Patch (16-17 y/o mixed Australian Shepherd)

[mwalker]

I was thrilled to stumble on this forum just now. I was looking for information online to help with a finicky eater who has Cushings.

My sister and I have a precious dog, Patch, who is a 16-17 year old mixed Australian Shepherd. We adopted her when she was about 14, but had taken care of her for several years before that. She was diagnosed with Cushings about a year and a half/2 years ago. During the summer of 2009, she had terrible diarrhea problems. We had to take her off all supplements and medications. She has been on a diet of ground chicken/turkey, boiled rice, chicken broth and pumpkin and various supplements to control the diarrhea since then.

We have a terrific vet and Patch takes something called Superglan for the Cushings. We had to stop the Superglan when she was having the diarrhea and I think that caused the disease to progress. She is back on it.

Last May, she suddenly couldn't get in or out of the car. Her back legs gave out. She is now confined to the house and short walks to pee or poop. The vet said said, "We are in that room, but not there yet." We prepared for the worst, but she is doing fairly well. Here we are in October. The Superglan I think.

She has become a terribly, terribly finicky eater. We give her organic treats from the vet or bits of lean, hormone-free sliced chicken to encourage her to eat. And, that works a bit. She also wants more food at night, but doesn't seem to have gained any weight. The problem isn't that she won't eat, just getting her to eat and be done with it. Because her food is fresh, we can't leave it out for long periods.

Our vet has prescribed an appetite stimulant, but before we go that route I was hoping there was something out there to help a dog on a restricted diet with Cushings eat.

I was amazed to find this site and wondered if someone has had similar experiences and had any suggestions.

[happydogs]

Hi there, I just found this forum myself! We also have a Cushings dog, about 15.5 years old. He also had very severe liver disease at one point and we went through the whole inappetence thing. What we found worked most of the time was a high-calorie nutritional supplement / appetite stimulant called NutriCal. It's a dense gel that can be rubbed onto the gums.

We also tried to use a prescribed appetite stimulant but it didn't work (our vet had warned us that there isn't a reliable appetite stimulant for dogs). Then we found NutriCal. 90% of the time, NutriCal would stimulate our pup's appetite enough so that he'd start eating. Mind you, he didn't eat a lot, but at least he was eating (at that time, ANY food intake was a success). Maybe your vet carries this, or has something similar? The good thing too is that it has tons of nutrients and calories.

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and Patch from me and my boy Harley! Bless you and your sister for giving Patch a forever home!!

I was wondering if you could tell us more about how Patch's cushing's was diagnosed; the test/s that were done to confirm the cushing's diagnosis, the symptoms Patch was/is displaying. Does Patch have any other health issues?

Usually when a pup gets a firm diagnosis of cushing's the treatment consist of either Lysodren/Mitotane or Vetoryl/Trilostane. Was either one of these medicines brought up by your vet to treat Patch?

I have had finicky spells with my boy too, some of things I have done is: Warming his food in the microwave, Feed him by hand, Fed him baby food but make sure that no onions or onion powder is listed in the ingredients, Grated parmesan cheese as a topper on the regular food, Used tripe in his food (very stinky).

Looking forward to hearing more about your precious girl, and remember we are here for you and Patch so ask all the questions you want and we will do our best to answer them, ok?

Love and hugs,
Lori

[mwalker]

Thanks Lori for the warm greeting.

I don't have Patch's lab work with me. It all started when 2 summers ago we noticed she was drinking a lot of water. Took her to the vet and he found elevated liver enzymes. We started her on milk thistle and something I can't remember now (middle-age woes) and got her on organic canned food. We rocked along for awhile with the liver enzymes mostly holding steady and she was healthy in every other way. Our vet is really into holistic and herbal meds; we didn't put her on any drug out of concern for her liver.

Then in the summer of 2009, she began this terrible diarrhea. Nothing would stop it. Finally, we managed to get it under control and she takes GI Fortify and Probotics and Enzymes with a very strict food diet to this day. Any deviation from that diet causes diarrhea. In fact, she still has loose stools and we have to give her lomotil (sp) occasionally.

We started trying to get her back on her supplements, but it was hard and she went for several months without her Superglan. The liver enzymes went up. She is back on that now and seems to be doing very well though she hasn't regained leg strength.

She has a great appetite, but is a finicky eater. She'll dabble at her breakfast, then finish it later in the morning or day when we add a treat. It's the same process when we fix her dinner. She'll eat a bit then she has to be coaxed into finishing with a bit of finely chopped lean hormone free sandwich meat or an organic treat crumbled over the food. She won't eat but she acts out until she gets her food fixed. I forgot to mention that we usually give her rice and yogurt to round out the day.

I also forgot to mention that she's on another supplement, Traumeel, which seems to help her movement.

It hits me reading this that she almost needs to be on several small meals a day, but my sister and I work and that would be hard to do.

I realize this isn't the medical info you request, and I've certainly gone on, but I hope it helps. We were just wondering if there is anything we can do to get her to eat her meals period--so there wouldn't have to be so much coaxing on our part. This request is really to help my sister and me. Patch is getting good nutrition and food. We may just have to continue as we are and that's ok. As long as she is doing well health-wise.

Mimi

[mwalker]

P.S. Lori--I don't know if this helps, it may be obvious. But, Patch's diagnoses came through a series of blood tests, from simple testing the liver enzymes to something more complex, the ACTH.

She hates the vet's office, hates it. She had to be kenneled once before we adopted her and it was a terrifying experience for her. At this point in her life we don't want to traumatize her unless it's absolutely necessary.

Mimi

[mwalker]

Happy dogs, thank you so much for your response. Our girl has a great appetite and then some, but it takes a lot of work to get her to eat. She is hungry and won't leave us alone until we've added something to her food. If her stomach could tolerate it, and it can't, I'd crumble a little meat on her food. She'd love that.

The more I've written out our situation, the more I've begun to think the problem is my sister's and mine: we just want her to eat her meal and be done with it. It's more about our convenience than any real medical issue of Patch's.

Mimi

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi Mimi,

Welcome to you, your sister and Patch! :)

One thing I wanted to mention is Patches age. As our babies age they began to lose their senses. The loss of sight and hearing is most easily recognized but they also began to lose their sense of smell and taste, which isn't as easy to notice. This could be what is going on with Patch in which case, the feed may not be enticing to her any longer. Lori's suggestions of Parmesan cheese and green tripe might be a good thing to try, if she can tolerate them. Both are stinky and the tripe is very good for them. You might try giving a tiny bit as a treat to see if she like them and how they effect her system. Then if things are good, start adding a small amount to her regular feed. Just a thought....

I want to say something about the Supraglan. I know you are seeing a benefit in her liver enzymes while on it and it may be that one or some of the ingredients in that product are helping in that area. However, one of my biggest issues with this product are the glands used - they are not regulated in any way, there is no proof they are disease-free or handled in a sanitary manner. I am all for Holistic approaches, especially nutriceuticals, but am much more comfortable using individual products from trusted sources. If you or your vet have information that this product has become more regulated and pure, I would be very interested in reading about it. Several here have tried to get information from its manufacturer and PetAlive, as well as for Cushex Drops, with nothing more offered from them than what can be found on their websites. So if you have access to more, better, info, I would love to know about it!

Keep your chin (s ;) ) up and keep in touch!
Hugs,
Leslie and the girls :D - always

[mwalker]

Leslie,

Thank you for your information. That makes absolute sense. I knew that about humans, but hadn't made the canine connection and how that might be impacting Patch.

I don't have more info on the Superglan and understand your concerns. I'll check with my vet next time.

Thank you again; I'm very grateful for that information!!!

Mimi