Please pray for Willow tonight

brookcove

our blue friend to the north.

LOL, I love that!!

Thank you all!

Annie--I'll rub her belly for you--it's HUGE now!!

willowchow

I'll rub her belly for you--it's HUGE now!!

Heeheehee - fatty fat Willow :) I'm glad she had good results!

willowchow

Annie--I'll rub her belly for you--it's HUGE now!!

Does that mean she has a Willow Pillow for a tummy now? 

She needs Biggest Loser-Dogs!

willowchow

Annie--I'll rub her belly for you--it's HUGE now!!

Lori that IS the pred.  That belly that hangs kinda "low" -- that is SOOOOO pred, and even once you get her weaned off it, that will take time to go away.  It's not 'fat' -- it's literally retention of yuck and moisture in the tissues from the pred.

It can also (and don't wig out if you see this but DO bring it to the vet's attention) -- it can also make them become somewhat asymetrical.  Weird, but true.

ETA: following is what happened with Billy -- but this asymetrical "stuff" is not at all uncommon and again, is a result of the pred's influence in the body.  It usually will GO away.

All of a sudden in the weaning off process of the pred (before we even started weaning off the cyclosporine - you just THINK the pred is slow to wean ... sheesh) -- the vet looked at him one time and she walked around him and ... around him ... and said "hmmm, that's weird". ...

" OK I CAN NOT HANDLE IT -- DON'T STRESS ME -- EXPLAIN!!!!!!"

She pointed to the fact that one of his 'hips' was higher than the other -- like darned near by a whole inch plus!! 

Scared the liver out of me -- but the vets aspirated it on both sides (there was a 'hump' on the other hip as well, but not nearly as high as the one on the right) and it was fatty tissue, but of course I had to watch it and watch it and worry about THAT too. 

He had been off ALL steroids and steroid-like stuff for over a year before that finally left.  And it was almost that long before the belly really went away.

Now Billy actually went thru a detoxing by the homeopathic vet that I think helped a lot.  But that pred belly is VERY typical -- it always happens when they are on pred for a long while.  It's NORMAL.  It will go away eventually.

Thanks Callie.  I can tell it's the medication because she's weighed 48 lbs before, even as much as 50 and didn't look like this.  I just feel sorry for her because she's not used to carrying a belly and it's causing her to have some trouble getting up and down.  Her furs all falling out too--she's almost down to just undercoat on the sides.  She's got big patches missing on her muzzle too--it's very strange though, on her muzzle she lost the hair in the same pattern on both sides of her nose.

The excessive hunger is downright dangerous--she's looking for something constantly. 

I"m sorry I didn't see this yesterday. Good thoughts from my Chow kids (and my nonChows too ) that Willow continues to improve.   

willowchow

I just feel sorry for her because she's not used to carrying a belly and it's causing her to have some trouble getting up and down.  Her furs all falling out too--she's almost down to just undercoat on the sides.  She's got big patches missing on her muzzle too--it's very strange though, on her muzzle she lost the hair in the same pattern on both sides of her nose.

Part of this is the other side effect I told you about where pred exacerbates arthritis because it changes the viscocity of the cartilage and breaks it down. 

The other hidden side effect of pred is that it wrecks havoc with the thyroid.  And doesn't Willow already take thyroid meds?

You might want to have your vet take a blood sample (4 - 6 hours after eating) and send it to Michigan State.  They will talk to your vet AT LENGTH in consultation as part of that.  2 years ago MS did a *huge* study on the effects of pred on thyroid.  Given that her hair loss is somewhat symetrical you may have to adjust her thyroid meds while she's on it.

MS was *super* with my vet (and this is my regular vet -- this isn't a 'holistic' thing) when Billy was on the steroids for so long for the IMHA.  We had to adjust his tyroid drugs quarterly and give him little increases more and more ... and then adjust them back down again afterwards and he went kinda up and down for a while. 

calliecritturs

And doesn't Willow already take thyroid meds?

No, she's never been on thyroid medication.  But, I'll definately, have the vet take a peek at her next week when we go and maybe drawn some extra blood for the thyroid.  She's got such bad skin to begin with this could be a number of things too. 

Thanks.

willowchow

But, I'll definately, have the vet take a peek at her next week when we go and maybe drawn some extra blood for the thyroid.

Ask the vet specifically to do Michigan State -- they don't charge any extra for the vets there to actually help your vet interpret the results in light of the pred because pred DOES affect thyroid.  It was pretty commonly held that it 'probably did' but some of their findings went both ways and it really helped my vet figure out how to deal with Billy's side effects.  Michigan State does breed specific testing anyway -- I *think* it's about $90 so you may want to tell your vet you're expecting that.  It's a way different test than they'll do at a normal lab like Antech.

I really wasn't expecting a university to be so "nice" about spending time on the phone with my vet but man, they did -- more than once.

Sorry -- I wasn't trying to add to Willow's woes -- that compartment of my brain was just wrong about Willow/thyroid.

Thanks, Callie. 

I'm glad she gets to drop some more of her pred Lori.

Love to that baby...and to you!

Hang in there!

 Sorry I'm late, but what great news; she's doing so well.