I took my pupper-do (approx 10 yrs old) to the vet this morning to have her teeth cleaned. Because they were putting her under, they did “standard bloodowork” to make sure everything was okay. Apparently some of her bloodwork came back abnormal. The vet said she has Cushing’s Disease, and that we’d talk about it more when I pick her up in a couple of hours.
In the meantime, I did something stupid. I Googled it. Never do that. Does anyone have any experience with Cushing’s Disease?
That should be Cushing’s Disease…
Here’s a detailed overview in 8 parts. I recommend this site a lot because the info is reviewed by vets and fairly up-to-date.
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&C=&A=1193&SourceID=
I had a dog with Cushings; it wasn’t that bad for her (as far as I could tell). She took a pill or two daily, and the disease made her very hungry all the time. But she lived a happy life with Cushings for 5 or 6 years before cancer got her.
Obviously each case is different, but it wasn’t so bad for us. I hope it’s the same for you and your pup.
Just in to second the link provided by Parenchyma. It’s pretty much the only website with reliable information available to the public. I wish you and your doggie the best!
Thank you so much for sharing this. She’s a bit older so I knew our time would be growing shorter, it was jsut a shock to the system to hear words like “tumor on her adrenal gland”.
I’ve known several dogs with it (IIRC it’s common in canines). If you catch it fairly early, it’s very manageable. Sounds like it’s early for your pup because you haven’t noticed any symptoms, right? Good luck to both of you.
My dog has Cushing’s, diagnosed about two years ago. The only way it really affects daily life is the daily pill in the morning, after which she’s not allowed to eat anything to 4-6 hours (including any treats, dental bones, anything like that). She does have to go out more frequently than before because the disease increases appetite and thirst and she drinks all the time, and of course we go have bloodwork done every 6 months to see whether she needs to up her doseage, but other than that, it’s really quite manageable. The difference between her energy levels before and after the first two weeks of treatment were incredible. She’s 12 now and will probably last for another year or so, Schnauzer life spans being approx. 12-14 years.
We have a stallion with Cushings. Had it for about 2 years now. So far, we have been able to control it with restricting his diet, no regular medications. And he seems to be getting along fine.
So ignore most of the internet ‘info’ about Cushings. It’s quite possible for them to live a good, happy life (though probably shorter) with it.
Our 10-year old greyhound was diagnosed with Cushing’s. We put her on a course of trilostane, at the vet’s recommendation. She lived a little over two years longer before dying of a liver infection, which came on suddenly. In the meantime, her only ill-effects were weight loss, which is a side-effect of the drug.
With the benefit of hindsight, I would have discontinued the treatment earlier, as I think the weight loss may well have weakened her to the point where she was unable to fight the infection.
Nevertheless, we got to spend a couple of years with her, during which she was a happy hound who got spoilt rotten.
Please don’t beat yourself up about treating her. Her immune system would have been much more suppressed from untreated Cushing’s and rampant high cortisol levels, and any liver infection would have hit harder and earlier. Your decision to treat is what got her the two extra years.
Not everyone can treat their Cushingoid pet; it can be expensive and can mean a lot of vet visits at first. Nobody should feel guilty about not treating, as long as they act when it eventually becomes time to end their animal’s suffering. Untreated end-stage Cushing’s can take months or years to develop, and it is not a pretty thing. There’s no reason to let it get that bad, so most pet owners do the right thing before it comes to that.