***SHANIA UPDATE*** As luck would have it, my night didnt go exactly as planned. Had to catch up on a lot of work from missing the past couple of days. New plan is to get up early and do some more research before the vet appt @ 10am. In a nutshell, the specialist wants to rule out a under-active thyroid with a thyroid panel (original blood work only tested the common thyroid level) and also an adrenal panel, which will dig deeper into whats called Atypical Cushingss (having already ruled out the run-of-the-mill Cushings). The abdominal ultrasound revealed nephritis of the right kidney. Its under-sized and architecturally different from the left, indicating early kidney disease, which he claims to be common in senior pets (so normal in the aging process). He recommends an anti-oxidant called Azodyl to protect the kidneys from further deterioration. The ultrasound also showed an inflamed small intestine which represents IBD (inflammatory bowel disease), for which he recommends first a probiotic to help with digestion and IBD, but subsequently he would like us to consider an endoscopy to obtain a biopsy for evaluation to help with treatment options. He clearly admitted it would be more for academic study (to benefit their curiosity), than for the reasons that brought us to him today; and that introducing the probiotic would be of great benefit for the IBD itself. Back to the symptoms that brought us to this point, the excessive thirst and urination - diabetes has been ruled out completely, as well as typical Cushings - he feels these symptoms are still more likely caused by something specific and not just old age. He is adamant that the incontinence needs to be addressed by either a change in dosage of the current med, or a different med entirely. Hes not convinced this is a direct result of the increase drinking. The urine culture has come back no growth so in other words, negative for any UTI. This is why he wants to dig deeper into Atypical Cushings and under-active thyroid because illnesses dont read medical books - he says too many vets look at ALL the symptoms and the reality is not every case has every symptom. The ultrasound did show a slightly enlarged lymph node near the spline, but he was emphatic it was not cancer, just a point of interest. Again, endoscopy would be able to biopsy to see if there was any underlying cause, but he really wasnt concerned with that at all. Lastly, he insists the +3 protein in her urine is too high (even for a greyhound who apparently can have higher protein levels), and even after performing the protein/creatine ratio test that was within normal levels. He recommends a low-protein food. He was funny when he said, you dont need to pay the price for Science Diet K/D, you can do your homework and find a low-protein food at a pet store and save yourself some money. He also said as protocol, he has to recommend a biopsy of the right kidney to confirm kidney disease, but he believes it is redundant since the ultrasound was clearly showing the early signs of it. (I like the way this guy thinks!). He said many other things along those lines that helped ease my mind that he wasnt there to hold my credit card hostage and that was a relief in and of itself!) Im sure there are many other details I left out, but those were the MAIN concepts. The 2 blood panels he wants done he said can just be done by my regular vet, but that doesnt mean hes abandoning us. He expects my vet to share the results so he can actively have a role in the steps to follow. So on my way home from there I stopped in at my regular vet, (1) to have her weighed, since their scaled showed her at 55lbs and just last Thursday she was at 60, and (2) to hopefully sneak a quit talk in with my vet, but she was not in so I had to schedule an appt for tomorrow in anticipation she will be on board with doing the blood work on the spot, which I cant see why not and then we can discuss all of the above. Until tomorrow....thanks for your thoughts and prayers!
Posted on: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 05:13:14 +0000
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