vick
01-17-2011, 02:09 PM
Hi there. We have Riley, with Cushings and we really want to know what to expect and what we can do to help him. I've looked through some of the many excellent resources here but am a bit bewildered as to where to start!
Here are some details:
Riley is age about 12. He came to us at around 18 months have been horrifically abused by two seperate 'owners' prior to this. He has always had psychological problems as a result of this. But we've perservered and most of the time he's been pretty content. He's an airedale / lurcher cross - the height of a lurcher and the build of an airedale - super strong and fast when he was younger. He weighs 32 kilos and is neutered.
Nearly five years ago Riley became terribly ill and nearly died. His body just shut down. Incontinence, vomiting, raging temps, no appetite, couldn't stand up, repeated fitting, hair loss, open sores on his joints, really low platelets, ulcerated mouth and nose, huge nodes and he was in terrible pain. It was horrendous. Lots of tests and many days lots of vet time later he was diagnosed with chronic Immune-mediated arthritis (IMA). He was put onto Prednisolone - initially 25mgs per day. Gradually, over the next six months we were able to stabilise him at 10 mgs per day and then got him down to 5 mgs per day. Any attempts at going lower or stopping the Pred leads to a flare -up of symptoms within days. He's currently on 5mgs - 10 mgs depending on how he's doing. His system is so sensitive he can't even have a kennel cough vaccination as it triggers his system into chaos.
Two years ago we thought we were seeing changes of body shape, texture of hair etc but weren't really sure. At his next check-up we mentioned it to the vet and he said that as soon as we'd brought Riley in the room he'd suspected he'd developed Cushings.
Two years on we have a dog that is struggling with his IMA (joints that are very sore licked raw, terribly stiff and gets fevers at the drop of a hat) and one who has the following (we believe) Iatrogenic Cushings symptoms:
Hair loss, hair thinning, changes in hair texture, large lumpy hard cysts, excessive drinking, urinating frequently but without a decent 'flow', really greedy for food, eating poo while out on walks, some behaviourial changes (particularly aggression towards our cats around food), barking at nothing and just behaving strangely, disturbed sleep patterns, his skin bruises to almost black if we use his old brush (I felt awful for this), his head has lost all its fat - just skull really, legs are getting really thin and wasted and his torso is like a barrel. We also think something is going wrong with his eyesight. Having said all that he's still full of life when out for a walk!
The problem is that he can't come off the Pred, otherwise he will rapidly deteriorate and die - so this has to be continued.
Really what we would like to know is what to expect - we're scared for him and don't want to see him suffer. So we're wondering:
Whether we will see an ongoing deterioration of the symptoms we've mentioned above?
Are there other symptoms that might develop?
Also, and I know this is a difficult question, but what is it that will eventually take away a dog with this type of Cushings?
Sorry for the huge post and thanks.
Here are some details:
Riley is age about 12. He came to us at around 18 months have been horrifically abused by two seperate 'owners' prior to this. He has always had psychological problems as a result of this. But we've perservered and most of the time he's been pretty content. He's an airedale / lurcher cross - the height of a lurcher and the build of an airedale - super strong and fast when he was younger. He weighs 32 kilos and is neutered.
Nearly five years ago Riley became terribly ill and nearly died. His body just shut down. Incontinence, vomiting, raging temps, no appetite, couldn't stand up, repeated fitting, hair loss, open sores on his joints, really low platelets, ulcerated mouth and nose, huge nodes and he was in terrible pain. It was horrendous. Lots of tests and many days lots of vet time later he was diagnosed with chronic Immune-mediated arthritis (IMA). He was put onto Prednisolone - initially 25mgs per day. Gradually, over the next six months we were able to stabilise him at 10 mgs per day and then got him down to 5 mgs per day. Any attempts at going lower or stopping the Pred leads to a flare -up of symptoms within days. He's currently on 5mgs - 10 mgs depending on how he's doing. His system is so sensitive he can't even have a kennel cough vaccination as it triggers his system into chaos.
Two years ago we thought we were seeing changes of body shape, texture of hair etc but weren't really sure. At his next check-up we mentioned it to the vet and he said that as soon as we'd brought Riley in the room he'd suspected he'd developed Cushings.
Two years on we have a dog that is struggling with his IMA (joints that are very sore licked raw, terribly stiff and gets fevers at the drop of a hat) and one who has the following (we believe) Iatrogenic Cushings symptoms:
Hair loss, hair thinning, changes in hair texture, large lumpy hard cysts, excessive drinking, urinating frequently but without a decent 'flow', really greedy for food, eating poo while out on walks, some behaviourial changes (particularly aggression towards our cats around food), barking at nothing and just behaving strangely, disturbed sleep patterns, his skin bruises to almost black if we use his old brush (I felt awful for this), his head has lost all its fat - just skull really, legs are getting really thin and wasted and his torso is like a barrel. We also think something is going wrong with his eyesight. Having said all that he's still full of life when out for a walk!
The problem is that he can't come off the Pred, otherwise he will rapidly deteriorate and die - so this has to be continued.
Really what we would like to know is what to expect - we're scared for him and don't want to see him suffer. So we're wondering:
Whether we will see an ongoing deterioration of the symptoms we've mentioned above?
Are there other symptoms that might develop?
Also, and I know this is a difficult question, but what is it that will eventually take away a dog with this type of Cushings?
Sorry for the huge post and thanks.