Buddy, 9 y/o Cockapoo (Cushing's and SARDS)

[elissa]

Hi everyone! I came across this site while researching information on Canine Cushing's Disease and SARD (Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration). After reviewing many threads, I'd first like to say that it is so nice to see such a supportive group, assisting in providing knowledge to many people experiencing this condition with their pets.

I'm responding to this thread, because one of our Cockapoo's, Buddy (nine years old), has recently developed SARD shortly after his initial symptoms of what has recently been diagnosed as Pituitary Cushing's Disease :(. We're still very new at understanding these conditions, and appreciate all the information that many of you have posted.

Buddy has done quite well with his vision loss (I've read places that vision loss is actually a bit tougher on the owner than the dog). He gets around well, with a little guidance. The Veterinary Opthamologist has advised us how important it is to use the initial first few weeks after the blindness occurs to place furniture where we want it to be to ensure that Buddy's environment stays consistent, and to start familiarizing him with terms like, 'step up, step down, left, right, easy, careful and watch it!' Buddy is adapting well.

I am sorry to hear that Nikki is experiencing some of the same difficulties that Buddy is, with the addition of seizures :(, however I am thankful that you posted...I am interested in hearing updates on Nikki's treatment. Your original post was a few months ago, how is Nikki feeling now?

Is anyone familiar with Natural Treatments for Cushing's? (Not those pills and drops that are advertised online) We have recently taken Buddy to a Holistic Veterinarian who specializes in Homeopathic AND Conventional Medicine. Though Buddy has adapted well to his vision loss, it is so sad to see him dealing with the symptoms of Cushing's :(. Buddy has started a raw diet, and probiotics..

Thank you for all the information and support.

Elissa

[labblab]

Elissa, welcome to you and Buddy!

I saw that you had posted this as a reply on another member's thread. Unfortunately, that member has not returned to us since her initial introduction back in January. So I've taken the liberty of shifting your reply so as to begin a fresh new thread for you and Buddy. This way, our active members will be able to respond to you and Buddy directly. And hopefully that member will also return to us again one day, too! (Here's a link to Nikki's thread: http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1639)

I am so sorry for the problems that Buddy has experienced, but so very glad that you have joined us!

Marianne

[Danniray]

Hi my name is Taryn. I'm glad you found this site. I found it just a few weeks before I buried my best friend. He was diagnosed with Cushings in 2009, although some people on this site say he wasn't properly diagnosed. I tried everything holistic that I read about, and none of it helped at all. The only thing that worked for my boy was Vetoryl. He was on it a little over a year and one day he stopped eating. After a week of trying to find out what was going on I stopped giving it to him and within 2 days he started eating again. I believe it was hurting his kidneys. Blood work had showed kidney failure while he was on it, and repeated blood work when he wasn't taking it kidneys started working normally again. So although it seems to be the safest of all Cushings meds, please talk to your vet or google side effects of Vetoryl if you decide to use it. Cushings can turn ugly if you don't have him on meds. Good luck and God bless!

[frijole]

Hello! I haven't had to deal with SARDS but my dog Haley had pituitary cushing's. We used lysodren and she lived for over 4 yrs after the dx. She was 16 1/2 when she passed of old age. So please know that with an experienced vet and some education on your part (read lots and ask us questions) and the right drug/treatment - your dog can live a normal life.

Regarding homeopathic treatments - many of us would have preferred to go this route but after researching it we found that it simply doesn't work. Cushing's is caused by over production of cortisol and only a couple of drugs have proven to be effective. Trust me, we would have gone that way too if we could.

We used lysodren. Many use trilostane. These are the drugs of choice for treating pituitary cushings. What is key is your vet be experienced in using the drugs.

In addition to the lysodren I gave Haley fish oil, milk thistle, glucosamine chondrointen with SamE. Hard to say what helped but I know that the milk thistle did help bring her alk phos (liver enzyme) reading down dramatically.

Glad you found us. Don't loose hope! Kim

[elissa]

I really appreciate your responses!

The Vet who performed Buddy's tests for Cushing's believes it may have been caught early, because it took some time before they were able to confirm it. In fact, it wasn't until after SARD developed that the Opthamologist requested the testing for Cushing's, because in Buddy's initial blood work, an increase in liver enzyme wasn't present.

The Holistic Vet initially started Buddy on an Arsenicum remedy, in addition to the probiotics and raw diet. We stopped the Arsenicum, however, (Buddy was panting heavily and we were a little concerned about his urine, possibly not concentrating) and are going back to the Vet. Will keep you posted...

Thank you all for your responses about the Homeopathic treatments. I understand that Cushing's is not curable, but treatable...and essentially, our priority is really to improve Buddy's quality of life, Homeopathically or Conventionally. It's definitely difficult to see your previously lively, energetic pup behaving rather lethargic. I will do more research on the medicines you've mentioned. I had read about them prior to seeking natural treatment; they seemed harsh?

Thanks again...I'm truly grateful to have found this site.

[elissa]

Kim,

It's great to see that Haley lived as long as she did after being diagnosed. It truly takes both effort from the owner and willpower from the dog. Did you find that she was comfortable living with the condition once you began treatment with her? Did lysodren cause her to have many side affects?

Thanks again,

Elissa

[lulusmom]

Hi Elissa and welcome to the forum.

I am too tired to put two sentences together tonight but wanted to stop in and at least say hi and welcome you and Buddy to the family. I'll be back tomorrow.

Glynda

[frijole]

Kim,

It's great to see that Haley lived as long as she did after being diagnosed. It truly takes both effort from the owner and willpower from the dog. Did you find that she was comfortable living with the condition once you began treatment with her? Did lysodren cause her to have many side affects?

Thanks again,

Elissa

Elissa, Yes - dear Haley was just fine with the lysodren and you'd never know she had an ailment other than old age.

Lysodren gets a bad rap because most of what you read is from people who had bad experiences. Like I said - imperative that vet and owner know what they are doing. Any drug - even aspirin - is dangerous if you don't give the right amount.

Lysodren is a chemo drug (as is trilo) and there is a protocol to follow that has been followed for many years. I started my journey almost 6 yrs ago and lysodren was around for a long time before I used it.

Problems arise with both lysodren and trilo when vets are not experienced and don't follow protocol AND when owners don't follow instructions or pay attention to symptoms.

Hopefully someone with experience with or knowledge of SARDS will chime in. Sorry I never had to deal with that. I just wanted you to know that there is hope. Kim

[lulusmom]

Hi Elissa.

I’m back and have lots to say, which isn’t unusual because I have a tough time with brevity and tend to be overly windy. :D I’ll be cutting and pasting your quotes and sharing whatever information I can on the subject and I’ll be inserting links to great reading material in our Helpful Resources sections as well as url’s for informative websites that you might find helpful. So make sure you are wide awake, otherwise, you’ll probably drift off before I’m done. Maybe sit down with a strong cup of coffee or maybe a can of Red Bull. :D


I'm responding to this thread, because one of our Cockapoo's, Buddy (nine years old), has recently developed SARD shortly after his initial symptoms of what has recently been diagnosed as Pituitary Cushing's Disease :(. We're still very new at understanding these conditions, and appreciate all the information that many of you have posted.

First, let me say that I am very sorry that Buddy has lost his vision. You mentioned that often times this type of thing is worse for us pet owners than our dogs and you are absolutely right. I have no doubt that Buddy will be just fine and continue to enjoy life with his loving family. It also sounds like you are doing quite well too.

We’re familiar with SARDS here and you can find some really good information in our Helpful Resources section. To save you some time, here’s a handy link: http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=213 Check it out and if you have any questions, let us know and we’ll do our best to help.

You may also want to scan another member’s thread. Bonnie was an 8 year old American Eskimo with SARDS. You can get there from here: http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/search.php?searchid=96612


The Vet who performed Buddy's tests for Cushing's believes it may have been caught early, because it took some time before they were able to confirm it. In fact, it wasn't until after SARD developed that the Opthamologist requested the testing for Cushing's, because in Buddy's initial blood work, an increase in liver enzyme wasn't present.

Was all of Buddy’s bloodwork normal before SARDS? According to everything I’ve read, I wouldn’t think that is too surprising. A good number of dogs with SARDS present with cushing's symptoms as well as bloodwork abnormalities prior to blindness; however, a good number of them don't become symptomatic or have blood abnormalities until after after blindness. Some dogs are eventually diagnosed with typical cushing's, which involves elevation of cortisol, but almost all dogs with SARDS experience elevated intermediate hormones before or within several months after the onset of blindness. When dogs have normal cortisol levels but one or more of the intermediate hormones is elevated, it is called atypical cushing's. If Buddy was diagnosed with PDH and is starting on medication, then he is definitely not atypical but I can almost guaranty that in addition to cortisol, most, if not all, of his adrenal steroids are elevated. There is no way to know if other adrenal hormones are elevated without doing a full adrenal panel from the University of Tennessee. Perhaps your vet ordered one of these and if so, we would really be interested in seeing the results.

Can you tell us which tests were done to diagnose Buddy and can you post the results of those tests? Can you also give us a chronologic order of things that happened….like did Buddy have symptoms associated with cushing’s before he went blind or after…..and how long was it from the time you had the bloodwork done to the time Buddy went blind. How long has Buddy been blind? Have you noticed a change in symptoms, worse or better?


The Holistic Vet initially started Buddy on an Arsenicum remedy, in addition to the probiotics and raw diet. We stopped the Arsenicum, however, (Buddy was panting heavily and we were a little concerned about his urine, possibly not concentrating) and are going back to the Vet. Will keep you posted...

Cortisol, the adrenal steroid which is the hallmark of typical cushing’s can affect the kidney’s ability to concentrate the urine. As I mentioned earlier, almost all dogs with SARDS have elevated intermediate hormones and polyuria/polydipsia (excess peeing and drinking) are also the norm so it wouldn’t surprise me if Buddy’s urine is dilute. Treatment usually resolves those symptoms. Speaking of treatment, I thought I’d mention that in doing my own research on SARDS, it seems that it is not uncommon for a SARDS dogs to see a resolution of symptoms without medication within a number of months after the onset of blindness. This is why some vets who are experienced with this condition choose to take a wait and see approach before prescribing meds, especially if symptoms are mild.


Buddy has done quite well with his vision loss (I've read places that vision loss is actually a bit tougher on the owner than the dog). He gets around well, with a little guidance. The Veterinary Opthamologist has advised us how important it is to use the initial first few weeks after the blindness occurs to place furniture where we want it to be to ensure that Buddy's environment stays consistent, and to start familiarizing him with terms like, 'step up, step down, left, right, easy, careful and watch it!' Buddy is adapting well.

I am really happy to hear that Buddy is adapting well to his blindness. If you haven’t already joined a blind dog forum, you may want to consider it. You can talk to people who have walked in your shoes and almost certainly have some handy tips for you. There are a number of forums out there and you can do your own googling but here are few that might interest you:

http://www.blinddog.info/msgbd/
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/blinddogs/
http://blinddogs.yuku.com/

Okay, so I think I’m done for now. I apologize for asking so many questions but the more information we have, the more meaningful our feedback will be. I’ll be standing by to hear more about your sweet, Buddy.

Glynda

[elissa]

Hi Glynda,

Thanks so much for such an informative reply. Buddy and I are going to the Vet tomorrow morning, so I'm keeping notes on many of the questions I have for him...following our visit to the Vet, I hope to be able to provide a lot of feedback/answers to your post. In the meantime, I'll try to answer what I can...



Can you tell us which tests were done to diagnose Buddy and can you post the results of those tests? Can you also give us a chronologic order of things that happened….like did Buddy have symptoms associated with cushing’s before he went blind or after…..and how long was it from the time you had the bloodwork done to the time Buddy went blind. How long has Buddy been blind? Have you noticed a change in symptoms, worse or better?


We initially took Buddy to the Vet because we observed odd behavior changes: lethargy, increased water consumption, increased urination (including some accidents in the house), increased appetite, weight gain/pop belly. After performing blood and urine tests, the Vet informed us that Buddy's blood work came back great, however, his urine didn't seem to concentrate. The following day, Buddy went in for a water deprivation test; his urine concentrated, and this weighed out Diabetes. Buddy was put on an antibiotic for a possible Kidney infection, and would return for a follow up roughly a week later. Within a few days, we began to observe Buddy having difficulty seeing. He would hesitate, as if his vision was blurry, and if we put a treat down for him, he would sniff it out, rather than just going for it. The Veterinary office advised us to keep our same appointment, at which time they would take a look at Buddy's vision. Not long after we initially observed Buddy having difficulty seeing, we noticed that even up close, we didn't seem to get much reaction/movement from his eyes. The Vet ruled out glaucoma, and other possible causes for blindness, and referred us with an emergency appointment to a Veterinary Opthamologist. The Opthamologist determined that Buddy's blindness could be a result of two possible causes: SARD or Optic Neuritis. The treatment for Optic Neuritis is Prednisone, with 50% success rate of restored vision, however, because of the symptoms I described to the Opthamologist that Buddy was having, she advised me that prior to having further retinal testing done, to have Buddy tested for Cushing's. She spoke with the Vet, who said that though he didn't see any increase in liver enzyme in his prior bloodwork, he wasn't opposed to doing the test. Buddy spent the entire day at the Vet, and the Vet informed us that after a LONG day of testing, Buddy eventually tested positive for Pituitary Cushing's Disease. This has all been rather recent, within the past month...in fact, the visit to the Opthamologist was on 02.22.11, and the following day was Buddy's Cushing's testing. I have copies of Buddy's initial blood work, but not the Cushing's results. I have requested that the Vet we are seeing now request copies of those results, so I should hopefully receive those at our appointment tomorrow...

Buddy and I will go in to our appointment tomorrow very objectively, again, with LOTS of questions...

Will let you know how it goes.

THANKS SO MUCH AGAIN.