) was diagnosed with Pituitary Cushing’s after the Low-Dose Dexamethasone Suppression Test was done on 10/19/09. The vet gave me the name of the medications that are used for Cushing’s and told me to do research and make a decision. I am supposed to meet with the vet in the morning to pick up the Mitotane. Knowing nothing at the point the vet called with the diagnoses I asked what he would do if it were his dog. He told me one of his Boston Terriers actually has Cushing’s and that he gives him Mitotane. He told me that he actually had some of the Mitotane on hand because a lady with another dog who had Cushing’s donated some of the drug back to them when her dog’s dosage changed.
What brought us to this diagnosis was Baxter was lying around lethargic and began to breathe funny snoring, funny noises and sounding like he would stop breathing (apnea) at night. He is still sleeping on the bed most of the time with us. He has always eaten like he was starving from the table. He likes can food (Mighty Dog Bistro & Beneful). He has never cared for dry food. He also had a bald (no hair) black spot of his hip. The vet still thinks this was a reaction to his vaccine but the vaccine had been given a good month before this bald spot appeared? Another reason for the vet visit was he had a place on each of his ears (almost the same spot of both ears) that was obviously infected and not getting any better with antibiotic ointment that the vet had given us. Then, we cared him back for the snoring and noises. Yes, he has the potbelly but I measured his water intake for the past 24 hours at the vet’s request. His water intake was only 400 milliliters. The vet had told me that 600 milliliters was a normal amount. He sleeps on the bed a lot of nights and doesn’t ask to get down to go out (he has a dog door). I guess I may also be in denial about the Cushing’s or he has been diagnosed very early.
I am just torn as to if I should start Baxter on any drugs at this point since the breathing, potbelly, and being a little lethargic are the only signs of Cushing’s that he has right now.
As for the medication, after reading and researching I feel that if he needs medication, Trilostane I think would be my choice. If I am not mistaken, Trilostane will stop the cortisol production and put the Cushing’s in remission? I guess the numbers will tell us if the Trilostane is enough when he is tested. We can always consider the Mitotane/Lysodren if the Trilostane doesn’t work. The vet has not indicated that he has any other problems at this point (i.e. diabetes, pancreatitis, kidney, liver, etc.). The vet also told me that if he did have a pituitary tumor that it was a small tumor. How he would know that I do not know. I asked if we needed to do a sonogram and the vet said no.
What I do not understand, if treated with Lysodren/Mitotane and he were to go into Addison’s, they would treat Addison’s with prednisone. One of the causes of Cushing’s is over use of steroids. Is prednisone not a steroid? I guess I am just really confused and need to ask the vet more questions.
I am scheduled to have surgery this Thursday and do not think that I need to start Baxter on any of this medication until I am able to be up and watch him closely.
Baxter is my last baby. I lost my Sheltie (Blue Merle) and my Keeshouden (Mi Princess Teia) within seven months of each other in 2007. The sheltie being 11 years old when she passed and the Keeshouden was 16. After reading so much about the Cushing’s I believe that I probably lost my sheltie due to complications from Cushing’s but she had been sick almost all her life (Thyroid, seizures, allergies (even to humans), etc.). I actually spent about $400.00 a month on her medication for several years before I lost her. She (Nicki Blue Harmony) just stopped breathing one night. I know she must have been very tired of fighting.
Sandra, I do hope Julie is doing better at this point. I would love to have a copy of the eBooks that you referred to that would help with knowing what I should feed Baxter. I am afraid that I haven’t figured out how to maneuver this site very well in order to get the posts. If you could send those to my email address at ***@**** I would really appreciate it.
Thank you so much!
Charlotte
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