Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Earle's test results...

Earle's blood test results came back today. It's kinda mixed news. It's never good when the vet interupts an appointment to talk to you. He never, ever does that just to say everything's normal and your dog is fat and lazy! Nope, he only does that when something is wonky!

As expected, Earle's thyroid hormone level is low. Low enough to need medication. Okey dokey, no big deal. Already have the meds and dish them out twice a day to Preacher. I can handle that. Then Dr. Kim says " I need to call the pathologist before we do anything!" HOLD THE PHONE BUDDY! (insert freaking out Tamara here) Pathologist = cancer in my little brain. After reassuring me that pathologists check out other things besides tumors, Kim tells me that some of Earle's test results don't add up. In a hypothyroid dog, the T-4 hormone should be low and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) should be way high. In Earle's case they are both low. This could mean any number of things, from plain ol' hypothyroidism to Addison's or Cushings disease to brain cancer! Hoodoo died from a brain tumor. Earle is Hoodoo's littermate. Kim was Hoodoo's vet too so he remembers all this and does his very best to keep me calm. He also pointed out that Hoodoo had the same test two weeks before he died and everything was perfectly normal.

It helps to freak out a little on your vet and also to pay his mortgage and fund his new clinic. ( I want my own wing someday). These things mean that he will call you back asap! So a couple hours later, Kim calls me back. The pathologist says that Earle's pituitary gland has shut down. It's likely that his thyroid is functioning, but without the pituitary gland to tell it what to do, Earle's body has no idea how to use the thyroid hormone. This in turn leads to all the symptoms of hypothyroidism that Earle has been showing like weight gain, lethargic, cranky mood ect.

There are any number of reasons that Earle's pituitary gland has quit on him. It could be a tumor, could be cancer, could be some kind of autoimmune disease, could be, could be, could be....According to Kim, it's almost impossible to figure out exactly what is going on in that gland. An MRI might be helpful, but I'm not sending Earle to Toronto for that! No, No NO!! (see, Mom, I do have limits!) So what is Earle's diagnosis? Idopathic pituitary disfunction...vet-speak for "we don't have a clue why this happened".

The pathologist has recommended that he be treated with thyroid meds and see if that helps. Kim expects that it will and Earle will be a different dog within a few weeks. He has to go back in to get weighed and checked out in a month. If he doesn't respond to the thyroid medication, then he'll get more testing. For now, I am choosing to believe that he will respond and he'll be just fine. Yup, just fine!

crossing paws, fingers, toes, tails.....

5 comments:

dogsled_stacie said...

Awww.... poor Earle! Here's hoping it gets cleared up with those meds.

First the spring-like weather(I can barely even TALK about it!!!!), then the vet visit, it's been a rough week for you eh??

It's supposed to cool off and SNOW by next week though....

Wandering Spirit Kennels said...

Thanks, Stacie

This weather sucks! How's your yard? Ours is damn near deadly to walk across. The dogs think "knock Mom on her butt" is a great game though! It had better snow next week!!!

dogsled_stacie said...

It's horrible! Well, actually it's better now, since the ice has pretty much melted and it's almost dry!!! Good god.

Are you getting the dogs out at all? We have puddles, no, LAKES in the ditches around here. We're still sort of getting out, but skipped a session the other day because of the ice. It was nasty here too, and I was p*ssed off everytime I went to feed them, or go outside at all, it was SO slippery! This is not right!!

Wandering Spirit Kennels said...

Not getting out at all. I can barely stand up in our yard and the trail is in about the same shape. The dogs are sliding all over the place just trying to play. I'd probably crash the ATV into them or a tree if I tried to drive it!

Praying for snow and lots of it soon!

dogsled_stacie said...

Yeah, a lot of people are in the same boat I'm finding. Some are even talking of going to Dawson for snow!! Yikes!

btw - nice "new" look on the blog!