04/08/14 - Last week, we repeated the renal panel for Reo. It took longer than I had anticipated because she kept having set-backs for a variety of reasons. The big set-back was that our younger rescue puppy went after Reo over a crumb on the floor (hello dog-dog resource guarding issues - I was not expecting you!!). Reo was fine - he just scared her very badly and knocked her over on the floor, poor sweet girl. The stress of the incident brought on a pretty bad flare and she was miserable - lots of diarrhea, depression, inappetance. We are back on track now, but we were very worried about her for a few weeks.
The good news is, Reo's renal panel looks great! All the electrolytes have normalized, which makes me think that the initial changes we saw were a result of post-seizure activity, and not true kidney disease and/or her adrenal exhaustion/Atypical Addison's condition moving toward "true" Addison's. The only thing slightly elevated was BUN, and we are not worried about that at this time. Yay! Very relieved that we don't have to make any other changes right now.
Reo seems quite stable for the moment. :)
In March 2011, our Miniature Pinscher, Reo, suddenly went blind and was diagnosed with SARDS (Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome). We were given no hope for vision recovery, but through research, perseverance, love, tears, and a lot of luck, we brought our dog back from a serious illness, and restored some functional vision in about 5 months! This is our story, our journey...and we hope that by sharing our story, we can help other dogs diagnosed with SARDS!
BLOG DISCLAIMER
**DISCLAIMER** Please note: I am not a veterinarian, and the purpose of this blog is solely to educate, provide resources, and share Reo's story. In this blog, I will present research and information on the theories of SARDS to which I subscribe, along with my own narrative. If you think your dog may have SARDS, or adrenal exhaustion/Plechner Syndrome, please seek veterinary care right away!
If you are just beginning your SARDS education, I suggest you start with the blog post from August 22, 2011 entitled "SARDS Resources". If you'd like to know our trials, tribulations, and joys from the beginning, start with "But first...Reo!" and click chronologically on from there.
If you would like to read my suggestions as to how I would approach treatment for a newly-diagnosed dog, check the November 16, 2011 post "If I had another SARDS dog" (and then read my blog more fully for appropriate context).
Though we have decided to suspend Reo's retinal protection supplements in September 2012 (see September 16, 2012 post "Decision for Reo") due to the fact that she had very little remaining vision, I am still strongly supportive of our treatment approach, and know that it changed Reo's health and longevity in a positive way. Feel free to comment and ask me any questions - I am happy to help if I can!
Update: Reo became an angel on October 21, 2014. She had a profound kidney infection, causing acute kidney failure, and she was unable to recover. The contributing factors to her decline are covered in my February 16, 2015 blog post "Farewell to Reo".
Though I do not regularly update this blog any longer, much of the information is still relevant (though some of the links may be out of date). Feel free to join the conversation at "SARDS Dogs United" on Facebook.
Hi Lynn, I just want to thank you for your very informative blog. My dog was diagnosed with SARDS on March 17. I have read your whole blog, and have many posts bookmarked and refer back to them often. The blog about what you would do if you had another SARDS dog helped me so much because I started the supplements the week he was diagnosed. I was nervous to call Caroline Levin but your blog got me to do so and she gave my vets a treatment plan, and they ageed to it, thank god!!! Roscoe is a schnauzer he had his first round of shots April 9, and his second a April 16. I haven't seen a tremendous change, but I am hopeful he will heal, and I would be so happy if his vision returned!!! I do have a question, Caroline told me for the time being to avoid extra calcium, my dog is having reflux from all supplements I bought Pepcid but it has a lot of Calcium. I didn't give it to him, do you have any recommendations of how to treat his reflux? Thank you so much you have been my savior through this rough time!!
ReplyDeletePlease help. My Bichon Frises just diagnosed with SARDS. I just called DR Carol Osborne. I believe she is at IOWA and left a message. Please advise how to reach Carolina Levin. Thank you.
DeleteHi - I am so glad that you've found my blog helpful, and that you contacted Caroline and got some guidance for Roscoe! That is wonderful. :) If you are not already doing so, you can split his supplements between his morning and evening meal as that might help his reflux. If you are cooking for him, you can use more alkaline veggies to help cut down on acid production. And if worse comes to worst, I don't think Pepcid is going to set back his progress too much. It is important that he is eating and feeling good - and if a Pepcid dose helps him achieve that, then I think it is a good thing. Just my opinion! :) Keep us posted as to how you are doing!
ReplyDeleteOh, one more suggestion! If you are giving Roscoe the Nutramin mineral supplement, be sure to give it separately from any medications or supplements. This is very important because the Nutramin is so negatively charged, it can bind to the positive charge of many meds/supplements, rendering them useless!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I haven't given Roscoe the Nutramin yet bc I was nervous for that reason! I'm scared that the Nutramin will take away from everything I'm giving. I also was nervous that I had the wrong one is it a powder? So I can't put it in his Sardines bc it will take away from the adenosine, right? Stacy
DeleteYou could definitely moosh the Nutramin powder into a sardine and feed it to him at bedtime, for example, but still give sardines with his meals. :)
ReplyDeleteRoscoe has an added issue he is diabetic, which he was diagnosed about a month after the onset of the symptoms. Caroline thought it may go away when his estrogen levels go down, like gestational diabetes in humans from hormone imbalance. So Roscoe is suppose to eat at 12 hour intervals followed by his insulin, so I would not be able to give Nutramin at bedtime bc that is when he gets his meal and insulin. Would it be ok to give the Nutramin in a small meal in the middle of the day? Also I just started the Sulfasalazine this week, which my vets said has a lot of side effects. Did Reo have any issues with the Sulfa? She is so cute btw!!! Sorry for so many questions, it's just all so confusing!!! Thanks so much Stacy
ReplyDeleteOh, diabetic also! That does complicate things. :) It would be just fine to give Nutramin in a snack in the middle of the day - just should be given at least 2 hours apart from any oral meds/supplements. Many dogs do have issues with the sulfasalazine, so proceed with caution and watch Roscoe carefully. I stopped giving it to Reo because we decided to do another round of injections. After the injections, Reo's IgA number was very close to normal and she didn't need the sulfa anyway. Hope Roscoe is feeling better! Please feel free to join the Facebook and Yahoo groups if you want to pick others' brains too. :)
ReplyDeleteYour advice is much appreciated!!! I'm one of the few people in this world who is not on Facebook, but I will definitely check out the yahoo groups, I'm going to contact Caroline to see what she suggests about the sulfasalazine bc he is giving me a hard time about eating and he never does that, and I went back and reread about wen Reo was on sulfasalazine and she was doing the same thing, so I may do injections instead also. I felt like Roscoe could see a little tonight, but he seemed nervous about it maybe like you said low vision is sometimes worse than no vision, exciting though!!! Just wished he felt better!!! Thanks again no need to reply, will for sure look into the yahoo groups, thanks Stacy
DeleteLynn, our boy, age 10, was prescribed Rimadyl last Tues. for inflammation. Two days later it was apparent he had gone totally blind as he was running into trees in the yard, and unable to locate food, etc. Our vet says she sees the blood vessels behind the eye and the eye pressure is normal and it doesn't appear that the retina is "floating". She thus states likely SARD. Given the fact it has been a week today, do you feel the window of time is too late or to our advantage? She is NOT a specialist but a general practice vet. Thank you so much, Louise Simonson
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear about Riley's blindness! The only way that SARDS can be diagnosed is by an ERG run at an ophthalmologist's office. I do think that you are still within the window of time, only a week in. If you are so inclined, I encourage you to reach out to Caroline Levin and/or Dr. Plechner for a consult. Do you think your vet would be willing to help? Wishing you luck!
ReplyDeletewhere do I go to get the supplements?
ReplyDeleteYou can get everything at Amazon.com - I wrote a blog post about sourcing the supplements, as well.
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ReplyDeleteWanted to let everyone know that you can get 1 mg & 2 mg strength tablets of Medrol at www.diamondbackdrugs.com, which means no more splitting up 4 mg tablets for those of us with itty bitty dogs. My vet called in the prescription, then Diamondbqck called me for my credit card & shipping info. I had the drugs 2 days after my vet placed the order. They have a flat rate of $8 shipping to anywhere in the US & their drug prices are cheaper than any other pharmacy I found. I got 100 2mg tabs & 100 1mg tabs for $43.00 for each prescription, then $8 shipping on too of that. They do have express shipping for an extra fee. They are in Arizona.
ReplyDeleteSure, you may email me at: cookypuss1 (at) gmail dot com!
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