Severe weight loss

[Margaret H]

MY dog Buddy, a Alaskan Malamute was diagnosed with Cushings last fall...and was finally stabilized on Lysodren in late January. Following his stabilization, his hair gew back and his other symptoms disappeaerd...But he gradually lost weight...until recently when he refused all food. Because we live in bush Alaska part of the year ( no roads, Veterinarians) any chnages or tests take more time as we need to travel to Anchoragre .. As a result Buddy also has 2 drs --one in AK and one in VT...both were at a loss ...we thought it might be the medication..and took him to Tufts Small Animal Hospital ..where he is now.

I am wondering if anyone has had that experience and switched to Trilostane...or decided to have a look at the possibility of Atypcal Cushings... while they are testing Buddy, they did put him on an anti nausea drug and he is eating like his old self... Now they want to do an MRI ( leading up to radiation) This and the radiation is expensive and requires gneeral anesthesia... which is troubling and frankly impossible for us to maintain... and not in his best interest given his age.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

MargaretH

[lulusmom]

Hi Margaret and welcome to you and Buddy.

In my experience on the forum, more dogs being treated with trilostane have lost unexplained weight than any on Lysodren. Unlike Trilostane Lysodren addresses all of the adrenal steroids/hormones; however, there is one hormone, estradiol, which can be found in bodily tissues outside of the adrenals. Estradiol can be found in adipose (fatty) tissue and at the top of the list is the gonads. Is Buddy still intact?

Given the little information you have provided, I am not convinced that the intermediate hormones are causing Buddy's problems; however, if you want to rule out estradiol as the cause, you can request that just this hormone be tested by UTK.

If you have copies of the last acth stim test, please post the results here and if you have copies of the latest blood and urine analysis, can you please post the abnormalities, including the normal reference ranges?

I can only imagine how emotionally draining it is to see your baby losing weight and not know the cause. I believe Buddy is where he needs to be at the moment and I hope the Tufts can finally give you the answers you are looking for.

Glynda

P.S. Has Buddy lost weight because he is not eating enough or did he lose weight, despite a normal appetite?