Pet Lovers

[lynbeechwood]

I have a 9 year old poodle who we have been successfully treating for addisons for about one year. Every five weeks I take him into the vet and he has a percorten shot that helps to regulate his adrenal glands. Now my vet has detected a very soft heart murmur and is suggesting that we take him for a cardiac ultrasound. Have any of you taken your dog for this test -and how was your outcome? 

[NickNack]

---

@lynbeechwood wrote:

I have a 9 year old poodle who we have been successfully treating for addisons for about one year. Every five weeks I take him into the vet and he has a percorten shot that helps to regulate his adrenal glands. Now my vet has detected a very soft heart murmur and is suggesting that we take him for a cardiac ultrasound. Have any of you taken your dog for this test -and how was your outcome? 

---

I'm sorry to hear that your dog has Addison's and a heart murmur.  I've had about five dogs that had heart murmurs.  I usually ended up getting an ultrasound for each of them.  They were never started on medicine for the murmur until they started showing symptoms.  With meds they can still live a very long time.  A soft murmur could take years to develop into something more.  Let us know what you decide to do and what the cardiologist says.

[lynbeechwood]

Thank you nicknack- the addisons came on quite quickly and if I hadnt persisted that something wasnt quite right-I  would have lost him . Now I have scheduled the ultrasound and am concerned about what the results could mean for my dog--I will post what I learn but the appt is not until the first week of November. 

[NickNack]

@lynbeechwood, if you notice your dog coughing before your November appt. you should take him back to your Vet to get started on medicine.  Otherwise I don't think you need to worry right now.  I had a dog that recently died at almost 13 years old from cancer.  He had had a heart murmur since he was 8 years old.  He was on medicine for it, and he wasn't having any symptoms with the medicine.

[CamilleP]

I had an iatrogenic Addydog for five years (Lysodren to treat her Cushing's oblated her adrenal glands) and she also developed a minor murmer.  I had her seen by a cardiologist who reassured me that her heart would not be what killed her, and indeed it was not.  She lived to be 12.5, rather older than average for her breed.

I am more concerned by the fact that your dog is getting a Percorten shot every five weeks!  That is far, far too long to go between shots!  Maximum effectiveness begins to wane long before that, which means your dog is "running on empty" for well over a week before they get the next dose!  Ideally Percorten is given every 28 days, and the dose titrated so that they are neither overdosed at the start of the cycle nor underdosed at the end.  Most dogs do very well on about half the manufacturer's recommended dose of Percorten.  My guess is that your vet is giving the "standard" dose and then letting it run out before giving another shot.  This really stresses both the kidneys and the heart, because the electrolytes in the blood are never optimally balanced.  Has your vet used bloodwork measuring the sodium and potassium in your dog's blood to titrate their Percorten dose?  I know it is very uncomfortable discussing such things with a vet, but I would heartily recommend the book "Speaking For Spot" by Dr. Nancy Kay, DVM, which will help you speak to your vet about this very tricky balancing act of Percorten dosing so as to not alienate your vet, but allow your dog to reach their optimum dose of Percorten and maintain ideal health for as long as possible.  There used to be a Yahoo Group devoted to Addison's Dogs as well, you might check to see if it still exists and if you can join it.  The moderators on that group list literally helped me save my dog's life, she might well have died if I had left her diagnosis and treatment up to the Board-certified endocrinologist who overdosed her with Lysodren in the first place.  Instead she went on to live another five years post diagnosis, most of it in truly excellent health and very happily.  Good luck,  I hope you can get your dog's Percorten titrated to a better dose, that will make the dog healthier and your walled happier, because I know how very expensive Percorten is!

[Love orchids]

Our JR mix was diagnosed with stage 2 heart murmur two years agor.  She was going to have her teeth cleaned and vet strongly suggested an ultrasound before the cleaning to determine the stage of the murmur.  So we did to the tune of $500, just to find out it was a stage 2 which is considered mild so sedation for cleaning was not a problem. I think they knew it was mild before the ultrasound, but just wanted to squeeze more money out of us. Her murmur has remained the same for two years.  We haven't noticed any symptoms except some days she seems more tired and sleeps more.  She is 7 1/2 yrs.  She still has her active play times and loves to play ball a couple times a day.

Good luck, hope the murmur is mild.

[lynbeechwood]

Thank you for your responses. My dog just had all his blood panels tested and the results came out great for kidney function and all the other elements that were measured. He will be going in soon again and I will ask about the 28 day percorten  interval. He doesnt show any signs or symptoms with the 5 week interval we have been keeping. But I will re ask the vet. Thank you all.

[susan kay]

lynbeechwood, I have had both a dog and a cat who had heart murmurs.  For me, it was getting a baseline, and insuring that there wasn't a big problem.  I looked/look at it as preventative.  The tests that my critters had were definitely not $500, but I guess it depends on the area you live in.  You may want to check around for prices.