cushings and diabetes

[ben'smom]

my poodle, ben 7, was diagnosed w/cushings, the pituatary gland about a yr ago. after all blood work and testing for cushings was done i was just getting ready to start his treatment and he got really sick. in the 2 wks of all the testing he had also become a diabetic he was not in the pre testing! in july i opted with a vet for chinese med and acupuncture and i have been comfortable with that. i mix veg in with his food like gr beans or carrots just recently, and i have had to reduce his insulin. i use clinical signs first then diastix for urine. i noticed he got the shakes last wk for the first time then is when i test his urine and i am finding that glucose is neg. waiting to see what vet says today. he also has weakness in his rear legs. any helpful suggestions will be welcome.

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi and welcome to you and Ben! :)

Your story of how rapidly the diabetes came on is one we are familiar with here. Unfortunately, that disease can seem to appear over night and it is not uncommon to see diabetes and Cushing's hand in hand. The good news is that as the cortisol comes under control, the blood sugars are easier to control as well and can even result in a lowering of insulin required.

We have a sister site for canine diabetes that will be able to help you a great deal with Ben's diabetes. You can find them at http://k9diabetes.com/forum.

So, I understand you are not using Trilostane, Lysodren, Ketochonozole, or Anipryl to treat Ben? Would you mind sharing what the TCM vet has him on instead? Most people here are using one of the traditional drugs to treat but the alternative/complimentary approaches interest me a great deal. My Squirt is Atypical but her cortisol has been rising. She is on melatonin, lignans, astragalus, burdock, and recently I added phosphatidylserine to the mix.

If you have copies of Ben's tests that were used to diagnose the Cushing's and wouldn't mind posting them here, that would help us give you more meaningful feedback. Cushing's is one of, if not the, most difficult disease to diagnose as several other conditions mimic it. Diabetes is one of those conditions, as well as thyroid, liver, and kidney problems so it always helps us to see the test results, especially when there is already another condition in play.

Is Ben having problems recently? Are you seeing signs? Anything you can tell us about him will be great! We love details! :D

I am glad you found us and hope to learn more about the both of you in the future. Please don't hesitate to ask questions; we will do our best to help.

Hugs,
Leslie and the girls - always

[k9diabetes]

It sounds like his blood sugar may be too low - can you have it checked at the vet today?

You might want to consider treating it as hypoglycemia if you can't find out right away what his blood glucose actually is.

Natalie