As every dog’s experience with Cushing’s is different, your veterinary surgeon will tailor the dose of Vetoryl to you and your dog’s needs. Your dog should be closely monitored, especially in the early stages of therapy, until the correct dose of Vetoryl is identified. At each monitoring check-up, your vet is making sure your dog is having the right dose to manage their symptoms as well as ensuring they are not showing any signs of receiving too much medication. When your veterinary surgeon is happy with your dog’s progress, it is necessary that you visit your veterinary surgeon every three months for regular monitoring so that any dose adjustments can be made as required.
It is very important for your vet to clearly understand how your dog is responding to Vetoryl treatment and that your dog is improving as should be expected. Your vet also needs to make sure your dog is not showing any signs of being unwell when on treatment.
You can help your veterinary surgeon to monitor your dog by recording their symptoms.
If your dog develops any signs of illness while on Vetoryl including lethargy, vomiting, diarrhoea and loss of appetite, stop treatment immediately and contact your veterinary surgeon as soon as possible.
To help your vet determine the right dose of Vetoryl, the Royal Veterinary College, London, have developed useful monitoring tools to help you focus on the most important areas of your dog’s Cushing’s. Continuous and consistent monitoring is key to finding the right dose for your dog and restoring their health.
Since the clinical signs (symptoms) of Cushing’s are key to monitor, the Cushing’s Clinical Score has been developed so that it is easy to record and keep track of the most important symptoms. It is recommended to complete the score before EVERY visit to the vets and to share the results with your vet.
You should see improvements in your dog within a few weeks of starting treatment. However, it is normal for it to take a couple of months until you see improvements in all your dog’s symptoms of Cushing’s. See the timeline of improvement below:
Treating your dog’s Cushing’s syndrome improves your dog’s quality-of-life, and as a result your own quality-of-life. The CushQoL-pet questionnaire measures the quality-of-life of you and your dog and can help to identify areas of potential improvement. It can show the improvement in quality-of-life over time with Vetoryl and it is recommended to complete this every three months and to share this information with your vet:
Click here to download QoL questionnaire
Whilst your dog’s symptoms are critically important in a monitoring consultation, blood tests are is also required to confirm the correct Vetoryl dose. Routine blood tests should be performed at every 4 weeks, 12 weeks and every 3 months after starting treatment.
Ensure you continue giving your dog the prescribed dose of Vetoryl even after you notice improvements in your dogs symptoms. Vetoryl will curb the excesses associated with the overproduction of cortisol but it will not cure your dog.
Monitoring is important and regular checks performed by your veterinary surgeon will ensure your dog continues to get the best possible care.
