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I don't mind at all Juice Occys lysodren is made up into a capsule by the vet, so I don't need to do any weighing or anything. She has only given me enough for the month until he has his next test. It was $42 or so for the month. I don't think I have any recent photos of Occy that will show his belly? I will take some more soon and then post them up. I have some older ones which might be good for comparison between then and now, but he has really long hair in some and really short hair in others, so it's a bit hard to really see his stomach when it's long and curly.

I'm not sure re his surgery at the moment. The vet wanted to make sure we had the cushings well and truly under control before attempting it. He is still confined and it actually seems to have made some difference the last few days. He has been putting it down and bearing weight on it so wait and see I guess

Good luck with Mase. Hopefully he will be as textbook as Occy and you won't have any dramas. I haven't found it scary as such, more concerned that I might not have noticed the change in symptoms and caused him damage by continuing the medication when I shouldn't have. The change is pretty obvious when it happens though

yeah, I'm hoping that as he has been text book so far it will continue with no dramas

Just had a call from my vet. Occys blood results were good and he is at the required levels, so I can start him on his maintenance dosage They will retest in a month to ensure that it is all still right. Woohoo! Now to wait for the leg surgery

Hi Everyone Thanks for asking after Occy. He went for his first ACTH test today, so I should have results on Monday I guess. His water intake was down from anywhere between 600-1200ml per day to about 300ml. He still ate all his food, but he wasn't frantic about it. The vet says some dogs just become conditioned to eating everything available. Ordinarily he would be jumping, begging and barking while I was preparing his food (yes, even with his blown cruciate) but the last couple of days he was happy to just sit and wait for it to be put in front of him. Hopefully the levels are right and we will be able to get onto his maintenance doses soon. Fingers crossed.

I'm using gloves, but the vet has placed a measured amount for his weight into a capsule, so I don't actually need to cut tablets or anything. I was given a warning sheet for the Lysodren, with all the risks involved. I have a spoon that is a dog food only spoon, so I am using that in the laundry to prepare his meals. Have told other family members that if they have to give him tablets at any stage they are to wear the gloves, and have written on the tablet bottle to wear gloves. Hopefully, they won't have to. One of the risks on the sheet (though listed as unknown) is that it may cause sterility. As it is basically a chemo drug, I guess that is quite possible. Not that I'm worried about my fertility (well over that) but I'd hate to risk my kids before they even have a chance. My husband thought he was doing the right thing yesterday and filled up Occys water bowl as it was looking a bit low. Didn't realise that I was measuring his water intake each day and has no idea how much he put in Not too much of an issue, as I put about 300mls in and he says he put about half a bowl in, so he is still way up there with water consumption. Vet will be phoning me tomorrow to check how things are going. So far, he is still hoovering any food he can possibly find. He is spending most of his time in the laundry. If I put him out the back in the pen, he barks By the time they get around to doing his cruciate surgery, he is going to be well and truly over being confined. His leg doesn't seem to bother him at all. The only time he even seems to notice it is when he forgets and trys to stand on that leg when he is cocking his leg and falls over.

Not yet. He has already drunk about 600mls of water today (aiming to get down to about 360ml). I just wormed the other dog and the cats and Occy just about took my hand off when I went to pat him, thinking that I had something there for him to eat. I reckon I could have held the worming tablet out for him and he would have vacumned it down. Vet recommended I hold off on his worming till we know how he is going to react to the Lysodren. She didn't expect there would be a noticable difference for at least the first 3 days he is on Lysodren. Thanks for your support guys

Occy started his medication today. Vet will phone me on Monday and each day after to check how he is going. He is tentatively booked in for Saturday week for the follow up testing, if he doesn't need to go before then. He is on Lysodren. Pretty scary sounding drug really. Lots of care needed when handling it. Hopefully he will complete the induction phase quickly and move on to the maintenance phase with no issues. Will keep you updated. Thanks for all your advice and support so far ETA - we have the prednisolone on hand in the event he has an issue with the Lysodren. My vet also mentioned Trilostane, but they prefer to start off with Lysodren and generally only move to Trilostane if the dog has an issue with Lysodren. Said it is much more expensive. My vet is currently treating about 35 dogs with Cushings! Amazing that I have never really heard anything about it.

Thanks Kelly Louise. I will call up and confirm which drug she said, then ask about the Trilostane (if that wasn't what she was going to use)

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm pretty sure that the medication she mentioned on the phone yesterday was Lysodren? But that was for about 8 days and then the tests to check levels and things, so I'm not sure if that is what he would remain on. She said that she would sit down with me when we go in for the appointment on the 31st and go through everything. It's a bit difficult over the phone when you don't really know what to be asking about. What is the difference between the two medications? Occy is pretty good at the vet. They always give him some dried liver, so they are his best friends. Hell, anyone who gives him food has to be a great person in his eyes. I'm the worst person in the world at the moment, because I don't just lead him to an open bag of food or a bag of bones and let him eat till he can't stand up!

The blood results for Occy are back and he definitely has Cushings, of the Pituitary kind. He will be starting medication with the follow up testing to check that it is being managed at a safe level. Because of the Christmas break and closure period over Christmas, we won't be going to the Vet until New Years eve for his first lot of medications. She said that they require a lot of monitoring in the initial phase of the medication, and she would hate us to start the medication and then the only available vet is the after hours emergency surgery if anything goes wrong. She doesn't feel that this will affect him too much, and it will give us an opportunity to actually record how much water he is drinking in a day before the commencement of medication. A decrease in water consumption is apparently one of the things they look for when they first commence on the medication, as an indicator that it is becoming controlled. As he is still confined due to his cruciate ligament injury, this will be easy enough to monitor (we have another dog as well, so it is hard to know who drinks how much when they are together) Vet doesn't want to do anything with his leg at the moment, other than confine him, as one of the other problems with Cushings dogs is apparently their increased healing time. She wants to get some semblance of control over the Cushings before attempting his leg. Poor Occy. Such a patient little man. Max, our other dog, is displaying quite depressed behaviour as well. He lies next to the pen all day when Occy is in it, or outside the laundry door with his nose pressed up against the screen door if Occy is in the Laundry. It's quite sweet to watch, but sad to know what he will be like when Occy is no longer around (Max is only 7. Occy is at least 11yrs, possibly older) My neighbour actually phoned me at work the day Occy was at the vets having his tests, to tell me that Max was howling, but she couldn't see anything wrong with him. Max rarely makes any sound, so she knew there must be something wrong. When I told her Occy was at the vets, she went over and played with him for a while and got him to settle down. Poor fellah.

Sorry to hear about your littlie Gillbear. Occy had all his blood tests done today. They missed the blood courier this afternoon though, so they won't be sent off for testing until tomorrow morning, so it will be Wednesday at the earliest that I will get the results. He also had ultrasounds done today. His adrenal glands are a little enlarged, but both are the same size, so vet is fairly confident that if it is Cushings it will be the pituitary (sp?) version. His liver is enlarged and there is a fair amount of "sludge" in his gall bladder. She took additional blood which is in the freezer so that she can do further tests when the results from todays tests come back. I think she said those tests are to confirm which type of Cushings it is. So, still on hold ;) Poor thing looks like a patchwork quilt. His tummy and up his sides are completely shaved where they did the ultrasound, his leg where they took blood and a patch on his neck where they did it the other day. ( ;) He just disgraced himself and cocked his leg in the house!!! Rotten bugger. Hasn't done that since we very first got him)

About 25 years ago we got a puppy that came down with parvo a few days after we got him. He had had his first lot of shots, so he had some immunity. He went from 8kgs to 4kgs in one day. On a drip at the vets for a few days. He was one sad and sorry little boy, but he pulled through okay. He was a little listless for the next week or so after coming home from the vet but quickly picked up. As an adult dog, you would never know that he had been so sick. Hope your puppy comes through it okay.

Thanks very much for your responses, all very useful info. I will ask the vet about the Thyroid issue on Monday, see if they will also test for that. He did do blood tests yesterday, which indicated that cushings was the likely cause. I don't know if that same test would also have been checked for Thyroid issues? Occy is a funny little dog. Absolutely no idea what he is. If I had to guess, I would say Schnauzer x Mini Dachshund. He is the same colour as a Schnauzer, floppy ears, a bit of a curl in his tail, very short legs and a longish body. RSPCA had him as a silky terrier cross but I don't think so. About the only thing the same is his size. His front legs are very bowed, his feet point straight out to the sides when he is standing still. He has had his share of problems. When I first got him from the RSPCA he had very long, completely matted hair. When I cut it all off, I found stitches that had never been removed and were completely grown over. They went all the way around his front left (equivalent of in a human) shoulder blade. He had a ruptured disc in his neck last year - when he was xrayed, the vet said there was quite excessive bone growth on the surrounding vertebrae, indicating that it was a years old injury, so that was obviously something that happened to him before we got him. I just hope we get something sorted quickly, so he doesn't have to suffer at all.

I had Occy to the vet about 2 weeks ago. He was limping a little bit on one leg and I have noticed lately that although he hasn't put on any weight, he has developed a huge bulgy pot belly. He always seems to be ravenous and is always on the scrounge for food. He had surgery last year to repair a luxating patella and cruciate ligament. This time, it is the other leg. Vet couldn't detect anything with his leg two weeks ago, couldn't make his patella pop out or anything and although she could see that he was limping, could not find any reason for it. Felt all around his belly, couldn't feel any lumps or any reason for his belly to be getting so big. She did urine tests. No glucose, but there was blood, protein and bacteria in it. She mentioned that the belly may be indicative of cushings. So he has been on antibiotics since then with a follow up urine test to be conducted when he finished the antibiotics. He was also given an anti inflammatory shot (which he has been having regularly since his surgery last year) Fast forward to yesterday - came home from work, and he has his leg completely up, not bearing any weight on it at all. No idea what he did. Off to the vets. Same practice, but saw a different vet. Repeat urine test - still a small amount of blood in his urine and the protein. No bacteria. Antibiotics to be continued. Vet is able to manipulate his leg well enough to feel that the cruciate ligament is completely stuffed. He also took blood, when I mentioned his belly and that the vet I saw a fortnight ago had mentioned cushings as a possible cause for that, but she was waiting for the bladder infection to clear up before following up on that. The initial blood results indicate that he needs to undergo the full blood tests for Cushings. I don't know anything about Cushings, but he said they do a series of blood tests over at least 8 hours, so he is going in on Monday for those tests to be conducted. He will probably also do ultrasounds to see if he can detect any tumours or other "lumps" in his stomach. Vet is going to give me a heap of reading material on Cushings as well. He has always been a very itchy, flaky skinned dog, very doggy smelly. They can also apparently be symptoms of Cushings? He did say that it can be a long drawn out process to get a definitive answer as to whether it is Cushings or not, and that even if it is confirmed, the treatment can be very hit and miss and requires a lot of monitoring. He also said that until the stomach symptoms are completely confirmed, that I should hold off doing any surgery on his leg. Without saying as much, he was intimating that the leg surgery might be pointless. I don't know how old Occy is. I got him from the RSPCA 7 years ago. At that time, he was an adult dog, and they estimated his age at 3 or 4. Last year, when he was being treated, the vet commented on how good he looked for his age and said that if he didn't know how old he was, he would have put him at 4 or 5. So although I think he is about 10 or 11, he could in fact be much older. What I'm worried about is that while we're trying to work out whether or not he has Cushings or something else, that his leg is causing him grief. And if it is confirmed as Cushings, what effect is it likely to have on his life expectancy? Should he have the surgery on his leg while they're trying to get everything else under control? At his age, should I be starting the sort of regime the vet has briefly described to me? Will he suffer if the Cushings (if that's what it is) isn't treated? But he has the leg surgery? The vet said that quite often dogs that have been having treatment for Cushings reach a point where they can't determine that treatment is making any difference, so they stop the treatment and there is no visible increase or decrease in symptoms. I realise I'm jumping the gun, as it hasn't been confirmed that he actually has Cushings, but I would just like to have thought about all aspects, so that when Monday comes and the vet gives me the results, I have some idea what to discuss with him. At the moment, he is being confined, so he can't stress his leg too much and our other dog can't jump all over him. Any other ideas what it might be? And any suggestions about what I should be thinking about with regard to his treatment and/or leg surgery?

Do they have a pre-existing injury? Sometimes they show up later as the bone heals. About the only thing I can offer, sorry.

The way I read it, you get the pipettes, and pour it into the provided container yourself. Don't think I will bother tho, will just continue with the packs.

Sorry - can't comment on the product. Just had a look at the Tuckertime website and used the store locator function. Apparently nobody in the ACT sells it. The only listing that came up on the ACT search was one in WA

Mmmm. I wondered about that. I sent a query about the use by date but didn't ask about anything else. I think I will stick with individual pipettes. Sigh $$$$$

Saw this listing on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ADVANTAGE-FLEA-CONT...=item414abe3f3c Just wondering if it is all that it claims to be? Or would I be better off sticking with the individual pipettes? (I have dogs and cats, so this would be a considerable saving for me - just not sure of the claims they make)

Thanks everyone. They are regularly treated with flea treatments - all my neighbours have dogs and/or cats so I prefer to just do it as a matter of course. I hadn't actually found any fleas on them until after the vet visit (washed and clipped the dogs lunch time one day (no fleas located), next day, found a grass seed embedded in Maxs armpit - so he went to have it removed. Saw fleas on him the day after the vet visit.) All bedding has been washed, floors vacumned etc. Might need to get some sort of topical treatment for the yard and areas they lay in. I will just keep up with the capstar and Fidos for a few weeks then treat again.

I found fleas on my dog after he went to the vet. Gave both dogs and both cats Capstar tablets. Dogs were washed (with just normal shampoo) then one dog got frontline, (last in the box) and the other got advantage. Cats were both treated with advantage as well. 3 weeks later and I found more fleas on the dogs, so today I gave them capstar, washed them with Fidos flea wash, dried them and then put Advantage on them. I have just read through the pinned flea thread and it says to wait at least 24-48hrs after a wash before putting the advantage on, so now I'm wondering how long I need to wait before I can treat them with advantage again or if it will still be a bit effective? The instruction leaflet only says to avoid applying the product when the dog is wet and not to use more than weekly. I guess I can just wait a week and use capstar in the meantime if I see more fleas on them? Or should I retreat before then? My poor dogs are red and itchy!

I washed and clipped my dogs on Friday (so they had a really good going over) Saturday Morning, I had Max to the vet to have a grass seed out that had embedded itself in his armpit. There was still a little bit poking out, but I'm not prepared to DIY. It certainly wasn't there on Friday lunchtime. Happens so quick Had his vaccinations at the same time, but it was $200+ that I hadn't budgeted on this week

Ah, thank you. A little more force than I was using My old ones (Thrive) don't require nearly as much force. That may have been because they were old, or just the different design. Thanks again. Yay, now to play!