CIMDA

Hi folks,

I've been a member of CIMDA for a good few years but not been active on the forum for a while. Thought it was time I checked in with my old friends who are still active on the forum.

Just wanted to have a bit of a boast about my youngest dog, Rhea, a 2 yr old Standard Poodle. I got her from her breeder in 2015 knowing that I wanted to train her as my Assistance Dog (I'm wheelchair dependent now). Well she qualified in February this year and not only does she work as my Asst Dog but she has also learnt to alert me to low cortisol levels - believe it or not, I have Addison's Disease! (also known in human circles as Adrenal Insufficiency).

Those who remember me will know that I had a Standard Poodle, YoYo who had Addison's and because of this group and what I learnt here, he had a great quality of life for 10 yrs post diagnosis. I lost him to laryngeal paralysis in the end.

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/purdue-vaccination-studies/

Some of the long standing members here will remember me.  I've been a member of CIMDA for getting on for around 15 yrs and have dealt with different types of AI diseases in some of my dogs.  In fact, CIMDA helped me with them and gave me the knowledge to realise my Standard Poodle YoYo probably had Addisons.

Anyway, I recently bought  new Standard Poodle pup as I had tragically lost a 22 month old boy very unexpectedly.  Long story and not AI related.

I was recommended a breeder who is also a vet.  She had a litter that were at that point, around 2 weeks old.  She told me that she had HAD a dog with Lupus but neglected to tell me that that dog was the puppy's father!  This means that Rhea, my 12 week old pup, is at the very least a carrier of AI disease and has a moderately high chance of having an AI disease herself during her lifetime.  I trusted this lady BECAUSE she is a vet and I felt wouldn't knowingly breed from a dog with any health problems. Seems I was wrong. The parents had had all other available health tests so I was reassured.

I bought this pup to train as my Disability Assistance Dog as I am now wheelchair bound so to say I'm disappointed is an understatement.  I hope the odds go in my favour and she won't develop any problems during her lifetime.  I am so thrilled with Rhea - she is bright, healthy and has the usual Standard Poodle sense of humour (LOL) and all other ways is my perfect dog.

I've decided to hold off on her second puppy vaccination until she is at least 16 weeks old and will then get my vet to titre test her. The breeder/vet gave her her first vaccination at 6 weeks - IMO much too young but can't do anything about that now.

Since my own dogs' problems with AI disease, I've not boostered any of my dogs and touch wood, have had not had any other problems develop.  I've got a 10 yr old Border Collie and another 7 yr old Standard Poodle.

The other owners and I are still coming to terms with this information and will decide once we have, if we are going to take any further action so at the moment, I won't name the breeder. 

My 16 month old Standard Poodle has had two obstructions in the past 2 months both needing major surgery.  I almost lost him recently after a 4 hour operation to remove a tennis ball and repair the damage done. With a lot of care and skill from my vets, he has made it through.

Unfortunately, it has left him with what we're hoping will be a temporary problem with swallowing his food.  Last weekend, he started choking when he ate and then he regurgitated the food. I was still feeding him wet food following the surgery. The vet saw him on Monday and diagnosed him with either oesophagitis (inflammation) or oesophageal stricture. (narrowing).  This has probably been caused by him regurgitating stomach acid when he was under anaesthetic and having reflux quite badly post surgery.

I have been trying to find more information and possibly a forum for help with this problem but without much luck so far.

I wondered if there is anyone on this forum who had dealt with anything like this of knows of a forum.  There is a Yahoo group for megaoesophagus but nothing for stricture which is the opposite problem.

At the moment, we're managing it by feeding him with his front feet on my lap (as I sit in my wheelchair) and that's helping by letting gravity aid the passage of the food down his oesophagus. He can't eat any dry food yet unless I soak it and make it very mushy.  Still feeding him 4 times a day to try to get weight back on him.

Would be grateful for any thoughts or experiences of dealing with this problem.

Hi all,

Just to let you know that I collected a 16 week old Standard Poodle puppy from his breeder yesterday!  I was expecting to have to save up for months before I could get one but his breeder gave me a 50% discount as I am going to train him as my Assistance Dog.

He's a black like YoYo and will give me something to help heal the wound left by YoYo's death.  He will never be replaced but my heart will expand to encompass another dog I know.

He's a little on the shy side and being that bit older, I know it will take a bit of time to work through that with him.  H already has a typical Poodle sense of humour.  He knows he can get away from me in my wheelchair already.  So got pockets full of titbits now!! 

His pet name is "Spirit" as  I'm hoping that a small part of YoYo's spirit is in him.   The photos I've got are not very good and are too big to attach here but I'll try and get some smaller ones done.  Otherwise he's on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/janspack/media_set?set=a.10202166430217499.1073741831.1091130138&type=1

Hi all,

Tomorrow 6th December, my Addisonian/HypoT dog YoYo is having surgery to correct Laryngeal Paralysis.  Please send positive vibes our way - I know he has to have this surgery but I'm really worried for him.

Hi all,

Been a while since I posted as things have been going OK with YoYo.  His HypoT has finally come under control and his Addison's - well thats always been very stable.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that he was having real breathing problems.  He would cough and gag and then (it's hard to describe) do a long drawn out honking noise.  His bark now sounds more like a sea lion than a dog.

This morning, he has been to have a laryngoscope done at my primary vet.  Graham, the practice owner, phoned me to say that the diagnosis of LP has been confirmed.  It's bilateral so it's surprising he hasn't had even more problems than he has.  Because of his Addison's, Graham didn't want to do the tie back under the same anaesthetic so he will be having the surgery next week.

I'm ashamed to admit that his teeth are really dirty so that could cause an infection risk when he has the operation so they have scaled and cleaned them today and will put him on a covering anti-biotic.

I'm glad that we finally have a diagnosis because the differential was a tumour but I'm really worried about the tieback surgery.  He has to have it done as he could go into respiratory distress at any time but he's an older dog (12 1/2) and has other health worries so it is frightening.

They have also found that his back leg reflexes are there but quite slow so the official diganosis is Geriatric Onset Laryngeal Paralysis and Polyneuropathy - GOLPP - less of a mouthful.

Please send positive vibes our way for next weeks surgery.

Hi all of you who have an Addison's dog. 

I've been looking at prices of Florinef as YoYo is no longer covered for his Addison's on insurance.  Someone told me that Tesco's pharmacy were very reasonable and I phoned them yesterday.

They quoted me just under £30 for 4 bottles of 100 tablets!  That's literally half what my vet charges and even what most online pharmacies charge.  Got to add the cost of the vet prescription of course for which my vet charges £12.  However, he made the prescription repeatable x 3 times so that averages out at £4 per script.

Hope some of you will be able to take advantage of this price.

Hi all,

Just wanted to pick your brains again.  YoYo my St Poodle has Addison's Disease and Hypothyroid and unfortunately has also just been diagnosed with early stages of GOLPP (Geriatric Onset Laryngeal Paralysis & Polyneuropathy).

The vet put him on 2.5 mgs of Pred to try to help with his coughing and gagging from the LP.  He's been on this for a couple of months now. Monday he went to the local Agricultural College to be clipped (sadly I can't do him myself any more) and I was quite shocked to see how thin his coat has got since I last clipped him.  As he is Addisonian, so can't produce any steroids naturally, I am surprised to see this thinning because that is quite a low dose of Pred in the circumstances. 

I know Florinef has a small amount of steroid in it as well so I'm wondering if anyone thinks that it is the Pred that's causing this.  To be honest,  the Pred doesn't seem to be making any difference to his symptoms and in fact, he has got more unsteady on his back legs and the coughing etc is just as bad.  I am wondering if it would be best to tail the Pred off (would speak to the vet first of course) if it is causing side effects like this on a fairly small dose.

Thanks in advance.

I've just had to cancel YoYo's vet fees insurance with the company HelpUCover) he's been with since he was a puppy  His premium went up last year to over £80 per month and then this year, they put it up again to £103 a month.  They have told me it's nothing to do with his ongoing conditions but because he has been listed as a "Rare Breed" What??  Why has this only happened in the past two year? It doesn't make any sense.

Just thought others might be interested in my solution.  I found an insurance called Animal Friends who will take on a dog of any age, excluding pre-existing conditions of course. YoYo is 12 yrs old now.  I worked out that their premium of £28 a month for a fairly basic cover of £2000 per year per illness plus the cost of his Addison's and Thyroid medication will still leave me only paying about half  premium with the old company.  At his age, I doubt I would put him through any major costly surgeries etc so I'm hoping this will be enough for his needs. 

It's a fairly basic insurance and doesn't cover things like boarding fees but then I'm not planning of spending any more time in hospital (LOL) but if that happened, I'm sure I could find someone to have him for a short period of time. 

I thought perhaps others of you might be interested if you have an older dog that isn't insured or has similar circumstances to this.

Hi all,

My 8 yr old collie bitch, JJ had a tumour removed from between her shoulder blades last Thursday.  It was about walnut sized having gone from pea sized in a couple of months and although not attached to anything under the skin, it was quite hard.

Just waiting anxiously for the histology report now and keeping my fingers crossed it was just something benign.  JJ has only ever been to the vets for her vaccinations and to be spayed during her 8 years so she is generally a very fit dog.

Wonder if someone could tell me what I'm doing wrong.  I followed Penel's instructions to set my signature and an avatar up but I must have done something wrong as it doesn't seem to be showing on my postings. 

Jan & YoYo

Hi all,

Sorry its been so long since I was last on the forum but as some of you will remember, I have been having a rough time with my own health problems for the past few years.  I'm doing quite a bit better now but will rely on a wheelchair now probably for the foreseeable future.

I need some advice please for YoYo, my 12 yr old Standard Poodle.  Yes it really is 10 years since he was diagnosed with Addison's Disease - just goes to prove they can live a normal life once stable and for that I will be eternally grateful to this list who taught me about Addison's and gave me the support I needed when he was first diagnosed.

However, he has also been diagnosed with Hypothyroid (he was retested  on Jo's advice as his TSH was firstly in the normal range and there was a positive result on the second test) and has been on Soloxine 0.5 mgs for getting on for a year now.  He has been doing well on that dose and his T4 tests have been OK until a week ago.  He had a scrap with my other Standard and although there was virtually no physical damage apart from a few bruises, he collapsed with shock afterwards despite giving him extra Pred immediately after the incident.  He was admitted to the vets and they did bloods and supportive treatment.   His lytes were just about as good as they can get (Na 150, K 4.6 Ratio 32.6.)  However, his T4 was down to 3 despite being on treatment.  I wonder if this was part of the reason he couldn't cope with the shock - along with of course, the Addison's which makes it hard for him to cope with major stress.  The only other slight concern was his liver enzymes which are right at the top end of normal but this may be because he has been having to have 5 mgs Prednislone daily for the past 6 months partly for the Addison's and partly because he has chronic bronchitis type problem which results in a severe and distressing cough if the Pred is withdrawn.

His Soloxine has been increased to 2 x 0.5 mg tabs a day and he is going to be retested in another 2 weeks.  If anyone has any thoughts on this and why the T4 could have dropped so dramatically.  I am just a little concerned that the current dose of Soloxine is pretty high  for a dog weighing 22Kgs but the vet seemed to think it was necessary.  I'm keeping a close eye on him just in case of any adverse effects from this dose.

I was devastated to lose you both so close together - just 3 days apart.  Toppa must have wanted his girlfriend at the Bridge with him.  I miss you both so much and feel so bad that I wasn't able to be with you at the end.  See you again in the fullness of time.

God Bless you Toppa (16 yrs Border Collie) & Dazzle (13 yrs Border Collie)

Hi all,

I am still concerned that YoYo does have hypothyroidism even though his TSH test came back negative (No don't have the figures at the moment).  His T4 was 10 (normal is >13).  Because of the TSH, the vet doesn't feel he has Primary Hypot but possibly Sick Euthyroid.

However, his coat is getting thinner and thinner. It started as  two patches on his hips (symmetrical) and the hairloss is now progressing to half way up his back.  It's lost it's curl and is very thin.

I'm taking him to the vet tomorrow to have his lytes checked and to see the vet about it.  What should I be asking about?  I will ask for the TSH figures from last time. Should I ask for a full Thyroid panel as opposed to just the T4 & TSH?

Thanks in advance.

As the "older" members will know, I've been a member of the Yahoo CIMDA group for over 8 years now (wow can't believe it's been that long.)

My current AI dog (I've had help & support for several other dogs who had AI problems) is a Standard Poodle called YoYo aged 11 years.  His problem is one that is fairly prevalent in Standard Poodles - Addison's Disease. He was diagnosed when he was 2 1/2 yrs old and has done really well.  Recently though, he had a full blown Addisonian crisis which left him hospitalised for 4 days. With an increase of 0.2 mgs of Florinef, he rapidly improved and has seemed fine since.  Friday, he had a routine electrolyte test which showed his Potassium had gone too low now. Na 154 K 3.1 Ratio 49.   The vet has reduced the Florinef by.0.1 mg a day so he is now on 0.4 mgs morning and evening. (0.8 mgs daily)

When the vet nurses came to take the blood, I pointed out some patches of hair loss on his hips/loin area so they took extra blood and sent that to Idexx for T4 levels.  The vet has just phoned to say that it is low (didn't get the figures yet but I will) so they are asking the lab to do a full thyroid panel on Monday. 

I was aware that dogs with Addison's do sometimes also get Hypothyroid.  This may possibly have been the reason behind his crisis 4 weeks ago as he had been stable on the same dose for over 5 years.  Will keep you posted on the results.