Our dog Rock

[pstender]

Our dog Rock is 11 yrs old we took him in for a lump removal surgery the vet called and said after running blood test that Rock had cushing disease. Rock shows no signs of it he eats and drinks like normal dogs no panting no excessive hair loss he show none of the symptoms so the vet said no treatment for now. what should i do? Our dog shows no signs of the disease iam very confused..any advise would be helpful.

[mytil]

Hi and welcome to our site.

Here are some very useful links in understanding Cushing's and the testing that is done to confirm it - http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=180 Cushing's is a slow progressing condition so no need to rush into treatment.

I am wondering though - was the blood test performed right around the surgery time? I ask this because it could have produced a false positive given the stress of the surgery.

Given that you doggie has no symptoms (as described in the links above) you may not need to perform additional testing at this point.

Keep us posted
Terry

[addy]

Hi and Welcome,

No one single blood test can really confirm Cushings. Do you know what test was done? Do you know the results? Many diseases mimic Cushings and many dogs are misdiagnosed. It is a very hard disease to diagnose. You need more information and until you get it you should do nothing except read and learn as much as you can.

The moderators will all be along to comment and are more knowledgeable than I. The more information you can provide the better they can supply information.

Glad you found us. I know how upsetting it is when you first hear the word Cushings.

Hugs,
Addy

[mytil]

I forgot to ask - what breed is your doggie?

[pstender]

Rock is a rat terrier. he was given a full blood work up right before surgery. He was not a happy dog when we left him there. the vet said he was really quite mad.which is normal for rock to be angry around people he thinks will harm him.The test was a full blood work up for surgery so i dont know any thing else but i will be asking the vet for more details. It was quite shocking to take Rock in for surgery and be told no surgery he has cushing disease.thanks for the info Iam glad i found this web site.

[lulusmom]

Hi and welcome to you and Rock.

If the only testing your vet did was a full blood work up in preparation for the surgical removal of a growth, there is no way possible for your vet to have confirmed a diagnosis of cushing's. He may have seen blood abnormalities that are common with cushing's but a lot more testing would need to be done. Plus, symptoms are a huge component of confirming a diagnosis and you say that Rock has no symptoms.

It would really help us understand where your vet is coming from if you would please ask for copies of the bloodwork and any other tests your vet may have done for Rock's presurgical work-up. Just post the abnormal values, including the normal reference ranges. Is your vet proposing further testing to rule out other possible causes of the abnormal bloodwork?

Glynda

[Dave Ruske]

One thing I'm getting in the habit of doing is asking for a copy of the lab work, rather than just a summary. There are two reasons for this. One, it lets me do my own research on forums like this. Two, should I need to take our dog into an emergency facility, there won't be any time wasted contacting the office of the vet that ran the test --- particularly if the vet's office happens to be closed after hours or on weekends. I've found the vet's staff to be happy to make a copy for me, or provide one by FAX or email.

Good luck with Rock!

Dave

[mytil]

I too agree a blood panel does not diagnose Cushing's. So he ended up not having the surgery because of the diagnosis of Cushing's.

I would print out some of the information in the links I provided, take them with you and have a talk with the vet to better explain things as to what they are seeing regarding Cushing's.

Keep us posted
Terry

[pstender]

no surgery has been delayed due to cushing Diagnosis. I will go tomorrow to vet office and try to get a copy of the test that they did.when i dropped Rock off at the vet that day i muzzled him because he doesn't like going there well i have sense found out that they kept the muzzle on from 8 am to 4pm when we picked him up. Rock had no water or food from midnite sunday nite till 4pm monday. From midnite till 8am was for surgery but he never had surgery soi was told Rock was pretty mad so they left on the muzzle. I understand they didn't want to get bit.

[pstender]

Just got lab work test copy:it was a ACTH test: rocks level is : 30.0 ug/dl. vet says in report 22 or higher is needed. this test was taken an hour before surgery. Now what do we do. Vet says no treatment needed.Just watch him.

[pstender]

One thing I'm getting in the habit of doing is asking for a copy of the lab work, rather than just a summary. There are two reasons for this. One, it lets me do my own research on forums like this. Two, should I need to take our dog into an emergency facility, there won't be any time wasted contacting the office of the vet that ran the test --- particularly if the vet's office happens to be closed after hours or on weekends. I've found the vet's staff to be happy to make a copy for me, or provide one by FAX or email.

Good luck with Rock!

Dave

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Just got lab work test copy:it was a ACTH test: rocks level is : 30.0 ug/dl. vet says in report 22 or higher is needed. this test was taken an hour before surgery. Now what do we do. Vet says no treatment needed.Just watch him.

[lulusmom]

The acth post stim number is definitely consistent with cushing's, however, additional tests should be done to validate the postive acth as well determine which form of cushing's Rock has. Your vet has probably decided against any further testing at this time because Rock does not have any symptoms. Because symptoms play a huge part in the diagnosis, he can't confirm the diagnosis nor should a vet prescribe treatment for a dog in the absence of symptoms. It sounds like your vet made the right call to me.

Cushing's is a very graded disease and if Rock truly has cushing's, it could take months and months before you see any symptoms. It is also possible that symptoms could start tomorrow. You just never know. As to what you should do, we may be able to give you some good suggestions but not without seeing the results of the results of Rock's blood chemistry panel. If his liver enzymes are highly elevated, I would suggest that you talk to your vet about putting Rock on liver support. Can you please get a copy of the bloodwork from your vet and post just the abnormal values here?

Glynda