We are at a crossroad in the treatment of Pinky.  Pinky is a female, Albino
that is almost 7 years old.  She has had her share of medical problems.  4
years ago she was diagnosed with inflammatory bowl disease and has regularly
taken Prednisone for that condition.  In September 1996 she began losing her
hair.  This was diagnosed as adrenal tumors.  Our vet has always favored
Lysodren treatment so we started her on Lysodren mixed with Karo.  She had a
very bad reaction to this which we found later was due to the fact that she
also has insulinoma.  We continued the Lysodren treatment (mixed with liver)
until November.  She never really grew her hair back but she at least
stopped losing it.  We went to our vet four weeks ago and her condition
wasn't good.  She was again losing hair and had lost weight, down to 1 lb.
7 oz.  (normally 1 lb. 10 oz.  +).  She received a B-12 injection and a
Winstrol injection.  She also received a Winstrol injection once a week for
the next three weeks.
 
This past Saturday she went back for a check up.  She had gained back 4 oz.
(1 lb. 11 oz.) but otherwise her condition has not improved.  Our vet upped
her dosage of Prednisone to .35 cc once daily for 7 days and every two days
thereafter.  He said this would help to control her blood sugar levels.  Her
current condition is as follows:
 
1. She continues losing hair and has lost quite a bit.
2. She regularly stands and stares into space; she also has poor balance.
3. She sleeps constantly and never plays.
4. She will not eat on her own.  She will only eat duck soup, which is
   hand-fed to her as much as possible.  Typically she is eating 3-4
   tablespoons 3-4 times a day through the week and 5-6 times a day on the
   weekends.
5. She seems to drink plenty of water on her own.
 
As I said, our vet has recommends Lysodren treatment for adrenal tumors.  We
went this route with Shadow who we lost this past February.  Most of the
information that we have read favors surgery and we are now leaning toward
this method of treatment for both the adrenal tumors and insulinoma.  We
want to do the best thing for Pinky; therefore, we wanted to get other
opinions to our questions and concerns.
 
Here are some of the questions we are asking:
 
1. Would Pinky be a good candidate for surgery considering her age and
   multiple health problems?
2. If we decided to try Lysodren treatment and it did not help, could we
   immediately have surgery done or would we need to wait a period of time
   for the Lysodren to clear her system?
3. Our vet warned that surgery would be risky due to her age and the length
   of time under anesthesia for surgically treating both the adrenal and
   insulinoma.  Is this a valid concern?
4. If we decide to go the surgical route we would want to have it done at
   the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.  Is anyone familiar with the
   veterinary department there and know who we should contact?
 
Anyone that can answer some of these questions or offer advice on how they
would proceed in treating Pinky, please respond directly to
[log in to unmask]  We want to gather as much information as
possible before making this important decision.
 
Thanks to you all,
 
Tracy & Aaron McAlpine
Pinky, Jasmine, Bear, Ariel and soon to arrive from Texas.... Timon!
[Posted in FML issue 1894]