Catcher was a total trooper while getting his injection for the stim test and his blood drawn. He was happy to just sit with me, twitching his tail while they took the blood.
Observation I've discovered: In reactive classes we always talk about mat exercises. You spend an enormous amount of time building a relationship between your dog and their mat. Their mat is their safety zone, where no one enters it, and only happy things happen. It's used for calming, settling, and a great shaping exercise. Here is what I've now noticed: Catcher has generalized that the benches and scale at the vet clinic are "mats". When we walk into the lobby he runs to a specific spot on the benches. He jumps up on them, and sits there, happy and looking for treats. Then he makes a break for the scale, and will do a sliding stop onto it, sitting there twitching his tail and smiling at me, because again it's a highly reinforced space. It's nice to see him calm at the vets.
Firstly: Weight: 45.0 pounds!!!!! We've successfully gained back the 6 pounds he lost while he was sick, and have gained an additional 2 pounds!
Results:
Pre-ACTH Cortisol: 6.5
Post-ACTH Cortisol: 2.5
Comments: (as best I can understand them)
Reference Range:
Pre-ACTH: 2-6
Post-ACTH: 6-18
Equivocal: 18-22
Post-ACTH w/ hyperadrenocorticism: >22
Post-ACTH w/ hypoadrenocorticism: <2
According the vet clinic he shows no signs of Cushing's or Addison's. Yay! That is one big boost of confidence for me. Now back to the roller coaster that is regulating his blood sugar.
