Mon Bones

Recently, I was asked for a status report on Simon, so read on for all the latest info.

Simon remains taking 70 mg of Vetoryl (trilostane) twice a day and it is keeping the excessive drinking and urinating at an acceptable level.  He's still drinking about 2.5 times more water per day than he was pre-Cushing's Disease, but it's a far cry from a few months back when he was slurping up 5 times the normal amount.

He has only really had two obstacles.  I have mentioned in past posts that the medication he is on makes his back legs very weak.  Unfortunately, his legs still shake a fair amount when he's walking or standing in a certain way and occasionally he will stumble or fall when he tries to turn around really quickly.  Over the last month, we have been working on building up his hind legs again and we're making progress.

Also, the Vetoryl really upsets his stomach.  Some days his stomach is grinding away so loudly that it's quite disconcerting.  For the most part, I have been able to make him more comfortable by giving half a Pepcid with his meds.

On the plus side, he has been more loving lately.  For the last several months he didn't want to be cuddled and he was pretty crotchety (I had chalked it up to getting older, but in my research, I learned that mood changes are common in a Cushing's dog).  Lately though, he has been calmer and much more snuggly.  Needless to say, this makes me very happy to see his normal personality reemerging.


*The title refers to another of Simon's nicknames.  His most oft used nickname is "The Bean" and I explained its origin here.  But, just because I like to make things as confusing as possible, he has several others, including "Mon Bones."  I don't really know how the name evolved nor do I remember all the reasons behind rest of his monikers:  Beastermeyer, Scoob, Monkey Joe, Hounden, Putchnik, Sniffy Snifferton, Nerdlette, Spazzwick, Bazeldean, Butthound, Loopy Lou, Beastum, Buzzard, Bone Dog, Yowler Monkey, Pizza Hound, Butch, Mr. Lovely.  You'd think with all those names that Simon wouldn't know what the heck was going on, but he responds to every single one of them.  Well, at least when he feels like it.  :)