Vibes for Lucy?
- Thread starter Southpaw
- Start date
The word we're putting to it is "lymphangiectasia."
I'll just let Wikipedia explain what that actually means because, while I feel like I understand it, it's new to me/something I had never heard of so I'm not explaining it well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphangiectasia
I'm not sure how to feel about the prognosis. She can be fine for a while if she responds to treatment (right now steroids/diet). She can also just... not respond to treatment.
I'll just let Wikipedia explain what that actually means because, while I feel like I understand it, it's new to me/something I had never heard of so I'm not explaining it well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphangiectasia
I'm not sure how to feel about the prognosis. She can be fine for a while if she responds to treatment (right now steroids/diet). She can also just... not respond to treatment.
Thanks, I know you had a lot on your plate getting Cynder stabilized too!
I just wish there was more info out there about this. I'm not good at just following the advice of one person, I want to research all my options and learn what other people have done and what works and figure out from that how I want to approach this. I'm terrible and when I'm told to try pred and a low fat diet... my brain goes "what else can I do??"
I just wish there was more info out there about this. I'm not good at just following the advice of one person, I want to research all my options and learn what other people have done and what works and figure out from that how I want to approach this. I'm terrible and when I'm told to try pred and a low fat diet... my brain goes "what else can I do??"
It's been a week since starting treatment. The fluid buildup is gone. Which is good. She weighed 10.4lbs 1 week ago, and yesterday weighed 7.8lbs. That's how much fluid there was. 3 months ago, at her "perfect" weight, she was 10lbs - I'm sure you can imagine how significant a 2lb weight loss looks on a dog her size. Good thing she's fuzzy and you at least can't SEE how bony she is. 
We checked her albumin (protein) level yesterday. With the loss of the fluid, and she seems perkier... I was really optimistic. But there is virtually no change in this value since last week, it is still super low. I know it's only been 1 week but my vet was kind of expecting that we'd see some positive shift by now too. We're increasing her prednisone (I guess she was on kind of a lower dose anyway since we started her on it before having the ultrasound diagnosis) and checking again next week.
At this point it's her weight I'm getting most concerned about. I suspect she'll continue to lose and she can't really afford that.
We checked her albumin (protein) level yesterday. With the loss of the fluid, and she seems perkier... I was really optimistic. But there is virtually no change in this value since last week, it is still super low. I know it's only been 1 week but my vet was kind of expecting that we'd see some positive shift by now too. We're increasing her prednisone (I guess she was on kind of a lower dose anyway since we started her on it before having the ultrasound diagnosis) and checking again next week.
At this point it's her weight I'm getting most concerned about. I suspect she'll continue to lose and she can't really afford that.
It's been a week since starting treatment. The fluid buildup is gone. Which is good. She weighed 10.4lbs 1 week ago, and yesterday weighed 7.8lbs. That's how much fluid there was. 3 months ago, at her "perfect" weight, she was 10lbs - I'm sure you can imagine how significant a 2lb weight loss looks on a dog her size. Good thing she's fuzzy and you at least can't SEE how bony she is.
We checked her albumin (protein) level yesterday. With the loss of the fluid, and she seems perkier... I was really optimistic. But there is virtually no change in this value since last week, it is still super low. I know it's only been 1 week but my vet was kind of expecting that we'd see some positive shift by now too. We're increasing her prednisone (I guess she was on kind of a lower dose anyway since we started her on it before having the ultrasound diagnosis) and checking again next week.
At this point it's her weight I'm getting most concerned about. I suspect she'll continue to lose and she can't really afford that.
We checked her albumin (protein) level yesterday. With the loss of the fluid, and she seems perkier... I was really optimistic. But there is virtually no change in this value since last week, it is still super low. I know it's only been 1 week but my vet was kind of expecting that we'd see some positive shift by now too. We're increasing her prednisone (I guess she was on kind of a lower dose anyway since we started her on it before having the ultrasound diagnosis) and checking again next week.
At this point it's her weight I'm getting most concerned about. I suspect she'll continue to lose and she can't really afford that.
Vibes!
Yeah I think hydrolyzed might be one of our next options. What little personal experiences I can find online, it's frustrating because it seems like there's no one diet that works. Some do great on one thing, others do horrible on it, it's all trial and error. The other frustrating thing is that MOST dogs have GI symptoms with this. Lucy does not. So while most people can go "oh, this isn't working because my dog has diarrhea".... I don't have obvious symptoms like that to pay attention to?
We may also add in azathioprine depending on how her blood looks next week. I get that I just have to do whatever is going to work but man I don't want her on all these immune-suppressing drugs either. =/
We may also add in azathioprine depending on how her blood looks next week. I get that I just have to do whatever is going to work but man I don't want her on all these immune-suppressing drugs either. =/
Keeping you guys in my thoughts. Hopefully the meds and diet won't be too hard to figure out. I know it's a different issue, but it was really touch and go with Cynder for awhile, trying to find a food and med regime that worked for her. Luckily for us, she was at her worst when she was first diagnosed and has been steadily improving since.
Excellent news.
Blood 2 weeks ago:
Total protein 2.7 (range 5.2-8.2)
Albumin 1.2 (range 2.3-4.0)
1 week ago we just checked her albumin - it was 1.5
Today:
Total protein 4.5
Albumin 2.1 (and for some reason today the range is 2.2-3.9)
She's almost normal!! Her weight is stable from last week. We don't have to add in other meds. Today the discussion was looking toward the future to when we can start tapering her prednisone and maybe take her off it. Now she needs to put the weight back on, I feel like I'm stuffing her full of food as it is.
Blood 2 weeks ago:
Total protein 2.7 (range 5.2-8.2)
Albumin 1.2 (range 2.3-4.0)
1 week ago we just checked her albumin - it was 1.5
Today:
Total protein 4.5
Albumin 2.1 (and for some reason today the range is 2.2-3.9)
She's almost normal!! Her weight is stable from last week. We don't have to add in other meds. Today the discussion was looking toward the future to when we can start tapering her prednisone and maybe take her off it.
Now she needs to put the weight back on, I feel like I'm stuffing her full of food as it is.